Aide Looked Him in the Eye, Denied Leak to Chile: Helms : Senator Confirms Probe of Judge Manion’s Brother

Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) said today that committee aide Christopher Manion looked him in the eye and denied he passed U.S. intelligence secrets to Chile.

“It’s ridiculous,” Helms said of the charges against Manion, who is the brother of Daniel Manion, the controversial conservative Indiana lawyer who narrowly won Senate approval of his nomination as a federal judge.

Helms confirmed that Christopher Manion, who serves on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is under investigation by the Justice Department concerning an alleged intelligence leak to Chile.

Administration sources say Manion attended a Senate Intelligence Committee briefing on Chile, at which sensitive information was disclosed that later made its way to the Chilean government.

Supports Pinochet

Helms is a firm supporter of Chile’s military dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

Helms said he met with Manion in his office Monday night to discuss the allegation and investigation.

“I gave Chris only one instruction last night and I didn’t need to do that,” Helms told reporters. “And that was, tell the truth. And don’t shade it.

“All I wanted to know, and I told him to look me in the eye, I said, ‘Did you in any way pass along anything, to anybody in Chile, or anyone connected with Chile?’

“He said, ‘No, sir.’

‘Never Shaded Truth’

“Chris has never shaded the truth with me once.”

Deborah DeMoss, chief adviser to Helms on Latin America and one of three staff aides to accompany the senator to Chile, also denied today that Manion had passed on any intelligence information to the Chileans.

“He had nothing to do with the trip to Chile. We never discussed Chile--before or after the trip,” she said. “There is no connection with the Chile trip, as far as I know. To my knowledge Chris had no contact with the Chileans (in Washington or elsewhere).”

The CIA and the State Department “legally or illegally found out some information we found out,” she said. “They have found out some things we discussed with Chilean officials and non-officials. They do not like it. They want to get Jesse Helms, one way or another.”

Blasts State Dept. Official

Today’s disclosures followed Helms’ blistering attack on a State Department official for falsely accusing him of giving Chile the secrets, and then leaking the story to the news media as part of a smear campaign. (Story on Page 6.)

In South Bend, Ind., Daniel Manion told United Press International that he had not discussed the situation with his brother but that he “didn’t know what a staff person (on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) could say.”

“And here I thought the name Manion was going to be out of the newspapers for a while,” Manion said.