STATEMENT ISSUED BY WILLIAM J. CASEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R001103940184-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 27, 2007
• Sequence Number: 184
• Publication Date: January 7, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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r~ Revised-GL
Mr. Casey issued the following statement in response to the Washington Post
article of January 7, 1982, concerning his legal representation of the Govern-
ment of Indonesia in 1976:
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, in its review of Mr. Casey's
representation of the Government of Indonesia, specifically stated that the
question of registration was "a technical one involving whether there was an
attempt to influence or persuade agency officials, and, if so, whether an
exemption applied because representation was in the course of an established
agency proceeding."
The Foreign Agents Registration Act specifically exempts "[a]ny person
qualified to practice law, insofar as he engages or agrees to engage in the
legal representation of a disclosed foreign principal before any court of law
or any agency of the Government of the United States: Provided, That for the
purposes of this subsection legal representation does not include attempts to
influence or persuade agency personnel or officials other than in the course
of established agency proceedings, whether'formal or informal." Rogers & Wells,
in undertaking to represent Indonesia, made a good faith determination that all
elements of the lawyer's exemption were applicable. Rogers & Wells and
Mr. Casey disclosed their legal representation of the Government of Indonesia
to the appropriate agencies (Treasury and IRS), with whom they discussed the
matter. The thrust of those early meetings was exploratory in nature and were
essential in order to obtain enough information to be able to advise their
client.
On December 15, 1981, Mr. Casey's lawyers, the firm of Shea & Gould, took
a fresh look and advised that "it is our opinion that Mr. Casey was exempt
from the registration requirements of the Act under subsection 3(d) [conduct
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not involving political activity], 3(g) [lawyer's exemption], or both, of
the Act." After reading the Post article, the firm again reviewed the
matter and stands by its original determination.
The writer of the Post article continuously refers to an "established"
proceeding. He omits to state that the proceeding may be either "formal
or informal." It is quite clear that Rogers & Wells and.Mr. Casey were
dealing with a Revenue Ruling and in every respect served as attorneys
when seeking a clarification of the IRS position on the matter and later
attempting to have their client comply with it. Specifically, they wanted
the appropriate U.S. Government agencies to understand their client's
position and they wanted to explore and understand their (Treasury's and
IRS') position in order to advise their client of what actions it must take
to ease the impact that an adverse IRS ruling had placed on American companies
doing business in Indonesia. As a result of this exploration, Indonesia
took steps to revise its tax law and its contractual arrangements with U.S.
companies in order to meet the requirements of the Revenue Ruling.
Rogers & Wells made a good-faith determination in 1976 that no
registration was called for. The firm continues to believe that that deter-
mination was correct.
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