White House Directive Stalls Noriega Probe

The White House has ordered key federal agencies to refuse to supply information for an investigation into alleged drug-running activities of Panamanian leader Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, a government investigator said today.

Nancy Kingsbury, head of a General Accounting Office investigative team, said the President’s National Security Council has consistently blocked her team’s efforts to study how information about drug trafficking by foreign officials influences foreign policy decisions by the United States.

Noriega was indicted by two Florida federal grand juries in February on drug trafficking charges. The Reagan Administration offered to drop the charges if Noriega would resign and leave Panama. Noriega refused the offer.

“We have been pursuing the issue fairly actively since May,” Kingsbury said. “The NSC informed us that they wished to issue guidelines on information made available prior to our discussions with the agencies. The agencies won’t meet with us until the NSC issues guidelines.”

In a letter to Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who requested the GAO study along with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Kingsbury said the NSC had ordered the departments of State and Justice not to cooperate with the GAO until guidelines were issued.

Told to Cease Cooperation

She said GAO auditors were able to complete preliminary investigations at the Defense Department, but on July 12 were told that the Pentagon, too, was instructed by the NSC to “cease cooperation with the GAO until such guidelines are available,” according to the letter.

Kingsbury said it is not unusual to have discussions about access to information, particularly in areas dealing with foreign policy and intelligence, but she said it is unusual for the NSC to foreclose the GAO from any contact with the agencies.

“I think it is reasonable for there to be some concerns by executive branch,” she said. “But whether it’s reasonable to take two or three months to sort it out, that’s for someone else to say.”

Alexander charged the White House with “stonewalling” in what appeared to be an effort to withhold evidence, an accusation echoed today by Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis.

The investigation could touch on politically sensitive matters, including when Vice President George Bush learned of Noriega’s alleged involvement in drug activities.