CASEY PROTECTS THE RIGHT FLANK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404710002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 28, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404710002-5
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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