Independent Counsel Requested in Nofziger Lobbying Investigation

The Justice Department has filed a request for an independent counsel to investigate former White House aide Lyn Nofziger in connection with his lobbying work for a New York military contractor, federal law enforcement officials said Monday night.

The officials said the Justice Department filed the motion requesting appointment of an independent counsel to a special three-judge federal appeals court panel either Friday or Monday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the independent counsel is expected to look into whether Nofziger had violated federal ethics law when he intervened at the White House to help the military contractor, the Wedtech Corp., obtain a $31-million Army contract in May, 1982. Nofziger had left his job as a top political aide to President Reagan four months earlier.

Nofziger allegedly received stock from Wedtech valued at several hundred thousand dollars.

Under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, a former high-ranking government official may not approach his old agency for a one-year period with the intent of influencing officials on behalf of a client.

News of the submission of the request came on the same day that Wedtech filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy law.