Wider Probe of Ex-HUD Chief Sought : House Panel Cites ‘Widespread Abuse, Influence Peddling’

A congressional panel asked a special prosecutor today to broaden his probe of former Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr., saying it has evidence Pierce steered money to clients of his former law firm and may have committed perjury.

In urging independent counsel Arlin Adams to expand his investigation, the House Government Operations housing subcommittee said its 14-month probe uncovered “widespread abuses, influence peddling, blatant favoritism, monumental waste and gross mismanagement” at HUD.

The subcommittee specifically asked Adams to widen his investigation into three areas of possible wrongdoing:

--Whether Pierce committed perjury during the only appearance before the subcommittee, on May 25, 1989, in which the former Cabinet officer gave detailed testimony. The congressional panel said many of Pierce’s statements were contradicted by subsequent testimony. Pierce essentially maintained that he did not play a direct role in the awarding of housing projects.

--Whether Pierce conspired with others to steer HUD business to clients of Battle, Fowler, Jaffin & Kheel, the Wall Street law firm where Pierce had been a partner. It also questions whether Pierce conspired with his former top aide, Lance Wilson, in connection with contract awards.

--Whether Pierce and other HUD officials “conspired to defraud” the government in the handling of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s coinsurance program, which provided backing for housing development projects during the Reagan Administration from 1981 to ’89.

The letter came as the eight-member panel neared an end to its investigation of the HUD scandal. A subcommittee source, discussing the panel’s role on grounds of anonymity, said no more hearings are scheduled. The aide said the subcommittee hopes to complete a final report, with recommendations for reforms at HUD, sometime late next month.

The letter said documents found in HUD files show that Pierce’s former law firm frequently sought Pierce’s assistance in HUD-related matters. It said they included having Pierce meet with a client to discuss a development grant application and helping secure lucrative housing subsidies.

It cited a letter from a partner in the firm to Pierce’s assistant, Deborah Gore Dean, in 1985 seeking her help in obtaining a subsidy for an Amherst, N.Y., project and recounting past assistance in another project there, Allenhurst Apartments.

“In light of Secretary Pierce’s long and close relationship with his former law firm, Battle, Fowler, it defies logic and reason that Dean would have assisted Battle, Fowler in obtaining these scarce and much-in-demand (subsidy) units for the Allenhurst project on her own without the direct and intimate involvement of Secretary Pierce,” the letter said.

Thomas Glynn, a partner in Battle, Fowler and spokesman for the firm, said, “We are confident that no member or employee of the firm has engaged in any inappropriate conduct.”