Nofziger Tie to 2nd Defense Firm Probed
An independent counsel’s investigation of lobbying by former White House aide Lyn Nofziger has been expanded to include his activities on behalf of a second defense contractor, sources said Friday.
Independent counsel James C. McKay, who has been probing Nofziger’s role in helping Wedtech Corp. win an Army contract for small engines, now is examining his efforts to help Fairchild Industries Inc. sell the Air Force more A-10 attack planes.
Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, a target of the Wedtech inquiry along with Nofziger, also was involved in the Fairchild case but reportedly is being considered only as a potential witness in that inquiry.
‘Cooperating Fully’
Fairchild, based in Chantilly, Va., said in a statement that it has been “cooperating fully with the independent counsel’s investigation of Mr. Lyn Nofziger.”
Lovida Coleman Jr., a spokeswoman for McKay, said confirmation of the expanded probe would have to come from Fairchild or Nofziger. But “insofar as whether Mr. Meese may be involved” in such an inquiry, she added, “it would be only as a witness.”
Nofziger’s attorney, Larry Barcella, said he could not comment “because of the ongoing investigation.”
Sources said Fairchild hired Washington attorney Stanton Anderson to work for an extension of its A-10 contract, and Anderson brought in Nofziger for lobbying help shortly after Nofziger left his job as White House political director in 1982. Investigators are exploring Nofziger’s contacts with Meese, who as a top White House aide at the time reportedly wrote memos supporting Fairchild’s position.
Restriction on Lobbying
Federal law forbids high-ranking government officials from lobbying their former agencies for a year after they leave office.
Neither Anderson nor Meese’s attorney, James E. Rocap, could be reached for comment.
Despite Fairchild’s efforts, Congress failed to approve an Administration request to fund the production of 20 A-10 aircraft in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 1982. The company, which had produced 713 A-10s up to that time, never produced another one, according to spokeswoman Deborah Tucker.
Like Meese, the company has been told it is a witness in the Nofziger investigation, rather than a target, sources said. The firm has turned over documents and made officials available for questioning.
McKay was appointed by a three-judge panel last February to determine if Nofziger broke the law by seeking to help New York-based Wedtech obtain an Army contract in May, 1982, and by intervening seven months later to help a Los Angeles agricultural firm preserve an overseas rice contract.
Left Job in 1982
Nofziger left his White House job on Jan. 22, 1982, to start a public relations and consulting business.
In appointing McKay, the court said the Justice Department had evidence that Nofziger, four months after leaving the White House staff, sought help for Wedtech from White House counselor James E. Jenkins. Nofziger and his business partner, Mark A. Bragg, received Wedtech stock that they later sold for about $350,000 apiece.
McKay broadened his Wedtech investigation on May 11 to look at the attorney general’s involvement with the firm. Meese has acknowledged interceding on Wedtech’s behalf in 1982 to make sure the minority-owned contractor received full consideration for the $31-million Army contract. He has denied any improprieties and said he received no benefits from the company.
