Federal investigators looking into the propriety and legality of lobbying by Michael Deaver, the former White House deputy chief of staff, have broadened their inquiry to include his business dealings in Asia, according to congressional and Reagan administration sources.
A court-appointed independent counsel, Whitney North Seymour, and the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations are collecting information on Deaver`s actions regarding Korea and Japan, the sources said. The FBI, which is working for Seymour, has questioned present and former White House officials about some of the Asian activities, according to those questioned.
Until recently, the inquiries had focused more on Deaver`s lobbying for Canada on acid rain, and scant public attention had been paid to his Asian dealings.
A two-month study by the New York Times of Deaver`s activities in Asia has turned up new details on how Deaver, a former high White House official, was able to use, in his private business dealings, knowledge and contacts he had gained in government. The federal investigators say they plan to explore these subjects further.
The federal inquiries center on whether Deaver, who left White House service on May 10, 1985, to set up a lobbying firm, used his former position and his close personal relationship with President Reagan to further his business in violation of conflict-of-interest laws. The Ethics in Government Act bars high government officials from trying to influence their former agencies for a year after leaving office.
The congressional inquiry also is intended to find out whether Deaver engaged in actions that, while legal, pose ethical problems and suggest the need for new laws.
Deaver, who declined to be interviewed, has said his lobbying has been proper and lawful since he left the White House.
New details of Deaver`s Asian activities emerged from interviews with 100 government officials, businessmen and intelligence sources in Seoul, Tokyo, Washington and New York. These instances were described:
— Five months after Deaver left the White House, an unusual meeting was held between Reagan and a relatively low-level South Korean official on strained trade relations. Some State Department officials said Deaver played a key role in arranging the meeting, although the White House counsel said he could find no evidence of that. Within a month, Deaver received lucrative South Korean government and business contracts, according to documents he filed with the Justice Department. Investigators said that if Deaver was in contact with the White House to arrange the meeting, this may have been a violation under the ethics act.
— Deaver, who arranged major events while at the White House, still acted as though he was playing that role eight months after his departure, according to American and Japanese diplomats. In one trip last January, he met with Japan`s prime minister to suggest preparations for an economic summit meeting and also asked to meet Japanese government leaders on behalf of a private client. Some of his actions were said to confuse Japanese officials and cause concern at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. The White House said Deaver was not authorized to engage in any official summit business in Japan.
— Deaver, who played a key role in picking ambassadors while he was a presidential aide, continued to suggest that he had inside information on ambassadorial appointments after he left government. Richard L. (Dixie)
Walker, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said Deaver had told him that he would be retained by the President. Deaver then asked for continued help with private business dealings, Walker said. Embassy officials said they complied with vigor. White House officials said they had not authorized Deaver to deliver the message that Walker would keep his post.
Exactly what benefits Deaver has provided to clients is an open question. While he secured contracts and access to government officials here and abroad, his efforts in Asia have resulted in little gain for those who hired him.
At a minimum, his activities have caused concern in Congress and the State Department, and overseas. State Department officials said he has meddled in foreign affairs and prompted confusion about who speaks for the President, making it more difficult for the State Department to carry out foreign policy. At the White House, Peter J. Wallison, the counsel to the President, said that after consulting with several others there, he could find no evidence that Deaver was authorized to make any representations on behalf of Reagan or the White House after leaving office. That included, he said, taking messages to U.S. ambassadors or foreign officials.
Wallison also said he could find no evidence that Deaver had been in contact with the White House to set up the meeting between Reagan and the Korean trade official.
In response to an inquiry, administration sources said they asked the President about those issues. The sources quoted the President as saying he had never talked to Deaver about anything involving his Far East business or his trips abroad after the aide left office. The sources said the President did not recall authorizing the lobbyist to carry any messages.
Deaver`s actions are being questioned at a time when the number of high government officials turning to lobbying has risen sharply. There is concern in Congress that there are gray areas under laws governing lobbyists. One involves whether lobbyists are using their government contacts to gain unfair advantage for private clients and to influence public policy in ways not beneficial to American interests.
Congressional sources also said they were looking into Deaver`s representation of an American cigarette company, Philip Morris International, in South Korea, as part of their inquiry.
While at the White House in 1981, Deaver ushered President Chun Doo Hwan of South Korea into the Oval Office to meet Reagan. In June, 1985, Deaver was hired by Philip Morris to gain access to the restrictive South Korean cigarette market, according to the company.
Federal investigators said they were looking into how Deaver was able to arrange the meeting, and whether he had offered or promised anything to the Koreans.
Among lobbyists, only Deaver is the subject of an investigation by an independent counsel, which began after it was requested by members of Congress, the Justice Department and Deaver. The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said in a May 12 report that Deaver ”appears” to have broken the law on the acid rain issue by acting as a lobbyist for Canada on a matter on which he had ”substantial interest” while at the White House.
On Tuesday the House oversight subcommittee plans to discuss whether to approve a staff report asking the independent counsel to investigate
”possible perjury” by Deaver in connection with his testimony on that and other issues.
Meanwhile, United Press International reported that Deaver`s lawyers, decrying publicity about perjury allegations against him, asked the House panel Monday to turn over its evidence to a special prosecutor and to
”refrain from further interference.”
