Meese Says He’s Innocent, Claims Probe Will Prove It : Denies He Was Told of Payoffs

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III today denied any wrongdoing on his part in connection with possible payoffs to a high Israeli official to allow an Iraqi oil pipeline to be built without Israeli interference.

Meese went before reporters at the Justice Department to read a lengthy statement in which he said he had had only a slight role in the affair.

He said he was convinced that “a thorough inquiry in a professional manner will inevitably result in a conclusion favorable to me.”

He refused to answer questions.

A close friend of Meese, E. Robert Wallach, had a financial interest in the Iraqi project and sent the attorney general a memo citing a plan to pay off a top Israeli official in return for a guarantee that Israel would not bomb the pipeline, sources have told the Los Angeles Times.

Only 10 Words

“I can tell you that the language in Mr. Wallach’s memorandum that has given rise to this speculation consists of 10 words in one of two long documents that he provided to me,” Meese said.

“I do not recall having read the specific words that have now mushroomed into importance . . . but I did not get the impression of illegality whatsoever,” Meese added.

He said the Wallach memo contained no reference to bribes or payoffs. He said his only role was, upon receiving the memo, to ask the Overseas Private Investment Corp., a government agency, for an opinion, and to refer the matter to the staff of the National Security Council.

Expresses Confidence

Meese said he was confident an investigation by independent counsel James C. McKay would show “that my limited contact with the pipeline project was totally lawful.”

The attorney general said he was speaking out to counter “misinformation, false headlines, half-truths, innuendoes and misunderstanding of the law” that he said had appeared in the press.

As long as the investigation was in the hands of an “honest and dedicated professional,” he said, it could withstand “the daily buffeting of media sensationalism.”

Meese said there had been two communications between himself and officials of the Israeli government, but they were both “limited and brief” and neither had been initiated by him.

Paid Little Attention

Meese pictured the Wallach memo in question as something he paid scant attention to.

He said Wallach, his personal friend and lawyer, “was in the habit of giving me lengthy memorandums on many subjects. I rarely had time to read them.”

Meese also stressed that he had “no personal or financial stake” in the pipeline project.

Meese made his statement after spending the morning with his personal lawyers at the Justice Department. He faces a week that includes a courtroom appearance in the Wedtech scandal and a grand jury appearance in the Iran-Contra affair.

White House Firm

The White House said earlier today there had been no change in its support for Meese despite growing controversy over the billion-dollar pipeline project.

Asked if there were any suggestions by members of the White House staff that Meese should leave office because of the probe into the pipeline, presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater replied: “No, absolutely none.”

Fitzwater said President Reagan had not talked to Meese about the case, which has rocked Washington as well as Israel.

“It is a matter before the independent counsel. It’s not appropriate,” Fitzwater said when asked why Reagan had not asked Meese about the investigation. “He’ll talk to him in the course of business. That’s no problem.”