Miller Excuses Aide’s ‘Error in Judgment’

James C. Miller III, director of the Office of Management and Budget, has found that conduct by his deputy, Joseph C. Wright Jr., created “the appearance of conflict of interest” in the public mind but has assured Wright that he should remain in his post.

In letters made public Friday by the OMB, Miller said that “the matter is closed” and Wright vowed not to repeat an “error in judgment” that had prompted two congressional inquiries and one by the FBI.

At issue was the ethics of a telephone call Wright made to an Energy Department official in 1982 to set up a meeting for officers of Anchor Gasoline Corp. of Tulsa, Okla., to discuss a $16-million government fine for overcharging against Anchor. Wright had a $250,000 stock interest in Anchor, which was then headed by his father. The claim has not yet been settled.

Justice Department Finding

Miller said in his letter that he did not believe Wright had violated a section of OMB’s ethical code that forbids government officials to represent a party other than the United States in a government proceeding. Miller agreed with an earlier Justice Department finding that Wright had not violated this provision.

Possible conflict with a second part of the code, which requires officials to avoid the appearance of impropriety, was “very much more troublesome,” Miller said. While there was evidence that Wright sought to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, he added, his telephone call “ended up causing a furor,” even though there is no evidence that it “influenced the outcome of the legal matter.”

Miller found, however, that his deputy already had been “‘disciplined severely by this episode,” praised Wright’s work and assured him: “You retain my every confidence.” He directed Wright to reaffirm his intention to avoid any future appearance of conflict of interest and to clear with the OMB general counsel any discussions with544171622his or his family’s financial interests.