Burns Report Decries Dealings by Helmick : USOC: As group’s president, he was paid $300,000 by sports entities with ties to the Olympic movement.

As president of the United States Olympic Committee, Robert Helmick repeatedly violated rules regarding ethical conduct by Olympic officials, according to a report released Sunday.

“The report concludes that Mr. Helmick’s behavior, among other things, gave rise to conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest and engendered a general perception that Mr. Helmick was trafficking on his Olympic position to the benefit of private clients,” said Arnold Burns, a former U.S. deputy attorney general who conducted the three-month investigation.

Burns, appointed by USOC executive director Harvey Schiller in September to review Helmick’s business records, reported the results of his investigation during the USOC executive committee’s two-day meeting at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport.

The USOC cannot take any action against Helmick, who remains a member of the USOC’s executive committee by virtue of his seat on the International Olympic Committee’s executive board.

But the IOC also is conducting an investigation into Helmick’s business dealings and will address the issue at its meeting Dec. 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Neither Burns nor Helmick would speculate on what action might be taken at that time.

Helmick, who had served seven years as president, resigned Sept. 18 amid allegations he used the office to promote business for his Des Moines, Iowa, law firm. Helmick has denied any wrongdoing.

While president of the USOC, Helmick was paid more than $300,000 in retainers from sports entities with ties to the Olympic movement.

A defiant Helmick, who apologized for errors in judgment when he resigned, reiterated his contention Sunday that he did no wrong.

Helmick said he was pleased that the Burns report confirmed that he fully disclosed to the executive committee on Sept. 7 all of his clients with Olympic ties and their transactions.

“I am also pleased that the report confirms that I never influenced, or attempted to influence, any USOC officers, directors or staff members in connection with their consideration or approval of contracts or transactions involving my private clients,” Helmick said.

But the report concluded that Helmick repeatedly violated the conflict-of-interest provisions of USOC bylaws and its statement of principals “by virtue of his paid representation of clients having business relationships with the USOC, and that he did so without adequate disclosure--or in several cases without any disclosure--of the nature or extent of those relationships to anyone at the USOC.”

“Mr. Helmick . . . openly acknowledged errors in judgment concerning the appearance of conflicts of interest and had apologized,” Burns said. “We believe, I believe, that Mr. Helmick underestimated the seriousness of his conduct.”

Only a summary of the 59-page Burns report was released Sunday. The committee met behind closed doors for four hours Saturday and for four hours Sunday to discuss the findings.

The report cited conflicts in Helmick’s representation of six entities, including Turner Broadcasting System, which has purchased the rights to amateur events from the USOC’s Olympic Properties. After his resignation, Helmick cut all ties with the clients in question.

The report also concluded that Helmick acted improperly regarding:

--Impel Marketing, which was awarded a license to make Olympic trading cards on April 12. Impel hired Helmick on April 15 and on June 2 Helmick signed the agreement on behalf of the USOC.

--TranSport, a Seattle-based company that Helmick agreed to assist on a paid basis in connection with its efforts to secure berthing space for a cruise ship in Barcelona harbor during the 1992 Olympic Games.

--Ron Meyers & Associates, Brunswick. Meyers retained Helmick in April of 1990 on behalf of Brunswick, a major manufacturer of bowling equipment. Brunswick sought Helmick’s advice on how it could change the image of the sport and improve its prospects for becoming an Olympic event.

On June 20, Helmick withdrew from his representation of MeyersBrunswick, citing his appointment to the Atlanta Organizing Committee, which held discussions with the USOC regarding a demonstration sport at the 1996 Games.

--Robert Seagren, U.S. Golf Federation. Helmick was retained in February of 1990 by Seagren, director of the golf federation, part of the World Golf Assn., which petitioned the IOC to become golf’s worldwide federation.

--Lifestyle Marketing Group, which retained Helmick on Feb. 25, 1988. Helmick was found to have violated bylaw provisions governing conflict of interest by signing at least four contracts on behalf of the USOC.

Burns said the blame fell fully on Helmick. ‘No one should construe that any of these clients were in any way acting improperly,” Burns said.

The report says: “The impropriety of Mr. Helmick’s paid relationships was not cured by the inclusion of references to USOC ethics rules in Mr. Helmick’s financial agreements with his private clients. These references in effect constituted an acknowledgement by Mr. Helmick that his conduct approached the bounds of propriety.”