Nominee Rejects No. 2 Justice Post : ‘Not Prepared for the Pressures,’ Shepherd Tells Meese

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, struggling to fill the top vacancies at the Justice Department, said today that his second choice for the No. 2 post has withdrawn his name from consideration.

John Shepherd, the man Meese had picked to replace Arnold I. Burns, said in a statement that he and his wife “were not prepared for the pressures” to which he would be subjected.

Burns resigned over Meese’s legal problems. His resignation takes effect Friday, and his departure--and Shepherd’s withdrawal--will leave the department without either a No. 2 or No. 3 official and with no assistant attorney general for the key criminal division.

Choice Announced April 5

Meese had announced on April 5 that Shepherd, a St. Louis attorney and former president of the American Bar Assn., was his choice to become deputy attorney general.

Shepherd, in his statement, said he had originally felt it was his duty to accept Meese’s offer “without hesitation.”

But, he added, “I am concerned about the personal and financial sacrifices my family and I were being asked to make in order to accept a very difficult short-term appointment.”

Meese, in his statement, said, “Regrettably, intense media attention on Mr. Shepherd’s impending nomination has had a severe impact on him and his family.”

Shepherd earlier had been recommended for a job in the Justice Department by E. Robert Wallach, a longtime Meese friend now under indictment in the Wedtech scandal, sources said today.

The sources, who requested anonymity, said Wallach had proposed Shepherd’s name for an unspecified post in 1984 or 1985.

Shortly before Meese recommended Shepherd for the Justice Department post, a former bookkeeper from Shepherd’s law firm testified that she had had an affair with Shepherd. The bookkeeper, who was convicted of embezzlement, claimed Shepherd had told her to write checks to herself. Shepherd denied that he had an affair with her or that he had authorized her to write checks.

In addition, it was disclosed earlier that Shepherd belonged to an all-male club and to an all-white country club.

Meese has been trying since the beginning of this week to fill the post that Shepherd was to have taken, following Shepherd’s discussion with the attorney general last Friday in which Shepherd said he had reservations about taking the job.

Shepherd, 62, was Meese’s second choice to take Burns’ place. The attorney general was rebuffed by Philadelphia lawyer and former federal judge Arlin Adams earlier this month.

Vacancy Remains

Meese has also not found a replacement for Assistant Atty. Gen. William Weld, head of the criminal division, who resigned in protest along with Burns.

Meanwhile, more Justice Department deputies are leaving their posts in an exodus sparked by Meese’s legal problems, virtually emptying the department’s No. 2 office.

The three top aides to Burns are quitting the government or transferring to new jobs. Department sources said Tuesday that all three rejected overtures by Meese aides to remain at Justice after Burns and Weld quit.