Meese, Kennedy Clash at Senate Hearing

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time since Democrats took control of the panel, was accused Wednesday of “contemptible” actions in pursuit of a “right-wing agenda.”

A grim-faced Meese dismissed the harshest of the attacks, by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), as “a political diatribe” and described himself as “one of the foremost defenders of civil rights in the United States.”

But the attorney general also drew fire from a member of his own party, Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, signaling that he faces rough sledding before the committee as he tries to implement further changes at the Justice Department in the final two years of the Reagan Administration.

Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said the committee, which oversees the Justice Department, will conduct the first “comprehensive review” of the department since 1979.

Kennedy Levels Criticism

“Bar none, this is the most anti-civil rights Administration I have ever seen,” Kennedy said, noting that he had served in the Senate for 24 years.

The Administration’s sins, Kennedy charged, include “tax credits for segregated schools, opposition to the Voting Rights Act, resistance to the Martin Luther King holiday bill, the assault on the Civil Rights Commission, relentless hostility to affirmative action, the shameful ballot security program for the 1986 election (and) the nomination of racists to the federal courts.”

“Howard Beach and Forsyth County are happening on your watch, Mr. Meese,” he said, referring to recent racial incidents in New York and Georgia.

Meese battled back, saying: “I consider myself one of the foremost defenders of civil rights in the United States.

“In most of the things you have said in your political diatribe, you are just flat wrong,” Meese said. He added that there were “so many inaccuracies in (Kennedy’s) statement of facts” that he would respond later in writing.

“Race Has Begun”

“The 1988 presidential race has now begun,” declared Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), the former chairman.

“Who’s in it?” asked Biden, who is considering seeking the Democratic nomination--a quip that drew one of the few laughs at the tense session.

Kennedy, who called the Administration’s record “contemptible,” condemned the appointment of only three blacks in the 97 District Court judgeships.

Meese responded that, in appointing judges, the President draws from a pool of names proposed by GOP senators. But Kennedy interrupted: “We weren’t born yesterday. We all know the power of the attorney general. If you want to indict your party’s senators up here, that will stand.”

“Senator, I think you know better than that,” Meese said. “I think you know this is a shared responsibility between senators, the attorney general’s office and the President.”

Cites Party Registration

He added that party registration would “have something to do” with the small number of blacks appointed. The overwhelming majority of black voters are Democrats.

Grassley centered his criticism on what he sees as the Justice Department’s failure to vigorously prosecute fraud by defense contractors. The General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress, has found that none of the top defense contractors--many of which Grassley said had been investigated--were prosecuted through July, 1986.

Meese challenged the GAO’s figures, saying the office often operates with “different premises.”

Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) charged that Meese had told President Reagan that he was “above the law” by telling him that he could withhold reporting to Congress on U.S. arms sales to Iran, despite a statute requiring that arms sales be reported.

The attorney general said that “Congress itself has recognized that the President has certain constitutional authorities in the conduct of foreign policy that cannot be circumscribed by reporting or other requirements laid on him by Congress.”

When asked by Biden to return, Meese said he would come back “if necessary” but suggested that further inquiry could be handled in writing. Pressed by Biden, the attorney general added: “We’ll see if we can work out a convenient time.”