White House Defends ‘Plea Bargaining’ With Noriega

The White House, insisting that it must consider all available means to bring about the resignation of Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega, Thursday defended its consideration of a deal that could involve dropping drug indictments pending against Noriega in Florida.

“What this amounts to is a plea bargain,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said. He declined to give specifics of the negotiations with Noriega and asserted that no agreement has been reached.

If a deal on the charges could be worked out, it “would be the most fruitful and productive plea bargain that we have seen in a long time,” White House Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr. said.

The White House and State Department sought to keep a snug mantle of secrecy over the long-running efforts to remove Noriega from power. Officials expressed concern that premature disclosure of details of the negotiations being conducted with the Panamanian general could derail the shadowy talks.

But according to Administration officials, one proposal under negotiation includes the possibility that Noriega would face no criminal prosecution if he went into exile. Grand juries in Miami and Tampa indicted Noriega on drug-trafficking charges in February.

“If Noriega were to offer to leave (Panama) in exchange for some action on our part, that action could include dropping the charges,” one Administration official said. “But that may be the outer limits of what we’re proposing, and it’s incorrect to say the President has signed off on it. There’s nothing final until it comes back and is presented to the President.”

The prospect that the drug charges might be dismissed brought angry reactions from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, who said such a concession would undercut U.S. efforts to combat drug trafficking.

And it prompted the U.S. attorney in Miami, who has spearheaded the investigation into Noriega’s alleged involvement in drug smuggling, to fly to Washington to meet with Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III.

‘Views Haven’t Changed’

U.S. Atty. Leon Kellner, who has resigned effective next month, said in a statement issued by his office after his 10- to 15-minute session with Meese that he still wants to proceed with the Noriega prosecution.

“I am authorized to say his views haven’t changed and he wants to proceed with the case and he’s ready to proceed with the trial,” said Ana Barnett, Kellner’s executive assistant. Meese would not comment.

One Administration source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, played down reports that Meese had strongly objected to any deal that would include dropping the charges.

“I don’t think that’s anywhere near reality,” the official said. This source added that it would be in line with Meese’s style for him to present options to Reagan, tell him which he favored and leave the decision to the President.

President Kept Informed

White House officials said that, while Reagan was being kept informed of the efforts to force Noriega from office, he was playing no direct role in the negotiations.

Publicly, the Administration insisted originally that Noriega must leave Panama and face charges in the United States. Secretary of State George P. Shultz said March 11: “He has been indicted in this country, and I’m sure the Justice Department intends to prosecute him if it can. . . . That’s our position.”

But two months of tough U.S. economic sanctions have failed to dislodge Noriega, who is the commander of the Panama Defense Forces, and the Administration has been forced to scale back its public demands. Fitzwater told reporters Thursday that “our policy has always been Noriega must leave power. . . . We still believe that we want him to leave the country.”

When a reporter asked whether permitting Noriega to avoid prosecution in exchange for giving up power would send “a signal that crime pays,” Fitzwater said: “We just have to wait and see the outcome of this. I don’t think there should be any question about our position on drugs, or drug use, or indictments, or the law.”

DEA Chief’s Position

Meanwhile, John C. Lawn, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, whose Miami agents conducted the investigation that led to Noriega’s indictment there, said he was not aware of any deal in the works for Noriega. He said through a spokesman that he assumed his views would be sought if any such deal were in the offing and that they had not been.

If he were asked, Lawn said, he would oppose dropping the charges because it would cheapen the DEA investigation that led to the indictment, would damage drug agents’ morale, particularly in Miami, and would mix politics with law enforcement.

Even if the Administration reaches an agreement with Noriega to drop the drug charges, U.S. District Court Judge William Hoeveler said he does not believe that the presiding judges in Miami and Tampa would be bound to abide by the deal and dismiss the indictments.

Hoeveler has been assigned the case in Miami, where Noriega has been charged in a 12-count indictment with accepting $4.6 million in bribes from Colombia’s Medellin drug cartel. In Tampa, Noriega faces three counts involving allegations of marijuana smuggling.

Circulating Rumors

Rumors of a possible agreement in the Noriega case began circulating in Washington on Wednesday. Officials speculated that they had been prompted by concern among mid-level Justice Department officials that the Panamanian leader would be allowed to avoid prosecution, or--considered less likely by some--that they had been floated as trial balloons by State Department officials who wanted to determine the reaction to such a deal.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michael G. Kozak, at the center of the Administration’s efforts to negotiate with Noriega, has been in Panama since last week, Administration officials said.

In political circles, the reaction to the reports about a possible agreement was swift and generally angry. Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) called the reported deal “a terrible mistake.”

“What we have here,” D’Amato said, “is an Administration that’s set its hair on fire and it’s trying to put it out with a hammer.”

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) said that the reported agreement with Noriega would allow his loyalists to retain control while he spends “a year’s vacation on the Riviera.”

“If I was a cop in Boston or Miami or somewhere, I’d sit there and say this Administration has sent a signal that crime does pay,” Kerry told CBS News.

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said that the Administration had “gotten into the soup” by failing to consult with U.S. allies in Central America before proceeding against Noriega.

His remaining opponent for the nomination, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said: “You can’t be partners one day, indict the next day and exonerate the next day.”

Vice President George Bush, who has campaigned for the death penalty for international drug kingpins, refused to comment.

“I’ve learned something from some experience in this,” Bush said. “When negotiations are going on that are sensitive, you don’t discuss them.”