Top State Department Lawyer Bitter About Criticism Over ABM Treaty

Abraham D. Sofaer says he has been burned and tempered since leaving the federal bench three years ago to become the top lawyer at the State Department, a job that keeps him in the heat of the battle over “Star Wars,” the Iran-Contra affair and other controversies.

“If it helps to go through fire, I was helped,” said Sofaer.

Sofaer, 49, says he faces an uncertain future after President Reagan leaves office, and is bitter about criticism he received from lawmakers for what is called the “broad interpretation” of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Provoked Angry Outcries

His interpretation, which would have allowed Reagan to accelerate the development and testing of missile defenses using lasers and other exotic weapons, provoked angry outcries from members of Congress, who voted last year to bar the Administration from spending any money that would violate the “restrictive interpretation.”

“I hope that people consider me to be respectable and honorable some day for my work,” Sofaer said. “But it has been very rough to be attacked the way some people have attacked me,” he said, referring to Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) of the Foreign Relations Committee.”

“Arms control is a very, very emotional subject,” Sofaer said. “I must say I was not clued in, in a sense, so it was a shock for me to run into that degree of criticism. I feel it was very unfair and unjustified.”

He was also involved in questioning Israeli officials in the case of Jonathan Pollard, who was sentenced to life in prison for spying for Israel, and has facilitated contacts between the Israeli government and the independent counsel investigating the Iran-Contra affair.

Sofaer, interviewed in his office, indicated that he might oppose efforts by the Iran-Contra independent counsel to subpoena testimony from two Israelis involved in the clandestine sale of arms to Iran, but that no final decision had been reached.

Team of 100 Lawyers

As State Department legal adviser, Sofaer heads a team of about 100 lawyers, and by all accounts has a warm relationship with Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

Sofaer was born on May 6, 1938, in Bombay to a family of Iraqi Jews, and came to this country in 1948. After attending law school, he served as clerk to Supreme Court Associate Justice William J. Brennan in 1966-67, taught law at Columbia University from 1969-79 and was a U.S. district judge in New York 1979-85.

Sofaer gained national prominence as trial judge in the libel case brought by former Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon against Time Magazine.

In a landmark verdict engineered by Sofaer, the jury found that Time made a factual error in reporting that a secret Israeli report said Sharon had discussed revenge with Lebanese officials before massacres in two Palestinian refugee camps. But the jury said Time acted without malice, and was therefore not liable for monetary damages.

“Because of the way I handled the verdict, it turned out to be an important innovation in libel law,” said Sofaer, who proudly points out a sketch of the trial scene hanging on a wall of his State Department office.

‘Particularly Liked Trials’

“I liked being a judge very much,” said Sofaer. “I particularly liked trials.”

But, he said, “I don’t have any expectation of returning to the bench. No one has invited me. I would certainly prefer that to being unemployed. I don’t expect to be unemployed.”

The truth is, he said, “it’s a possibility that I will have a lot of time on my hands” after Reagan leaves office.

Sofaer bridles at accusations that he devised legal rationales for controversial Reagan policies, such as Star Wars.