Deaver Inquiry Expanded to Find if He Lied to Panel

A special investigation of conflict of interest allegations against former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Michael K. Deaver was expanded today to cover the possibility that he may have lied in congressional testimony or obstructed the current inquiry.

Acting on a request by special prosecutor Whitney North Seymour, a three-judge appeals court panel authorized Seymour to determine whether Deaver “has obstructed the due administration of justice, given false testimony or made any false statement.”

The three judges also expanded Seymour’s investigation to include “any person or entity” who may have conspired with Deaver to violate federal conflict of interest laws.

Seymour was named last May to investigate allegations of improper lobbying by Deaver after he left the White House in 1985.

Seymour has been examining whether Deaver violated federal conflict of interest laws in representing Canada and Puerto Rico after setting up a multimillion-dollar lobbying firm in Washington.

The lobbying by Deaver, a close friend of President and Nancy Reagan, became a matter of intense interest to Congress, and Deaver testified extensively about his activities on Capitol Hill last spring.

In his testimony, Deaver outlined his lobbying on behalf of the government of Canada on the issue of acid rain pollution. Before leaving the White House, Deaver was heavily involved in urging the appointment of a special envoy on acid rain, an issue of intense interest to the Canadian government.

After leaving the government, Deaver signed a $105,000-a-year contract with Canada and proceeded to meet with the U.S. presidential envoy on acid rain, Drew Lewis.

The Justice Department has said that Deaver may have violated a lifetime ban on lobbying the government on an issue in which he participated while he was at the White House.