CASEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880099-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 2010
• Sequence Number: 99
• Publication Date: March 27, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880099-8
UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
27 March 1985
CASEY
WASHINGTON
THE CIA EXPLAINED WEDNESDAY WHY AGENCY DIRECTOR WILLIAM CASEY FAILED TO PLACE
IN A SPECIAL FINANCIAL TRUST HIS STOCK IN A CONGLOMERATE THAT HAS PROPOSED TO
TAKE OVER AMERICAN BROADCASTING CO.
QUESTIONS ABOUT CASEY'S FINANCIAL HOLDINGS AND POSSIBLE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
HAVE DOGGED HIM SINCE HE BECAME DIRECTOR IN 1981.
THE LATEST INVOLVE CASEY'S INTEREST IN CAPITAL CITIES COMMUNICATIONS INC., A
MEDIA CONGLOMERATE THAT CASEY HELPED FOUND IN 1954. LAST WEEK THE COMPANY
PROPOSED A $3.5 BILLION MERGER-ACQUISITION OF ABC'S TELEVISION AND
BROADCASTING ASSETS. ABC ACCEPTED BUT THE FIRST SALE OF A TELEVISION NETWORK
STILL REQUIRES GOVERNMENT APPROVAL.
CIA SPOKESWOMAN KATHY PHERSON SAID THAT WHEN CASEY, A SELF-MADE MILLIONAIRE,
PUT HIS ASSETS INTO A TRUST IN 1983 TO AVOID POSSIBLE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST,
CAPITAL CITIES COMPRISED SOME 60 PERCENT OF ALL HIS HOLDING.
"HE SOLD HALF OF THAT IN 1982 TO IMPROVE HIS PORTFOLIO," SHE SAID, "BUT THAT
WAS NOT IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE TRUST." SHE SAID THAT CASEY HAS SAID
THAT HE HAD NO ROLE IN DECISION-MAKING AT CAPITAL CITIES AND THAT HE HAD GIVEN
UP HIS DIRECTORSHIP WHEN HE WAS APPOINTED CIA DIRECTOR IN 1981.
MOST OF CASEY'S OTHER STOCK IS HELD IN A DIVERSIFIED QUALIFIED TRUST, SHE
SAID. THERE ARE TWO OTHER MAIN KINDS OF TRUSTS, THE OTHERS INCLUDING A
DIVERSIFIED TRUST AND A BLIND TRUST, OVER WHICH AN INVESTOR HAS NO POWER OVER
SELECTION AND TRADING OF HIS ASSETS.
PHERSON SAID THAT CASEY'S CAPITAL CITIES ASSETS WERE NOT ELIGIBLE UNDER TERMS
OF A DIVERSIFIED QUALIFIED TRUST THAT CANNOT INCLUDE A HOLDING IF IT COMPRISES
MORE THAN 20 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL PORTFOLIO.
SHE SAID THAT IN HIS LAST DISCLOSURE STATEMENT IN MAY 1984, CASEY VALUED HIS
CAPITAL CITIES STOCK AT "MORE THAN" $250,000. THAT IS THE HIGHEST CATEGORY
REQUIRED IN GOVERNMENT DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE A SPECIFIC
MONEY VALUE BUT ONLY "OVER" OR "LESS THAN" CATEGORIES.
NEWSDAY, THE LONG ISLAND, N.Y., NEWSPAPER, SUNDAY SAID THAT CASEY'S Ctr': AL
CITIES HOLDINGS ARE WORTH AS MUCH AS $7.5 MILLION BUT STILL ONLY ABOUT
ONE-QUARTER OF 1 PERCENT OF THE COMPANY'S STOCK.
THE WASHINGTON POST SAID WEDNESDAY CASEY HELD 34,755 SHARES IN CAPITAL CITIES.
MOST OF CASEY'S DIVERSIFIED QUALIFIED TRUST WITH OTHER THAN CAPITAL CITIES
SECURITIES, PHERSON SAID, COMPRISE READILY MARKETABLE ASSETS, NONE OF WHICH
CAN BE CONNECTED WITH COMPANIES HAVING "SUBSTANTIAL" DEALINGS WITH THE CIA.
CITING GOVERNMENT ETHICS RULINGS, SHE SAID, "THIS PROTECTS AGAINST CONFLICT OF
INTEREST BECAUSE THE TRUST ASSETS SHOULD BE SO DIVERSIFIED THAT THE OFFICIAL
ACTION OF THE PRINCIPAL ESTABLISHING THE TRUST CAN NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT
EFFECT ON THE PERSON'S FINANCIAL INTEREST," SHE SAID.
PHERSON SAID SHE HAD BEEN ADVISED THAT CASEY ORIGINALLY WANTED TO INCLUDE HIS
CAPITAL CITIES PORTFOLIO IN HIS DIVERSIFIED QUALIFIED TRUST BUT FOUND THOSE
ASSETS WOULD NOT QUALIFY.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/14: CIA-RDP91-00587R000200880099-8