He Sees ‘More of a Conflict’ Than Personal Life : Simpson Concerned Over Fees to Tower

Senate Minority Whip Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) said Sunday that he sees “more of a conflict” in Defense Secretary-designate John Tower’s receipt of more than $750,000 from Pentagon contractors than in allegations about the nominee’s personal life.

“That’s heavy bucks, and people just don’t understand that part,” Simpson said of Tower’s lobbying and consulting fees from six defense contractors from 1986 through 1988.

Simpson’s comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” are significant both because of his Republican leadership role and his friendship with President Bush, with whom he went fishing shortly after the election.

Simpson’s concern over the appearance of conflict in Tower’s moving from a lucrative business relationship with arms makers to presiding over billions of dollars of defense contracting came amid indications that FBI agents have turned up nothing significant in checking on recent personal allegations that delayed a committee vote on his nomination.

More Interviews

A source close to Tower said the FBI had found nothing, but still has a couple of interviews to conduct, probably today.

The FBI has been conducting a round-the-clock inquiry since Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, called off a scheduled committee vote on Tower’s nomination and referred new allegations of drunkenness and personal misconduct to the FBI.

With some interviews still to be conducted this week, an Administration source said the latest charges “just aren’t shaking out.”

Tower’s claim to the committee that he has moderated his drinking and now indulges only in an occasional glass of wine could be called into question by some of the findings, the Administration source said. “But they haven’t found anything that would be regarded as debilitating or outrageous public drunkenness,” the source added.

Although FBI agents in Houston questioned members of Houston’s Soviet emigre community extensively, it was understood they found no support for the allegation that Tower had an affair with a Soviet-born ballerina there.

The Administration source said that unless new information surfaces, the FBI report could be completed by midweek, making possible a committee vote this week.

Appearance of Conflict

Simpson made his comments when asked if Tower’s receiving $763,777 in defense consulting and lobbying fees raised the problem of the appearance of conflict and meant that he would be recusing himself from dealing with the defense contractors to the degree “that he can’t really be secretary of defense.”

” . . . You are absolutely right, it is the appearance over everything in this community,” Simpson answered.

People would “say, ‘Wait a minute, if you come up with that same person you’re dealing with (on) procurement, isn’t that a conflict?’ ” Simpson said. “And I think that’s more of a conflict than anything with regard to his personality.”

Simpson said the committee is “probably going to approve him and I think they should.”

Sources close to Tower said they did not read Simpson’s comments about the appearance of conflict as a signal of weakening support for the nominee.

An aide to a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said that all Republicans on the panel are in line behind Tower despite Simpson’s assessment Sunday. “There is no carping, no hand-wringing,” the aide said.

At the same time, he said the most recent allegations against Tower were “wild and arresting. If they’re true, it’s the end.” But, he noted, the charges “are easily provable or disprovable.”

Severed Ties

In testifying Jan. 26 before the Senate committee about his consulting and lobbying fees, Tower said he has severed all ties to the six contractors and that his decisions as defense secretary will not be swayed by past affiliations.

“There will always be people who will suspect anyone who has been formerly associated with the defense industry,” Tower said.

The former Texas senator promised to “bend over backwards” to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, and said that he would remove himself from decisions that could result in a former client’s being suspended or barred from doing business with the federal government.

Staff writers John M. Broder and Melissa Healy contributed to this story.