Bennett Tells Ginsburg to Withdraw

Even as he publicly defended his Supreme Court nominee, President Reagan gave a Cabinet member permission Friday to ask Douglas H. Ginsburg to withdraw from consideration because he had used marijuana.

Ginsburg was noncommittal when Education Secretary William J. Bennett told him that the fight was “not winnable” and that staying in “hurts the President,” according to Bennett’s spokesman, Loye Miller.

Miller said Bennett told Reagan on Friday afternoon that it was essential that the nomination be withdrawn and that he was willing to give Ginsburg the message.

“Do what you think is right,” Miller quoted Reagan as responding.

‘Hopeless Cause’

A senior White House official later confirmed the account and said it would be best if Ginsburg stepped aside because it was a “hopeless cause.”

Earlier Friday, Reagan rejected senators’ suggestions that he withdraw the nomination and said Ginsburg’s admission of drug use in the 1960s and 1970s didn’t make him “an addict.” Reagan said he was confident the nation would show compassion to a man who “erred in his youth.”

According to Miller’s account, Bennett called Ginsburg about 4 p.m., about an hour after speaking to Reagan, and told the judge that continuing to seek the seat was “not right.”

He said Ginsburg would be able to withdraw “gracefully” now but would not be able to do so later, Miller said.

Ginsburg Noncommittal

Ginsburg was noncommittal because he had been to the White House earlier and received encouragement, Miller said.

A senior White House official confirmed Miller’s account Friday night, saying that Bennett and a number of other conservatives had concluded that “this is a hopeless cause and damaging to the President.”

“I don’t think any major conservative organization is going to be able to generate any grass-roots support for him. It would be best for him to step aside and let us get on with naming another nominee,” the official said.

And although Ginsburg “was not persuaded” by Bennett’s call, the official said, “something needs to happen in the next 72 hours.”

‘Worst of All Worlds’

“The worst of all worlds is that he hangs in there,” the official said.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater acknowledged that Bennett had talked to the President but added, “I don’t know what he said.”

“We don’t discuss private phone calls and we won’t in this case,” Fitzwater said.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department tried to quell talk that Ginsburg might have lied about past marijuana use when applying for federal jobs.

Background Checks

The department issued a statement late in the day, saying the FBI in its background checks of Ginsburg for various government jobs apparently never asked him whether he had used drugs.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said Ginsburg had told senators he had used the illegal drug as recently as 1979, while a Harvard Law School professor. And criticism from conservative senators mounted.

In addition, Democratic Sen. Howell Heflin of Alabama said Ginsburg’s admission raised questions of possible perjury if the nominee had lied about drug use on previous government documents.

In response, Justice Department spokesman Terry Eastland said that “I have made a vigorous effort today to find out whether Douglas Ginsburg was ever asked about drug use, whether on employment forms related to government service or in interviews conducted by the FBI or other Justice Department and White House officials.

No Evidence Found

“I have been unable to find any evidence that any such questions were asked,” Eastland said at a news conference.

The closest Ginsburg came to being asked about drugs, according to Eastland, was when he was nominated for the federal appeals court in 1986. At that time, one of the questions in a Justice Department questionnaire was whether there had been “anything in your personal life which you feel, if known, may be of embarrassment to the Administration.”

Another question asked at that time was whether he had ever been treated for or had any problem associated with consumption of alcoholic beverages or any form of drug dependency.

Eastland said that Ginsburg answered both questions but he declined to give the answers, saying they were “confidential.”

Defended by Meese

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, who heads the Justice Department, was instrumental in bringing about Ginsburg’s nomination and has defended him since his drug admission.

Reagan appeared to be paying little attention to the advice of some key senators that the nomination be reconsidered. Such suggestions came from Democratic Leader Robert C. Byrd and from several Republicans who had been expected to lead the charge for confirmation.

The President, asked whether the 41-year-old federal appellate judge could be confirmed, said, “If there’s any justice in Washington, he can.”

Ginsburg acknowledged Thursday that he used marijuana once in the 1960s and several times in the 1970s, an admission that came after reporters sought his comment on drug use allegations.

Last Date of Use

Specter said on Friday, “Yesterday afternoon Judge Ginsburg met with members of the Judiciary Committee and sat down with me and the date given to me as the last date of use was 1979.”

Byrd (D-W.Va.), who voted with the majority in defeating previous nominee Robert H. Bork, said Ginsburg himself “should give very, very serious consideration” to withdrawing his name.

Even more ominous for Ginsburg’s chances were comments of Republicans such as Sen. Larry Pressler of South Dakota, who said, “I’ve asked the White House to reassess the nomination. If he did use marijuana when he was a professor at Harvard Law School, I would have a very difficult time supporting his nomination.

“This Administration is conducting a war on drugs and it will be very hard to explain support for a person who used marijuana while a professor of law.”

‘Was Not an Addict’

Reagan said of Ginsburg during a picture-taking session with Republican members of Congress at the White House, “He was not an addict . . . was nothing of that kind.”

Asked if he were planning to withdraw the nomination, Reagan said, “I am not. I accept his statement. I believe that’s enough said.”

Reagan said he was “old enough to have seen that era in which his generation and the generation earlier than that--how it was taken and all, and how many of us would like to have everything we did when we were younger put on the book?”

The President said many of the nation’s most prominent public servants “have had to acknowledge errors they made in their youth or even more serious errors committed when they were older” and have been forgiven by the American people.

‘Expressed His Regrets’

“In the case of Judge Ginsburg, I think the American people will be no less compassionate and no less wise,” Reagan said. “Judge Ginsburg erred in his youth. He has acknowledged it. He has expressed his regrets.”

First Lady Nancy Reagan, a crusader against drug abuse, said in a statement relayed by her press secretary, Elaine Crispen, “Unfortunately the ‘60s and the ‘70s were a time when a lot of people experimented with pot. Apparently he did, and I’m sorry about that.”