JUSTICE DEPT. SENT BRIBER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100041-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: September 12, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/04: CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100041-7
ARTICLE APPEARED
PAGE
ON
THE WASHINGTON POST
12 September 1981
Firearms Bureau Investigation
By Patrick E. Tyler and Al Kamen .
'Federal investigators pursuing a "terrorism for
hire" case against, two:-formerCIA agents-have.re--
,'erred at least two caees'of alleged bribery to the'Jus
tce Department for possible prosecution.
One case involves a former congressional liaison
for the Army Materiel Command and later the Fed-
eral Energy Administration.
The bribery allegations, still under investigation,
are contained in investigative case summaries- com-
piled over the past two years by agents of the Treas-
ury Department's Bureau" of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (BATF). The:agents.are part of a team of
federal investigators that. bass constructed a broad.
criminal conspiracy case. against ex-CIA' agents
Edwin P. Wilson and Francis E. TerpiI.
The alleged conspiracy, spelled out in an April,
1980, grand jury indictment naming both men, in-
'volved the shipment of ' high explosives, electronic
timers, prohibited night vision equipment and com-
mando training for the regime of radical Libyan dic-
tator Col. Muammar Qaddafi. It included an alleged
S1 million assassination attempt on behalf of Qaddati
against a dissident Libyan expatriate.
Prosecutors assigned to the case, E..Lawrence Bar
cella and Carol E. Bruce,-saidthey had "absolutely
no comment" on the report.
In their summary, BATF agents state that Wilson
and Terpil's? activities ii .Libya have demonstrated .
"that the United States;. in"effect, has become a major
supplier of hardware and technology in support ,of
worldwide terrorism."
In part to further these alleged efforts, the confi-
dential report continues, "They [Wilson and Terpil]
are also known to bribe U.S. government officials to
enhance their businesses as evidenced,.by. the Paul 11
Cyr referral and the-William-Weisenburger referral "
Referral means that the cases are sent to the Justice
Department for further investigation and possible
prosecution.
Cyr, 60, a longtime Capitol Hill fixture in lobbying
circles, was the chief. congressional :liaison for the i
Army Materiel Command during much of the 1960s
and early 1970s. In the mid-1970x,-.he _.became, the
chief congressional advocate for the Federal Energy-
Administration (FEA) and when the FEA was suc-
ceeded by the Department of Energy, Cyr. became
the deputy director for congressional relations. He
was not available for comment. ? -
Weisenburger, a longtime CIA engineer, was fired
1i -
from his post in-197.7..by then-C
Director Stansfield Turner for &-s
ing Wilson in -constructing 10 p
totype delayed-action timers for
in bombs in Libyan terrorist f
grams. Weisenburger also was
available for comment, but a sou
close to the family said that he ,
not :aware of the bribery allegat
against him. The source said .t
WVeisenburger felt he had b
(',duped" by Wilson into assist
with the electronic timer consti
tiori while on 'active duty with
'Cyr, an avid sportsman wl
hunting partners have included
distinguished 1
essmen
l
,
congr
era
self for behind-the-lines commando
experience in World War II where he
served in the Office of Strategic Ser-
vices (OSS), a predecessor of the'
CIA:
- The investigative report does not
go' into detail about the bribery al-
legations, but several sources famil-
iar with the investigation said that
they concerned alleged payments to
Cyr-to protect and promote Wilson's;
interests at a time when, Wilson was+
trying to maintain his influence on
Capitol Hill.. in suppoft of highly]
.classified intelligence projects and
other ventures involving the string of i
companies he ran out of offices at
1425 K Street NW. There is no in-!
dication in the report that Cyr knew 1
anything about Wilson's Libyan ac-
tivities.
Also included in' the dozens of
pages of investigative summaries are
new and revealing details about the;
.*Wilson* and Terpil allegedly
lured ? three Cuban . CIA - contract
agents to ' Geheva in September,
1976, by implying that their mission
would he to assassinate, for the CIA,;
notorious international terrorist Il-!
litch Ramirez Sanchez, better known
as "Carlos," and who is believed to!
be the planner of the 1972 Munich l
Wilson-Terpil operation:
how to build bombs and other ter-i
rorist devices. The desert resort pro-
posal never materialized.
Prosecutors have obtained secret
tape recordings of Wilson conversa-
tions with his onetime secretary,!
Eula Harpet, who is cooperating'
with the grand jury investigation;
under a grant of immunity. Harper;
is the wife of John Henry Harper,;
one of the first explosives' experts t
recruited by Wilson from the ranks
of his former CIA colleagues to help
the Libyans build exploding lamps,
ashtrays, coat hangers; teapots and
other terrorist instruments. - #
The purpose of these exploding
devices,. which were assembled in a
hideaway desert laboratory at the-.
Winter Palace of Libya's deposed
monarch, King Idris, according to
the .investigative summary, was de-' .
scribed by Wilson: "You know, the
colonel [Qaddafi) may sometimes
have some young colonels, or some
officers or something that are getting
out of line- that he wants to send i
present to." .. ....
The federal investigators, pursu-
ing Wilson's worldwide business'net-
work and his effective use of former
military and- intelligence personnel,
concluded: "Former Central Intelli- ,
gence Agency personnel, military
special forces personnel and . U.S.
corporations combine -.'to,,: supply
products. "and .expertise : to,whoever,
.
can nav'tha nrirh"' ' ?
ii Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/04: CIA-RDP90-01208R000100100041-7 =='