European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 14, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page the stars and stripes Friday april 14,1989 or i g h t d e f e n d s h i s r e c o r d sources say House committee will find speaker in violation of some ethics rules Washington a with his position As the nation s highest elected do moral in jeopardy. House speaker Jim Wright mounted an emotional de sense thursday against serious ethics charges and declared his Honor is far More precious to me than any Public of -.-. The House ethics committee which has been investigating Wright s finances for the past 10 months continued it work in private and chairman Julian Dixon Calif., said no Public announcement of its conclusions was expected until next week. But sources familiar with the deliver his strongest supporters at Lions said All crucial Voles already had leadership celing and been taken and had gone against Wright standing ovation accordion the two most serious charges that he " violated House rules by accepting gift from a business partner with an interest in legislation and that he evaded limit son collecting speaking fees through bulk sales of his Book reflections of a pub Lic the committee decisions essentially closed the si.5 million investigation an sent the Case into a new More open and More political phase which could Lead 10a disciplinary hearing and a Range of investigation not Only jeopardizes Wrighi s leadership Post but some Taw makers feared the action also pointed toward a new and unrealistic Standar for congressional conduct. One member of the ethics committee predicted the decisions would add urgency to a revamp ing of House ethics rules How in its Earl stages. Wright began his Day wednesday witha 10-Minuie, highly personal speech to r a closed Dooran was Given a according to part i pants. They said his eyes misted As he lamented that his wife had been draw into the ethics Case. I thought his performance was touching said obey. A wis. Later the Texas do moral told re porters there Are some thing Worth fighting for and one of them is personal Honor and reputation earned Over 66 years of living and giving. And that s far More precious to me than any Public -. " alluding to charges that his wife had done Little work for a salary she was paid by a fort Worth business partner Wright added my wife s reputation is very precious to me. And i m Damn Well darn Well not going to let thai be Sacri -. During three weeks of deliberations debate and Voles sources said the com Mittee decided that upwards of $100,000 Worth of benefits Wright and his wife belly received from fort Worth real estate de mrs. Wright s ii 8,000ycfrom 1980 through 1984 and free use of a condominium and a 1979 rules require reporting of any Gilt Over Jisoo. That because of his extensive in vestments in real estate and Oil and Gas enterprises Mallick bad a direct inter Jim Wright est in legislation before that meant any gifts Worth More than $100 accepted by the Wrights would violate House rules. That on several occasions Wrights old bulk quantities of his Book to organizations to which he had made speech sin lieu of accepting Honor aria speaking fees Are limited by the rules while boo royalties Are not Crews begin to pick up Oil staining Shore Valdez Alaska a Crews went on the offensive against the worst . Oil spill but communities Down the coast were on the defensive As meandering Slicks scared one of the world s most populous Bird Breeding Are beginning a new phase department of environmental conservation commissioner Dennis Kelso said wednesday As fishermen were redeployed from protecting fish hatcheries to begin the Long tedious work of collecting Oil from coves and inlets. Crews were on the beaches of naked Island Iii the heart of Prince William sound scooping up pools of congealed Oil and scraping it from rocks. The Shoreline was covered in Oil after the Tanker enjoin Valdez Hii a reef March 24 and int 10 million Gallons foil into the sound. But farther West along the Kenai Peninsula protective barriers were still going up As Strag gling patches of Oil menaced the coastline and the islands North of Kodiak guard spokesman Roy Camplon said thursday that he leading Edge of the spills sighted West of Gore Point on the Kenai Peninsula continues to break up. But streaks. Of Light Oil Sheen and heavy mousse continue to Wash ashore in some areas he were generally out of the Northeast meaning they could help push Oil away from land but the forecast called for a wind shift to the Southeast increasing to 35 knots with a Gal warning the coast guard said. Biologists have recovered 150 dead of a 1.3 others being treated at a Rescue Center have died. So far 1,242 dead Birds have been found along the coast. More than 19,000 barrels of crude have Bee recovered 8 percent of the 240,000 barrels that the herring fishery season in the Kodiak area will go on As scheduled this weekend but samples will be taken of All fish caught an tested for contamination. Gov. Steve Cowper signed legislation allow ing the state to spend up to 120 million to pay immediate cleanup costs which will be repaid by Ennon. Alaska is delaying a june 27 Oil and Gas lease Sale in Cook Inlet until a review of policy changes resulting from the disaster is completed. F q 11 Guy n p r t h i eaves stand ends defense at Iran Contra trial Washington a Oliver North concluded his defense thursday after six grueling Days on the witness stand testifying he fell he had become the fall Guy in the Iran Centra affair when he heard himself described at a White House news conference one who knew what was going Brendan Sullivan announced soon after North left the stand that concludes the defense signalling that the 11-Wcck-old trial was nearing an end. . District judge Gerhard a. Go Salt said he Hopes Mohave closing arguments on monday instructions to the jurors and their deliberations would follow. During four Days of Tough Cross examination. North denied prosecution contentions that he lied about his Iran Contra efforts and personally profited from some of them. He said he had explicit authorization from his superiors and he assumed from president Reagan for his actions and did t take a dime he was t entitled to.,.- he testified thursday that two Days before the nov. 25, 1986, press conference in which a Nagari and at Torney general Edwin me Csc Iii took pan. North had been interviewed for four hours by Meuse and is accused flying during that interview. But he testified is told them readily about the secret within the secret thai profits from arms sales to Iran had been tunnelled to the guerillas fighting the leftist government Onica Ibbia. He said he was shocked to learn that he might be the target of a criminal investigation. What he heard As he watched the press conference on television North said was inconsistent with what i told the attorney general two Days my Essaid North s Boss John Poindexter had known of the Money diversion but had t approved it when in fact he had. A v North said he had assumed while he was directing Covert Aid to the contras thai he would have to Lake the rap if word Gat out about the help which was being provided at a time thai official . Aid was banned. Prosecutor John kicker s final questioning of North concerned two letters he wrote in december i9s6 to a contractor who had installed a $13,800 Security system at North s Home. The letters were backdated to make it appear North had intended to pay for the system which had been paid for by retired maj. Gen. Richard second who had been recruited to run the Contra sub ply Effort the letters Are the basis for one charge that North accepted on illegal gratuity. 2 former executives found gu/7fy in Pentagon procurement scandal Alexandria a a a jury found two for Mer California business executives guilty of conspiracy and wire fraud thursday in the first trial stemming from the government1 investigation of Pentagon procurement practices but the jury which deliberated More than 35 hours Over four Days found George Kaub Eugene Sullivan and a third defendant innocent of bribery charges. Dale Schnit Lucr also was acquitted on four other counts. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on one other conspiracy count and one wire fraud count against him. . District judge Richard Williams ordered those counts and Sullivan were convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud and Kaub also was found guilty on two counts of filing false statements. Kaub Sullivan and Sechri Ittner were All vice presi dents of Tel Dyne electronics of Newbury Park Calif. The government claimed they conspired to hire a Pri vate consultant who bribed a Navy Engineer in order to help the company obtain a j24 million contract to build hand held radar lest equipment. The defense argued that the businessmen were unwillingly duped by private consultant William Parkin who arranged for toe scheme. The defendants knew nothing about id Jal efforts to obtain inside information on the contract that Teledu no was awarded in july1987, defense attorneys said. The jury agreed with the government that Kaub an Sullivan had engaged in a conspiracy with Parkin and his associates All of whom pleaded guilty. Kaub and Sullivan were each found guilty of on count of conspiracy. In addition Kaub was convicted on five counts of wire fraud while Sullivan was convicted on three wire fraud counts. Those charges item from the wiretapped conversation Between the defendants and private consultants which were played for the was also convicted of filing false statements charges that derived from a papers he authorized to Besent to the Pentagon stating that Tel Edyne had not used private consultants to work on the contract Kaub faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in jail and a minimum Fine of $2 million Sullivan 20 years and $ i million. Williams set sentencing for june 7
