Thurmond Sees Meese to Tell ‘Deep Concern’

Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond met today with embattled Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III to convey the “deep concern” expressed by some members of Congress in the wake of resignations by two top Justice Department officials.

The South Carolina senator, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, refused to comment further on the nature of the discussions with Meese, who is under investigation by an independent counsel.

In a statement issued by his office, Thurmond said, “a number of people on Capitol Hill have expressed deep concern about the problems at the Justice Department.

“I went today to talk to the attorney general to convey these concerns to him.”

0 The meeting with Thurmond was the reason Meese was late for a scheduled 12:30 p.m. news conference at FBI headquarters, where he refused to answer reporters’ questions on the resignation of two of his top aides. The resignations came amid increasing skepticism on Capitol Hill over whether Meese can continue to run the Justice Department.

At the news conference, called to announce a major drug bust, Meese briskly turned aside at least half a dozen questions relating to the possibility that he might quit in the wake of Tuesday’s resignations of Deputy Atty. Gen. Arnold I. Burns and Assistant Atty. Gen. William F. Weld.

Meese said he would answer questions on the resignations “within the next several days” when “I hope and I fully expect . . . to be announcing various appointments to fill those vacancies.”

“The business of law enforcement is going forward energetically and without interruption,” asserted Meese. “Our strong management team is on the job.”