Weinberger Denies Looking Other Way in Scandal

Former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger looked the other way while a scandal was brewing in his Pentagon, two congressional critics said Sunday, but Weinberger said “I certainly don’t feel culpable” in the unfolding procurement fraud case.

Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he had warned Weinberger there was “a massive problem” with secret documents’ falling into the hands of defense contractors, but he charged that Weinberger never responded.

“I have to say that there is every appearance that they did not want to know,” Dingell said on ABC-TV’s “This Week With David Brinkley.” “It appears there is some condoning, if not active participation, by the leadership of the Pentagon in these matters.”

Sen. David Pryor (D-Ark.) said Weinberger had presided over “a feeding frenzy” of contracting full of “incestuous relationships” between federal officials and private contractors.

But he said the Defense Department has resisted every recent attempt by Congress to build in controls and accountability, including the establishment of an independent inspector general. Even now, Pryor said, the department’s inspector general is not complying with the law that requires monitoring of outside consulting contracts.

Of Weinberger and his top managers, Pryor added: “I don’t think they have met their responsibility in overseeing this tremendous shadow government that has been building, especially in the Pentagon for eight to nine years. . . . I have not seen one real reform bill that this Administration has supported.”

Appearing on the same program and on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press,” Weinberger defended his performance and said the Pentagon problems are no different from past scandals in Congress or illegality anywhere in society.

“When you’re running one of these departments with approximately 3 million people involved, you’re at the mercy of the person, one or two people, who may be dishonest,” he said.