Reagan Wants Special Counsel Probe of Wright

President Reagan, in his first on-the-record comments on the internal House investigation of Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), said Wednesday that an independent counsel should be called in to conduct the sensitive investigation into money Wright earned from the sale of his book and allegations about other activities.

“I think everyone would feel that it was more proper if it was done by an investigator outside--an appointed investigator,” Reagan said.

In an interview in the Oval Office with The Times and six foreign newspapers, Reagan also gave strong indications that he intends to seek renewed U.S. military aid for the Contras in Nicaragua. “I think it is so apparent that that is what is necessary it would be ridiculous for us--for anyone--to oppose it,” he said.

But he said no final decision had been made to seek the money from Congress, a move that would ignite another controversy over the appropriateness of more aid while peace talks on the Nicaraguan civil war are being conducted.

Until Reagan addressed the Wright case, the White House had conspicuously avoided any comment on it. However, Republicans hope that the ethics inquiry will undercut Democrats’ intentions to use the “sleaze factor”--notably Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III’s legal problems--as an issue in the presidential campaign.

A Highly Visible Role

As chairman of the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Wright will play a highly visible role next month in the nomination proceedings for candidate Michael S. Dukakis.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said after the interview that the President has no legal standing to name an independent counsel himself.

“He’s not talking about any specific mechanism. He just thinks an independent counsel is appropriate,” Fitzwater said.

A special three-judge court names such prosecutors for investigations of executive branch officials. In Wright’s case, the independent counsel presumably would be chosen by the House itself.

On Friday, the House Ethics Committee, acting on a complaint filed by Republican Newt Gingrich of Georgia, voted to investigate six aspects of Wright’s affairs to see if he violated House ethics rules. They include allegations that the 17-term congressman used the publication of a 117-page book about himself to improperly convert at least $55,000 in campaign funds to his own use. Wright received a 55% royalty, considered extremely high, for the book, which was published by a Texas political supporter.

Inquiry Called ‘Proper’

It is “proper that there is an investigation going forward with regard to these charges,” Reagan said.

But, he said, “I don’t think anyone should give an opinion (on the outcome) until we know whether they are just accusations or whether they have really happened.”

Asked whether the House panel should conduct the investigation itself, Reagan said: “I have to wonder if it should not be an independent counsel from the standpoint of the relationship of the Speaker to the majority of the committee.” The 12-member committee is evenly divided between Democratic and Republican members.

According to sources, the committee is split evenly, 6-6 along party lines, over whether to appoint an outside counsel to run the investigation. The issue is expected to be decided when the committee meets again next week.

Jaworski Role Recalled

In the past, the committee, which has a very small staff, frequently has used an outside counsel in major cases. In the late 1970s, former Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski was called in by the panel to investigate House members’ connections with the Korean lobbying scandal.

Wright, who publicly supports the committee investigation, is known to have told committee members privately that he opposes the appointment of an outside counsel. Among other things, he is said to believe an outside counsel would slow down the inquiry, which he hopes can be completed before the start of the Democratic convention.

On Wednesday, House Majority Leader Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) told reporters he also opposes the selection of outside counsel.

On the question of aid to the Contras, Reagan complained that “it is apparent that the Sandinistas are not going to democratize,” despite the cease-fire that has halted fighting in the guerrilla war, the intermittent peace talks, and the overall peace plan that has been accepted by the Central American nations.

Terms of Peace Plan

“If we want them to continue meeting and arriving at the settlement that the peace plan was supposed to bring about, which had as one of its aims democracy in Nicaragua, well, I think then that we’ve got to restore the threat to the Sandinistas--that they must see that the people of Nicaragua do have a force there that can be used to bring about an equitable settlement.”

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, speaking to reporters at the White House, said: “This whole thrust toward democracy through negotiations right now needs an extra shove.”

Administration officials have met in recent days with senior Contra leaders who are seeking more military aid but the officials have refused to promise that renewed aid will be available to resume the war. Fitzwater said the Contra officials are meeting with members of Congress, “getting a little reality check.”

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that before submitting a new request for funds, the Administration wants to determine whether it is likely to win congressional approval. Many in Congress doubt that it would.

New Aid Package

Reagan met Wednesday morning with a group of Contra supporters in Congress who urged him to prepare a new Contra aid package. Under current law, the rebels are receiving non-lethal assistance in Honduras, but the Administration is prohibited from delivering it to their camps in Nicaragua.

As a result, the senior White House official said, “all the Sandinistas have to do to win is essentially to keep negotiating and over time the (Contra) force will disappear.”

The official said the Administration is working to decide whether to seek new military aid that would be sent directly to the rebels, whether to seek aid that would be put in escrow for use if the peace negotiations are abandoned, and--if any new funding is sought--what the political prospects are for approval.

Besides The Times, the other newspapers represented in the interview with Reagan were the Toronto Star of Canada, Corriere della Sera of Italy, Liberation of France, the Daily Telegraph of Great Britain, Sueddeutsche Zeitung of West Germany, and Asahi Shimbun of Japan. They are published in the nations participating next week in the economic summit conference of the major industrial democracies in Toronto.

Staff writer Sara Fritz contributed to this story.