Sununu Blames Plight on Others, Republicans Say

White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu, surveying his precarious position because of questions about his travel practices, has lashed out at Cabinet members, other presidential advisers and the news media, blaming them for the continuing controversy, Republican political sources said Tuesday.

Among those Sununu is blaming, said two sources, are three Cabinet members with longtime personal ties to President Bush--Secretary of State James A. Baker III, Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady, and Commerce Secretary Robert A. Mosbacher. He also has named Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner as one of those working against him, the sources said.

One source added that Sununu appears to believe that Bush undercut him last week when the President said the chief of staff’s travel arrangements had created an “appearance problem.”

The source said Sununu remains unremorseful about his role in the travel controversy, despite a public statement last Saturday to the contrary. Instead, the source said, Sununu is convinced the issue has been kept alive by others.

The GOP sources said that among those advisers Sununu is blaming for fueling the furor are Robert S. Teeter, Peter Teeley, and Craig Fuller, all of whom worked for Bush during the 1988 presidential race. They also are expected to play key roles in his 1992 reelection campaign. Teeter is a political consultant and pollster, Teeley was a Bush press secretary, and Fuller was the chief of staff in Bush’s vice presidential office.

Sununu also has been blaming journalists for his problems, one source said, quoting the chief of staff as saying: “The press is out to get me.”

“What’s interesting is that John feels everyone else is to blame. But this is all self-inflicted,” said one Republican source.

The source, noting that the information about Sununu’s use of Air Force jets, a White House limousine and corporate jets for political and personal travel had come from the White House, said: “It’s his own staff that’s doing him in.”

The sources said Sununu has been complaining bitterly to conservative allies in Congress--while attacking other congressional members--and to conservative columnists, seeking both a sympathetic hearing and support in fighting back.

Few of those close to the controversy disagree with the suggestion that Sununu has problems with key members of the White House staff--nearly all of whom have tangled with him over the 2 1/2 years of the Bush Administration and have been at the receiving end of his barbed comments.

Cabinet members have also found themselves in frequent battles with the powerful chief of staff.

Despite Sununu’s efforts to rally support, questions are growing about his chances of retaining his post.

Sources close to Bush were saying as recently as Sunday that if Sununu could maintain a low profile and reduce his travel, he could survive the furor and hold on to his job--although perhaps with reduced influence in the Oval Office. But on Tuesday, these sources were less sure that would be possible.

“It could be very serious,” said one of the President’s friends.

As of Monday, Bush was said by this source to be trying to avoid any shake-up of his staff before the 1992 election.

“I’m beginning to wonder if they can hold the boat steady,” the source said. “George Bush would like to hold on. But John Sununu has slipped greatly. He no longer enjoys the confidence he has had and he knows this.”

After it was disclosed last Saturday that Sununu had ignored the advice of White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray and personally solicited a ride aboard a corporate aircraft, and then gave Gray erroneous information about who had provided the jet, Sununu issued a statement saying he regretted the appearance of impropriety.

“Obviously some mistakes were made. Certainly I regret that my own mistakes contributed to this controversy,” he said, in a rare act of public contrition.

However, said one source, “he’s not remorseful.”

In Sununu’s view, “everybody’s doing it to him. He’s not doing it to anybody,” the source said. “He’s striking out at everyone. He doesn’t understand.”

The controversy first began two months ago, when it was disclosed that Sununu had been traveling extensively aboard Air Force jets. When that furor died down, it was revealed that in the weeks since Bush limited Sununu’s Air Force flying privileges, he had switched to corporate jets--and in one case had used a government limousine for a trip to New York to attend a rare stamp auction.