THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS POLICY ON NICARAGUA FACES NEW QUESTIONS DEMOCRATS EYE LEGALITY OF ADMINISTRATION'S AID ROLE
Document Type:
Collection:
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST):
CIA-RDP91-00901R000700060003-5
Release Decision:
RIFPUB
Original Classification:
K
Document Page Count:
2
Document Creation Date:
December 16, 2016
Document Release Date:
June 17, 2005
Sequence Number:
3
Case Number:
Publication Date:
November 9, 1986
Content Type:
NSPR
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t"` .P? PED
ON Pr~3E BOSTON GLOBE
Approved For Release 005/07/01 NcQkk 'P998D9O1 R000700060003-5
THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS '
Policy on Nicaragua
faces new questions
Democrats eye legality of administration's aid role
By Jeff McConnell Edwin Meese, then White House chief
Special to the Globe of staff and now US attorney general. Is
ongressional Democrats, invi- said to have enlisted the help of conserva-
gorated by their election victo- tives and wealthy Republicans.
rtes last week, are gearing up After a ban on US support began in
October 1984, funding and supplying the
to launch new investigations
.
and to intensify rnrrPnt nnPa rebels was reportedly turned over to Gen.
Into private efforts to aid Nicaraguan reb- jonn a-ngiauo. a tormer UTA otticer ana a
els. friend of Casey, with Lt. Col. Oliver North
Some key Democrats are skeptical of the National Security Staff as his main
that the Reagan administration has US government contact.
stayed within the letter of the law in aid- Bush's reported involvement
ing the rebels and believe that law-en-
forcement officers have been passive In' In the last year, the national security
pursuing violations by private support- staff of Vice President George Bush, a for-
ers. One went so far as to call this a po- mer CIA director, is also said to have be-
tential "Watergate." come Involved after the work of Singlaub
While administration officials seem to and North was exposed. Adviser Donald
be confident that the law is too murky to Gregg, a former CIA officer, introduced
be a basis for prosecutions and that the Bush to former CIA officer Felix Rodri-
issue has been made moot by Congress' guez, alias Max Gomez, who Hasenfus
release last month of $100 million in new has said coordinated flights into Nicara-
US support for the rebels, congressional gua out of the Ilopango military base in El
sources argue that the issue lies at the Salvador. During September, calls were
very heart of Congress' power over the made from the "safe houses" of Rodri-
Executive Branch in foreign-policy mat- guez, Hasenfus and their colleagues In El
ters. Salvador to North's White House phone.
"The question is the degree of involve- If these press accounts are true, ad-
ment of the administration, not the fact." ministration activities could have violat
Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.1.), who is likely ed a ban, just lifted. on spending US
to become chairman of the Foreign Rela- funds to support "directly or indirectly"
tions Committee next year, said last rebel military operations. The Hasenfus
week. affair has already spawned several
The downing last month of a plane probes.
carrying arms for rebels in Nicaragua in a report released last month, Sen.
and the capture of crew member Eugene John Kerry (D-Mass.) of the Foreign Rela-
I lasenfus has led to a flurry of press ac- tions Committee detailed allegations of il-
counts detailing private efforts to aid the legal gunrunning by the Nicaraguan reb-
rebels and alleging numerous administra- els and Illegal assistance to them from the
i ion links to them. Reagan administration even before Ha-
According to some accounts, CIA direc- senfus' flight. The full committee is now
tor William Case with President Rea- pursuing Kerry's allegations and the Ha-
gan's a~ppro 711 egan In late 1983 to ex- senfus case with the power to take sworn
plore alternative ways to fund the rebels testimony and issue subpoenas, and Pell
after concluding that existing CIA funds said the Inquiry will be "more vigorous"
would soon run out and thatt_Cnnore g, with the Democrats in control.
was unlikely to appropriate more. Two other investigations are being
Casey and Vernon Walter" former carried out by the Judiciary and Intelli-
deputy CIA director and presently US am- gence committees in the House. All three
bassador to the United Nations, set out to committees are looking into possible vio-
persuade foreign governments and intelli- lations of the Boland Amendment, the
gence services to take over aid efforts, ac- law which banned official support for the
cording to the The Miami Herald, which rebels.
quoted one official as saying, "There were
trade-offs." The paper reports that the
CIA approached Saudi Arabia in June
1984 to request some $20 million for the
rebels but was turned down.
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a
The administration view
Administration officials have said
that while they may have probed the
law's limits, they did not break it. They
have argued, according to some press ac-
counts, that the arrangements for private
aid were made prior to the time the 1984
ban took effect. Subsequently, they have
said, North and other officials In contact
with the private-aid network were pro-
hibited from any actions that would have
violated the ban.
Even if the CIA and the National Secu-
rity Council set up the private aid net-
work before the legal ban and have mere-
ly monitored rebel activities since, the
president would have been obligated un-
der the law to inform the Intelligence
committees of this. Bernard McMahon,
staff director of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said last week. He refused to
say if his committee had been so in-
formed.
Moreover. Senate Intelligence Commit-
tee vice chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
and others, after administration brief-
ings, say that while they are satisfied
that the CIA did not violate the ban, the
question of whether the White House did
remains open..:
Administration-'arguimerits have also
failed to sway Democrats on the House
Judiciary Committee, who last month
asked Attorney General Meese to appoint
a special prosecutor to look into allega-
tions that the Reagan administration had
violated the Boland Amendment and two
other laws.
One Is the Neutrality Act of 1794,
which authorizes prosecution of anyone
in the United States who provides for or
participates In military operations
against any foreign government with
which the United States "is at peace."
The other is the Arms Export Control
Act, which requires the licensing of any
arms supplies exported from the United :
States. Suppliers are obligated to certify
who the "end users" of the arms will be.
Also at Issue are possible violations of
these two laws by private US groups and
of nonprosecution by the Department of
Justice. Although FBI agents have inter-
viewed many rebel supporters, there have
been no indictments to date. Critics say
that private groups are carrying out ad-
ministration policy and thus are being
shielded from the law. Justice Depart-
ment officials deny this.
Regarding the downing of the plane
carrying Hasenfus, the FBI has "followed
up whatever leads that have been
brought to its attention" and "so far
found nothing to indicate US laws were
broken," according to Justice Depart-
ment spokesman Pat Korten.
Critics charge foot-dragging in Wash-
ington and by the US attorney's office in
Miami, where many rebel operations are
based. They contend that cases have
been pursued only because of the pres-
sure of publicity, and they point out that,
despite the numerous press accounts of
arms shipments from Florida airports,
there have been no indictments. Some
have even alleged direct interference from
the US attorney general's office.
Sources on the House Judiciary Com-
mittee say they hope to look into charges
of obstruction of justice, and Senate
sources say they will refer related infor-
mation they have to the Senate Judiciary
Committee, which Sen. Edward Kennedy
ID-Mass.) is expected to chair next year.
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