Meese Leaves Door Ajar for Quitting Early

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III on Monday night left open the possibility that he will resign before the November election.

But the attorney general said that before stepping aside, he wants to respond to the allegations that have been made against him concerning his ties to scandal-plagued Wedtech Corp. and a $1-billion Iraqi pipeline project.

An independent counsel who has been investigating Meese for the past year is expected to issue a report in several weeks that will raise questions about his ethical conduct, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Once the independent counsel’s report is out and he has had an opportunity to “set the record straight,” Meese said, “my own personal plans are going to be the deciding point as to when the proper time is to step down.”

Meese said that time could be next Jan. 20, when President Reagan leaves office, or “sometime before that.”

Meese was interviewed on Cable News Network’s “Larry King Live” show. When asked by the show’s guest host, former White House aide Patrick J. Buchanan, whether a resignation before Labor Day is a possibility, Meese replied: “I don’t think I’d rule anything in or anything out.”