Walsh Seeking to Quiz Senior Aides to Abrams

Special prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh wants to question senior State Department officials about their possible roles in raising money for the Nicaraguan rebels, a source familiar with the inquiry said today.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a report in today’s New York Times, which also said Walsh is seeking thousands of State Department documents.

Walsh is planning to question dozens of department officials, including three deputies of Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, the source said.

A department spokeswoman said Walsh’s investigators are “naturally and not unexpectedly” talking with officials.

Abrams drew congressional criticism last week after his testimony before the Iran- contra committees. The assistant secretary for inter-American affairs was criticized for making misleading statements to Congress last fall about the U.S. role in a resupply mission for the contras.

He admitted during his testimony that he made a “great mistake” by failing to tell the Senate Intelligence Committee last fall that he had solicited a $10-million donation to the contra cause from the Sultan of Brunei.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz this week defended Abrams’ performance despite what he termed his “mistake” in failing to disclose the Brunei solicitation.

The three Abrams aides Walsh’s staff wants to interview are James H. Michel; William G. Walker, the deputy assistant secretary for Central America, and Robert Kagan, who heads the public diplomacy office for Latin America.

Michel, recently nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, was Abrams’ principal deputy.

State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said Walsh “is naturally and not unexpectedly conducting interviews with department officials and seeking documents in our possession. . . . We do not view this as a broadening of his inquiry at the State Department.”