European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes columns held Pentagon purchasin6? i p like to Purchase a couple of your people Caryle Murphy and Ruth Marcus Pentagon fraud probe not meeting predictions when the Pentagon procurement investigation broke into Public View three months ago there were Quick easy predictions from senior Justice depart ment officials that indictments would swiftly follow in what was described As one of the biggest defense corruption scandals of Lac Post War Era. Then attorney general Edwin Meese Iii confidently predicted indictments within 60 to 90  other senior Taw enforcement officials expected a Stream of guilty pleas from suspects quaking at the knowledge that their Telephone conversations had been overheard by investigators for More than a year. Despite the forecasts some prosecutors and investigators on the Case fretted privately that the massive probe was so Complex and so much work Lay ahead in corroborating thousands of intercepted wiretap Tele phone conversations that it could be Many months not weeks before the probe bore any Public fruit he s an optimistic Guy one Law enforcement offi Cial said after Meuse s bold assertion. So far the cautious voices have been closer to reality than the optimists projections. The 90 Days in a Csc s scenario passed last week with no indictments yet handed Down. But Justice department officials say that while the investigation is not moving As fast As some predicted at the outset it is going Well. I m absolutely pleased with the Progress being  acting assistant attorney general Edward . Dennis jr., chief of the criminal division said in an interview last week. It s right on target and right on  . Attorney Henry e. Hudson of Alexandria va., who is overseeing the investigation also defended its Pace and predicted substantial indictments by year s end. In the history of White Collar investigations there has never been one going As fast As this one he said. I m not going to proceed until i m  More than 40 Fri agents about 20 naval investigative service agents and 12 prosecutors have divided into teams that focus on different parts of the Mam Moth probe which involves allegations of bribery of defense department officials illegal trafficking in confidential documents improper dealings Between members of Congress and private consultants to de sense firms and possibly illegal Campaign contributions. Some investigators in the Effort code named operation Iii wind concede that a first round review of thousands of subpoenaed documents Safe guarded in at least two rented warehouses did not produce the lode of incriminating evidence that some investigators anticipated. At first Blush we re not coming up with the smok ing gun said one Law enforcement official. The consensus is that people were smarter than anybody gave them credit for. Tapes arc tapes but prosecutors like to show the Money  Fri accountants arc now poring Over the documents to show Money going into pockets he said. When you say the smoking gun you re talking about a Down and dirty crime another Law enforce ment official said. These Are not Down and dirty crimes. They re Complex investigations. There s a tendency on the part of agents or investigators to hear a tape recording and say we be got pm. That in t True the official said. You need corroboration and in this Case the corroboration involves mountains of paper. When you re talking 600.000 or 700,000 documents you re not going to review those in two months three  despite numerous plea bargain offers from prosecutors since the june 14 searches Only one person is said by Law enforcement authorities to have struck a Deal so far. No formal plea has yet been entered. One l happen proc Culores expected a Stampede in the door v enforcement official said. But that s not Happ ing. So it s phase two Back to the  last week for example they questioned Theodore Bailey a 58-year-old unemployed chauffeur on he same Day that Bailey s onetime Boss defense Consul Tant William m. Gaytin appeared before a Federal grand jury in Alexandria. Bailey said his interrogators were just fishing around for documents said i m a Driver. What documents could a Driver have " As for Galvin a principal target of the probe he is not cooperating a knowledgeable source reported. They re finding out that these cases arc a lot More complicated than just playing tapes for people one defense lawyer said. Defense lawyers also say deals proposed to Dale have offered Little incentive to plead with prosecutors demanding guilty pleas to. Two felony counts for example bribery and conspiracy to bribe. One problem facing prosecutors in crafting plea agreements this lawyer said is that they can t afford to make it look like they be Given something away because you All in the news Media would kill them. You re going to Start writing stories about How this was the crime of the Century and Here they left this Mjor criminal out of the  Federal officials also have succeeded in postponing the release of More than 40 affidavits filed under Seal across the country to justify the june searches "1 Don t foresee any being unsealed in the real near future even if indictments Are returned Dennis said. A government source who saw the affidavits said they contain the names of several targets who have not yet Bec publicly identified. Among them Are some Pentagon officials but none More senior than the five current and one former official already named he said