Expanded Deaver Investigation Reportedly Includes Asia Deals

Federal officials investigating the lobbying of former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael K. Deaver have expanded their inquiry to include his business dealings in Asia, the New York Times reported in today’s editions.

A court-appointed independent counsel and a congressional panel are collecting information on Deaver’s actions regarding Korea and Japan, congressional and Reagan Administration sources told the newspaper.

Until recently, the inquiries had focused on Deaver’s lobbying for Canada on acid rain.

The investigations concern whether Deaver, who left the White House in May, 1985, to set up a lobbying firm, used his former position and close relationship to President Reagan to further his business in violation of conflict-of-interest laws.

Deaver has said his lobbying has been proper and lawful since leaving the White House. He declined to be interviewed for the New York Times article, the newspaper said.

The newspaper said it interviewed 100 government officials, businessmen and intelligence sources in Korea, Japan, Washington and New York for its report.

The newspaper reported that some State Department officials said that Deaver, five months after leaving the White House, helped set up a meeting between Reagan and a South Korean trade official. The White House counsel said he could find no evidence of such a role by Deaver, the paper said. Within a month of the meeting, Deaver received South Korean government and business contracts, according to Justice Department documents cited by the newspaper.

Eight months after his departure from the White House, Deaver traveled to Tokyo as a private citizen but attempted to discuss official matters and his own business with senior government officials, the newspaper said.