Meese Asked to Account for Lewis Meeting

Presidential aide Edwin Meese III has been asked to explain a meeting he had in 1981 with the chairman of General Dynamics Corp. that may have been connected with the defense contractor’s problems with the Navy, congressional sources said Friday.

Meese, the White House counselor who has been nominated to be attorney general, was asked about his meeting with Chairman David Lewis in a letter Jan. 18 from Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wis.). He also was asked to provide information on other meetings involving General Dynamics.

Proxmire has been an outspoken critic of the nation’s largest defense contractor and its relationship with the Navy.

White House Quiet

The White House had no immediate comment. Meese’s Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for this week.

“The senator understands Meese met with General Dynamics Chairman David Lewis on at least one occasion in 1981 at the White House to discuss the company’s problems with the Navy,” one source said.

The letter asked Meese to list and provide dates and the purposes of any meetings and telephone conversations with Lewis or any other company officials; Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr. or any other Navy official, and with Atty. Gen. William French Smith or any other official at the Justice Department.

The Justice Department in 1981 closed without indictments a 2 1/2-year investigation into allegations the company may have filed fraudulent cost overrun claims in its nuclear submarine construction program.