Inquiry ‘Left No Stone Unturned,’ Meese Declares

Atty. Gen.-designate Edwin Meese III said today that his investigation by an independent counsel “left no stone unturned” and declared that he has adhered to ethical standards governing the conduct of public officials.

Meese appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee one day after his lawyer confirmed that ethics investigators had concluded that the presidential counselor had violated ethics rules. That conclusion had been kept secret by the investigators’ boss, a Reagan appointee.

Without addressing that point, Meese noted that independent counsel Jacob A. Stein concluded last fall that there was no basis to prosecute him on a variety of allegations--particularly any role he played in helping those who aided him financially in obtaining federal jobs.

Stein took no position on whether Meese violated ethical standards.

Meese told the committee, “I have conducted myself in accordance to the ethical as well as the legal standards of behavior for public officials.”

Meanwhile, the committee asked the Office of Government Ethics to supply it with a copy of the staff report involving the questions of Meese’s conduct.

“While cognizant of your concerns about public disclosure of an unofficial, internal working document, we are now requesting that you make this document public in order that the Judiciary Committee can fully and openly resolve any issues,” said the letter co-signed by the chairman, Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), and Sen. Joseph R. Biden (D-Del.), the ranking minority committee member.

At the outset of the hearing, Thurmond said he will press for a vote on Meese’s confirmation by Thursday.

“Unreasonable inquiries and their inevitable delay would be unfair . . . to President Reagan, who wants Mr. Meese to serve in his Cabinet,” Thurmond said.

But Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), Meese’s most persistent critic on the committee, declared that “unless political cronyism and ethical blindness are prerequisites for attorney general, the Senate should reject the President’s unfortunate choice.”

Metzenbaum also said that “based on the extensive record already compiled by this committee and the report of the independent counsel, I do not believe that Mr. Meese should be confirmed as attorney general.”

The conclusion of the two government ethics investigators, whose names were not released, was suppressed by their boss--David H. Martin, a Reagan appointee.

Without mentioning the staff findings, Martin overruled his staffers and wrote Thurmond last week that Meese had complied with ethics rules.