‘All I Have Is a Reputation’ : Angry Speakes Chides Reporters

A miffed Larry Speakes today accused reporters of “blindly, unjustifiably, recklessly” questioning his credibility and vowed to maintain a reputation for honesty as President Reagan’s chief spokesman.

One day after an angry exchange marked by charges of news suppression and a lack of candor by the White House, Speakes delivered an emotional defense of his record and said that as a government spokesman, “all I have is a reputation.”

Bringing the matter up on his own, Speakes told reporters it was time “for some straight talk” and said that in 4 1/2 years, “never once has my honesty been questioned.”

“But yesterday,” he said, “two reporters made what I regard as an unnecessarily personal and public broadside . . . without regard for who is hurt or what is damaged.

“Perhaps they were out for others or aiming for others, but I was in the middle. And it hit me and it struck at what I hold most dear. And that’s my reputation as a spokesman for Ronald Reagan.”

At issue in the confrontation Tuesday was how the White House handled information last week about a small patch of skin--later found to be a mild form of skin cancer--removed from Reagan’s nose.

The blemish was removed July 30, but the brief surgical procedure not disclosed until Thursday--and only after reporters and photographers noticed a small scar on Reagan’s nose.

At the time, Speakes said a biopsy, connoting a test for cancer, had been performed. This was subsequently denied by First Lady Nancy Reagan’s office and White House physician T. Burton Smith.

Speakes then issued a statement saying only that tests “for infection” had been conducted and refused any further comment.

The announcement that skin cancer had been found came from Reagan himself during a 25-minute exchange with reporters Monday, despite indications White House officials knew of the results late last week.

Speakes acknowledged Tuesday that “there was confusion” in the contradictory statements emanating from the White House, but insisted that he had told the truth “from top to bottom” and had never misled reporters.

In his statement today, Speakes said he has “spent 18 years as a press spokesman in Washington building a reputation . . . for telling the truth, for dealing fairly with people and for a hard-working, professional approach to my job.”

“That is a long-term investment,” he added.