Judge Told of Deaver’s ‘Acute Alcoholism’

Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Michael K. Deaver was consuming “bottles and bottles” of wine each day in the spring of 1985 and his doctors then put him on heavy doses of tranquilizers to wean him from alcohol, a federal judge was told Thursday.

An attorney for Deaver told Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson that his client’s “acute alcoholism” and the subsequent treatment explain his failure to recall key conversations during that time and justifies showing him leniency in his sentencing for lying under oath to investigating panels.

Deaver was convicted on three counts of lying to a grand jury and a congressional investigating committee about his lobbying activities in 1985 after he left the White House. Jackson, who Thursday heard prosecution and defense pleas about the punishment Deaver should receive, will sentence the former official next Friday. Deaver could receive up to five years in prison for each of the three counts.

The convictions stem in part from calls Deaver made to then-Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole and other officials on June 3 and 4, 1985. At that time, Deaver was operating a public relations business and promoting clients’ interests on a number of issues pending before the government.

Received Valium

Testifying at Thursday’s hearing, Dr. William Argy said that, on the two days in question, Deaver was in Georgetown University Hospital and had been given 140 milligrams of the tranquilizer Valium to ease his withdrawal symptoms. The doctor said that a normal dose of Valium is 2 to 5 milligrams, but Deaver was getting 20 milligrams every four hours.

When he stopped by to see Deaver on June 3, Argy said, “he was lying in bed in his pajamas and was on the phone.”

Deaver attorney Randall J. Turk said it “was quite understandable” that Deaver would have forgotten those phone calls when he was questioned about them the next year before a grand jury.

During Deaver’s trial, the judge refused to let the attorneys present evidence about their client’s alcoholism as part of a “diminished capacity” defense. In a controversial move, the lawyers then decided not to put Deaver on the witness stand and presented no defense.

After the jury returned a conviction, however, Jackson agreed to hear evidence about Deaver’s alcoholism before making his decision on a sentence.

Cites Medical Records

Independent counsel Whitney North Seymour Jr., who prosecuted Deaver, said that the medical records presented to the court show “nothing to support any finding that his memory was impaired.” He said that nurses and doctors treating Deaver described him as alert and talkative.

Argy, a kidney specialist, testified that he treated Deaver in January, 1985, for kidney failure and an enlarged liver. The White House aide was suffering from “fevers, an unsteady gait, hallucinations . . . (and) decreased mental acuity,” he said. He said that, when he talked to him, Deaver’s sentences “just trailed off. He was lethargic and it appeared he was either confused or falling asleep.”

The doctor said he initially suspected that Deaver was having an allergic reaction to medication for high blood pressure. Only in late May, when Deaver called back to discuss his alcohol problem, did the doctor realize that his heavy drinking might have been the source of the problem.

In medical records read to the court, Deaver’s wife, Carolyn, said that her husband was drinking “bottles and bottles” of wine in May, 1985, the month he left the White House to set up his private lobbying business. The medical records showed that Deaver told doctors his drinking “reached a crescendo” during those months.