Meese Issues Apology to Ex-NASA Chief for Attempted Prosecution

More than a year after a key deputy refused to do so, outgoing Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III has issued a “profound apology” to former NASA Administrator James M. Beggs for the Justice Department’s attempt to prosecute him on fraud charges.

Meese, in a letter that was hand-delivered to Beggs, said he had an opportunity to review “the circumstances surrounding the wrongful indictment against you” and that “there is no way to undo the pain that you have suffered.”

He offered “a profound apology on behalf of the federal government and the Department of Justice” in the letter, dated June 29.

“Department officials, including some who have now departed, proceeded in this case on the basis of what proved to be an inaccurate understanding and assessment of the underlying facts,” Meese wrote.

Beggs, who was executive vice president of General Dynamics Corp. before he took the top post at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was indicted with the company and three of its officials in December, 1985, on charges they defrauded the government in a weapons contract. He took a leave that extended through the Challenger explosion that killed seven crewmen. Beggs then resigned, because the accident made it imperative that NASA have a hands-on administrator.

The government conceded in June, 1987, that it had insufficient evidence and withdrew its charges against all of the defendants. Beggs said at a news conference then that it would be nice if he received an apology from Meese, who was out of the country.

Assistant Atty. Gen. William F. Weld said he had respect for Beggs, but declined “the invitation to embrace the language of apology.” He said he would trust public opinion to recognize that “in a criminal case if no conviction is obtained, no blemish should attach.” Weld has since resigned.