THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS POLICY ON NICARAGUA FACES NEW QUESTIONS DEMOCRATS EYE LEGALITY OF ADMINISTRATION'S AID ROLE

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP91-00901R000700060003-5
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RIFPUB
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K
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2
Document Creation Date: 
December 16, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 17, 2005
Sequence Number: 
3
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Publication Date: 
November 9, 1986
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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. Approved For Release 2005/07/01 : CIA-RDP91-00901 R000700060003-5 Approved For Release 2005/07/01 : CIA-RDP91-00901 R000700060003-5 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. Approved For Release 2005/07/01 : CIA-RDP91-00901 R000700060003-5