Ex-U.S. Atty. Nunez Is Expected to Get a Top U.S. Treasury Post

Peter K. Nunez, former U.S. attorney in San Diego, is expected to receive an appointment as an assistant secretary for enforcement in the Treasury Department, Bush Administration officials said Wednesday.

But Nunez, contacted at his private law office in San Diego, said he has received no official word from the White House about the appointment.

“I probably shouldn’t comment, since nobody’s called to tell me anything,” he said.

According to the Bush Administration officials, Nunez has been recommended personally for the job by Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady. The nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate, and, if approved, Nunez would replace Salvatore R. Martouche, a Reagan Administration appointee.

The post is a third-tier management position within the Treasury Department, and Nunez would be responsible for such agencies as the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

A longtime Republican activist, Nunez was U. S. attorney in San Diego from 1982 through mid-1988, and served as an assistant U. S. attorney for three years before that. Officials said he has extensive experience in the enforcement of drug laws.

The Bush Administration also said that another Californian, Carol Boyd Hallett, is being appointed as U. S. commissioner of customs.

Hallett, former California state assemblywoman from Atascadero and ambassador to the Bahamas, would succeed William von Raab, who resigned earlier this year after differences with Brady and the Treasury’s senior staff. Her appointment is made by Brady and does not require nomination by the President. She is expected to begin within a few weeks.

Hallett was a member of the California Assembly from 1976 to 1982, and was Republican leader from 1979 to 1982, leaving to become state director of parks and recreation in 1983.

From 1984 through 1985, she served as assistant to the secretary of the interior for Western regional operations. Reagan appointed her ambassador to the Bahamas in 1986.