Investigators to Allow Counsel at Tailhook Probe Interviews

After hearing reports of strong-arm tactics by his Tailhook investigators, the Pentagon’s inspector general will allow independent counsel to attend the interviews of officers being interrogated, and let those being questioned tape-record the sessions.

Deputy Inspector Derek J. Vander Schaaf mentioned the changes in a telephone call to Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R-San Diego) Tuesday morning, one day after the congressman passed along about a dozen complaints that Department of Defense investigators were overly aggressive.

Some of the complaints, said Cunningham, were from wives who said investigators would “show up on their front doorsteps” asking to talk to their spouses about the Tailhook Assn. scandal--the September, 1991, convention of naval aviators in Las Vegas where 26 women were groped and fondled by drunken, rowdy officers.

Other complaints centered on Pentagon investigators arriving at homes unannounced and making threats about loss of career and possible criminal charges if the officers failed to implicate others or cooperate with the probe, Cunningham said.

“Both Vander Schaaf and I want a vigorous investigation,” Cunningham said, “but we want it to be properly conducted.”

In a statement issued Wednesday, Vander Schaaf said his office “has never had any objection to the presence of counsel during interviews conducted in this investigation.

“Whenever interviews are taped by the investigators, the witness is later provided with a verbatim transcript,” the statement said.

Cunningham, a former Navy fighter pilot who commanded a squadron at Miramar Naval Air Station, has warned that the Pentagon investigators may be overeager to find guilty parties because of the intense political pressure surrounding the scandal.

The Pentagon took over the investigation after earlier internal Navy investigations of the incident were criticized as superficial and incomplete.

Cunningham also blames congressional liberals for exploiting the Tailhook affair to take political advantage.

“They are always ready to pounce and discredit the military in any way they can,” Cunningham said.