CASEY PROTECTS THE RIGHT FLANK

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP90-00552R000404710002-5
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RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 22, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 22, 2010
Sequence Number: 
2
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
January 28, 1985
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP90-00552R000404710002-5.pdf87.98 KB
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404710002-5 s-i l 5:_,7~ a NEW YORK POST 28 January 1985 INSIDE WASHINGTON I Tit) \TTT TCI T ? CIA Director William Casey has emerged as a key powerhouse in the be- hind-the-scenes maneuver- ing over rebuilding Presi- dent Reagan's team in the wake of the departure of longtime Reagan aides from California. Insiders say that the CIA spymaster has become "heavily involved" in the negotiations with incom- ing White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan over staffing the White House and is using his clout with the President as well as his longstanding friendship with Regan to insure that the next Reagan team will carry more conservative I credentials than the last. Administration officials say that Casey is quietly emerging as the keeper of the conservative flame in the Reagan administration In the wake of the depar- ture of Interior Secretary William Clark and Presi- dential Counsellor Edwin Meese and is pushing his friends, rejecting his ene- mies and making sure that most candidates for big . White House jobs are being "cleared,"-through him. Among the moves Casey has made include the push- ing of former General Ser- vices Administration chief Gerald Carmen as White House political director - although that job may still go to respected 1984 Reagan campaign manager Ed R01--..., lins. Casey also was an en- , ' thusiastic supporter of the' switch between Regan and Treasury Secretary-desig- nate James Baker, and many officials believe that the dramatic changeover would have never occurred without his support. Casey's personal distaste for Baker and opposition' to some of the White House. positions during the last four years were well, publi. cized. The involvement of a CIA director in political planning and White House personnel is unprecedented in U.S. his- tory. In the past, CIA chiefs have been strictly apoliti- cal and virtually shunned by White House staffers and presidents. But Casey, the Long Is- land lawyer who master- minded Reagan's first campaign and who is one of five original Cabinet members left, carries political skills that Reagan deeply admires, say insid- ers. Officials believe that as a result of his influence with the president and his friend- ship with Regan, Casey will emerge as a dominant voice in the shaping of U.S. foreign policy in the second Reagan term. DESPITE Casey's insist- ence on appointing eonser- vatives "the White House, he is currently involved In a bitter tend with the right wing of the GOP over a key personnel decision In his own shop at Langley. Insiders say - that the" CIA's Deputy Director John McMahon is, plan. fling to resign soon for a job in private business. Casey's -top choices to replace McMahon are Lio- nel Olmer, a former Regan deputy at the Treasury Dept., and Robert Gates, now in charge of CIA esti- mates. But conservative groups are outraged by these choices - especially Gates, who is considered to be a close associate- of .David Aaron, a former ad- viser to Walter Mondale and Deputy National Se- curity Council adviser In the Carter administration. They are pushing Gen. Paul Gorman, the- contro- versial and outgoing com- mander of the U.S. South- ern Command in Panama, but are expected to be re- buffed. STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404710002-5