Funds Charge Could Delay Vote on Tower Indefinitely

The FBI has received a new allegation of misconduct against Defense Secretary-designate John Tower and has extended its investigation of the troubled nominee, the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee said Tuesday night.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) said the White House agreed that the charge should be checked by the FBI. Warner indicated that Tower’s confirmation proceedings would be delayed indefinitely.

Warner would not comment on the specifics of the new allegation, but Administration sources said that it related to campaign funds Tower may have received from a defense contractor when he was a senator. He said that the allegation should be investigated by FBI agents “in an orderly way, at their own pace.”

Meanwhile, the second-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. J. James Exon of Nebraska, said Tuesday evening that he now opposes the Tower nomination. And Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the committee, has indicated privately to some Democratic colleagues on the panel that he also is leaning against the nomination, in part because of the seriousness of the charges against the former Texas senator and in part out of anger at the way the White House has handled the matter.

However, an aide said Tuesday night that Nunn has made no public statement opposing Tower and would not make up his mind about the nomination until he has read the final FBI investigative report.

“I really came to that decision (to oppose Tower) tonight after, or about, the time that the FBI report was delayed and after the shenanigans of today,” Exon told the Associated Press.

Earlier, Exon had told The Times that he was “concerned that John Tower at one time, years or months ago, had a serious problem with alcohol. All during the investigation the question has been on many of our minds of whether that was still the case or has he corrected that problem.”

Warner’s announcement was made only hours after President Bush and top aides had met at the White House with Warner, Nunn and Tower to discuss the nomination.

Administration sources said it will be difficult to resolve the new allegation quickly. They said there are questions about whether the report has been distorted by personal animosity against the nominee.

‘Serious Questions’

One Democratic panel member, after being briefed by an FBI agent in his office late Monday, said that he was left with “serious questions” about whether Tower in fact has conquered his admitted alcohol problems, as Tower asserted before the committee last week.

As partisan infighting grows in the Armed Services Committee and new allegations surface almost daily, Tower’s confirmation appears seriously jeopardized. It now appears that no vote on the nomination will be taken this week, and the Senate will not be in session next week.

The delay could leave the President without his key adviser on military matters and critical budget questions for nearly four weeks after the inauguration.

Bush said Tuesday that he stands behind Tower, and Tower himself has given no thought to asking that his nomination be withdrawn, according to aides.

At the White House, Bush met with Tower, Nunn and Warner for about 45 minutes Tuesday afternoon--a meeting requested by the committee chairman, according to Warner.

Bush stressed to Nunn that he supports Tower and wants to see him confirmed quickly.

“He’s the guy I want for the job,” Bush was quoted as saying.

Nunn told Bush and his senior staff members that he had “concerns” about the Tower nomination but did not flatly say he was opposed to it. He was “not that black and white about it,” said a senior aide familiar with the discussion.

A senior White House official, expressing annoyance at the latest delay in the protracted Tower confirmation, complained: “The problem is that this is a never-ending thing. You can always get new accusations. Are we going to have this guy die the death of a thousand cuts or are we going to get a decision?”

Earlier in the day, a number of Republican senators, after hearing a preliminary briefing on Tower, declared the charges against him “groundless” and called for a quick confirmation vote.

Meanwhile, on the question of Tower’s relations with the defense industry--another key issue raised in his confirmation hearings--it was learned that the FBI has obtained a document in which Tower acknowledged that, while working as a defense consultant in the summer of 1987, he advocated increased purchases of the MX missile.

The Reagan Administration planned to deploy an additional 50 such missiles, but Tower said he believed that an additional 100 missiles would be needed.

At the time, Tower represented Rockwell International Inc., which was involved in the production of the MX, under a $120,000-a-year contract signed in July, 1986. He signed the contract soon after he stopped serving as a principal strategic arms negotiator in Geneva.

Tower said in the document that, regardless of whether he was associated with Rockwell, he would have considered the additional missiles necessary as part of the nation’s strategic deterrent. As a senator, Tower had been a consistent supporter of the MX.

If confirmed as secretary of defense, Tower could face decisions on future MX purchases, and on the continuing controversy over its basing mode.

Staff writers Paul Houston, Melissa Healy and David Lauter contributed to this story.