Fahrenkopf Urges Conflict of Interest Investigation of Wright

Republican Chairman Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., clashing with Democratic Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. in a spirited debate over corruption as an issue in the presidential campaign, called Thursday for a special prosecutor to investigate possible conflicts of interest in the activities of House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas.

Fahrenkopf, stung by Kirk’s statement that “100 or more” Reagan Administration officials have resigned under a cloud and that Democrats will seek to make corruption a major issue in the coming elections, declared that serious allegations about Wright’s activity have been raised in the press and on the floor of the Congress.

“If those allegations had been made against someone in the Executive Branch there would be a hue and cry on the Hill for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate that person,” Fahrenkopf declared. “Let’s turn it around. Let’s see if there’s anything there. Appoint a special prosecutor. Let him look at it.”

Wright Gives Reply

At the state Capitol in Texas, Wright, who has tended to ignore previous accusations of corruption by Republican congressmen, said through a spokesman:

“They can look and look as long as they want and they are never going to find anything unethical or corrupt in my conduct.”

Questions about Wright have centered on his efforts on behalf of ailing savings and loan institutions in Texas and on his financial relationships with some of his political backers in Fort Worth. Besides denying any wrongdoing, Wright announced last fall that he was putting his assets in a blind trust.

Democratic leader Kirk, interviewed jointly with Fahrenkopf during a breakfast session with reporters and editors of The Times’ Washington Bureau, accused the GOP chairman of “setting up a straw situation” in calling for appointment of a special prosecutor.

Kirk pointed out that the law providing for a special prosecutor or independent counsel was passed so that the Justice Department, an agency of the Executive Department, would not face a possible conflict of interest in investigating or deciding whether to prosecute other members of the Executive Branch.

‘Plenty of Ammunition’

There is “plenty of ammunition and jurisdiction” within the Justice Department and its offices to investigate the Congress, Kirk declared.

And, referring to the fact that Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III has been the subject of five different investigations by special prosecutors or independent counsels, Kirk said: “The fact of the matter is also that you’ve got an attorney general who is more often a witness or a possible defendant than he is a prosecutor, and the fact is the Republican Party is going to have to run on that record, and they’re going to have to defend it. Good luck.”

In answer to a question, Fahrenkopf said he had heard no discussion among Republicans that Meese should step aside as attorney general during the investigations. He said Meese had been one of his teachers in law school, that they are longtime friends and that he would “not for a moment” suggest to the attorney general that he should take a leave of absence during the investigations.

Fahrenkopf said the Democratic presidential nominee undoubtedly will point to the Reagan Administration as being corrupt and not following the rule of law, but that Republicans will hold Wright and other members of his party accountable for what the GOP official termed corruption in the Democratic-controlled Congress.

‘A Double Standard’

Outlining the GOP’s plan to go on the offensive in dealing with charges of corruption, he said Republicans will counter that there is “a double standard,” that Congress exempted itself from application of the conflict-of-interest law under which former Reagan aide Lyn Nofziger recently was convicted on three counts of illegal lobbying.

Nofziger was convicted under a 1978 ethics law that prohibits former senior government officials from lobbying at their old agencies for a year after leaving on any “particular matter” that is of “direct and substantial interest” to the agency where they worked. The law does not apply to Congress.

Kirk and Fahrenkopf both predicted their parties’ nominees would be chosen during hotly contested primaries and caucuses and would win first-ballot nominations at their conventions.

Fahrenkopf acknowledged some concern over the bitter feud that has developed between the two GOP front-runners--Vice President Bush and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole--but said that prior to Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary he had not seen “any of the personal animosity that might exist between these candidates really getting down into the ranks.”

Increasingly Bitter

Prior to the primary, he said, polls showed that 70% to 75% of Bush supporters said their second choice would be Dole and 70% to 75% of Dole supporters said their second choice would be Bush.

Since the primary, however, the feud has become increasingly bitter, with Dole accusing Bush of lying about his record and running last-minute negative advertisements that he had no opportunity to answer. Fahrenkopf said that although he’s still seen no evidence of “any real animosity or bad feelings” developing among the two candidates’ supporters, “I’m going to monitor that very, very closely.”

Some Democratic strategists have said the party’s presidential race is so muddled that it could result in a deadlocked convention. And there has been speculation that, under such circumstances, the party might turn to someone who did not compete in the primaries, such as New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo or Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey.

However, Kirk said he sees little chance of a stalemated convention and no chance of the party’s selecting a nominee who has not competed in the primaries. With six candidates still in the race, Kirk said he expects a “very drastic winnowing out” after March 8 when 20 states will hold so-called Super Tuesday contests.

An Open Question

Fahrenkopf said Republicans should know the name of their nominee “by mid-April, if not after Super Tuesday, depending on what happens down there.” If the race is close and still undecided by June 7 when California holds its primary, he said, the victor in that winner-take-all state should sew up the nomination.

Kirk said he had always felt Bush would be the GOP nominee and has not changed his mind, but after watching the early Republican contests he thinks it’s more of an open question.

Fahrenkopf sees the Democratic race boiling down to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, Sen. Albert Gore Jr. of Tennessee and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, with Gephardt gaining the upper hand if he “goes South and takes Gore out early.”

Both party chairmen said they were uncertain about the kind of impact the Republican candidacy of Pat Robertson, former religious broadcaster, will have on the presidential races.

Fahrenkopf said he does expect “a lot of conservative Democrats and independents” to vote in the Republican contests in the eight Super Tuesday states where crossover voting is permitted. But the question, he said, “is whether Pat Robertson is going to be able to motivate enough to really make himself a player.”

Robertson draws much of his support from the evangelical community, but Fahrenkopf noted that it is not unanimous in supporting him.