FINAL REPORT FINDS CASEY 'INATTENTIVE'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440163-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2010
• Sequence Number: 163
• Publication Date: December 3, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440163-7
TT oLE UMLRED NEW Y02K TIMES
ON PAGE. 3 DEC ER 1981
Final por r nds Greasy 'Inattentive' &
By JUDITH MILLER
SpedaltoT oNewYorkTlmw.~,
WASHINGTON, Dec. 2- The Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence re-
leased a final report today finding that
William J. Casey had been "at mini-
mum inattentive to detail" in coinply-
ing with Government financial disclo-
sure requirements but concluding that
he was not "unfit" to be Director of Cen-
tral Intelligence.
Several Democrats on the 15-member
committee expressed a lack of confi-
dence in. Mr. Casey's candor with the
panel, but only Senators Joseph R.
Bider Jr., of Delaware, and Patrick J.
Leahy, of Vermont, dissented from the
conclusion that a review of the facts in
the four-month examination had
produced "no basic for concluding that
Mr. Casey is unfit to hold office as Direc-
tor of Central Intelligence."
Mr. Leahy, emphasizing that he sup-
praise'" '.; .
Catalogue of Omissiotis ..' A
The six-page, single-spaced report
catalogued Mr. Casey's omissions on
financial disclosure statements re-
quired after his appointment as chief of
the intelligence agency. -
The. report noted, for example, that
before his confirmation hearings last
January the 68-year-old Mr. Casey had
tailed to report to the Senate panel "nine
investments valued at more than a
quarter of a million dollars, personal
debts and contingent liabilities of nearly
$500,000, a number of corporations or
foundations an whose board Mr. Casey
served, four civil lawsuits and more
than 70 clients he had represented in pet..
vate practice in the last five years."
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
CI A0
iaqutry~on
Mr. Casey
an rr gr y
n. into
violations ste
manship of the
Committee.
Federal Electi
the allegations
"pending the ou L%AJL"= VA o
The committee's wide-ranging inves.
tigation began last July after Max C_
Hugel, who had been appointed by Mr.
Casey to head the C.I.A.'s clandestine
operations, resigned in the wa'.te of alle.
gations of financial misconduct. Mr.
Hugel denied those charges., But his se-
lection by Mr. Casey, who had worked
with Mr. Hugel in the campaign, re-
suited in the inquiry into Mr. Casey's fit-
ness for his post.
11 The report stated that Mr. Casey had
Democrat of New York, acting chair-
man, said - the Issue of whether Mr.
Casey should have registered as a for-
eign agent while representing the Gov.
ernment of Indonesia in 1978 was "unre
solved" and would be referred to the
Justice Department.
In addition to Indonesia, Mr. Casey
also failed to disclose among his former
foreign clients Pertamina of Indonesia,
"volunteered" in a hearing July that
Mr. Hugel's appointment was a "mis-
take" for which he assumed "full re-
sponsibi iity."
"The committee concurs," the report
said.
Need for Imoruvement Cited
At a news conference, Mr. Moynihan
declined comment on whether he and
other committee members believed that
Mr. Hugel, who had had little experi-
an oil company controlled by the Inch ; ence in intelligence, was selected for the
nesian Government, and the Govern- sensitive post for political reasons.
ment of South Korea. . However, Mr. Moynihan and Senator
audit- is being conducted now. In addiz
tion, the I.R.S. is conducting "a routine
examination" of a limited partnership
that Mr. Casey helped structure, the re-
,port.-states Committee officials de-
clined to identify the partnership.
John H. Chaffee, Republican of Rhode
Island, acting vice chairman, said the ,
Hugel affair indicated that background
checks by the C.I.A. and other Govern-
ment agencies needed improvement.
Mr. Casey said in a brief statement
late this afternoon that he was
Casey had beemaudited by the Internal "pleased" that the committee, after an
Revenue Service for two tax years, 1976 "exhaustive investigation," had re-
"The committee is concerned that
this pattern suggests an insufficient ap.
preciation of the obligation to provide
complete and accurate information to
the oversight committees of the Con.
eress,"therenorisaid. -
Die document also disclosed that Mr.
The committee also reviewed Mr.
Casey's testimony in the 1974 trial of f or-
merAttorney General John N. Mitchell,
who ultimately was -acquitted of trying
to impede an investigation. There had
been a suspicion of discrepancies be-
tween Mr. Casey's trial testimony and
his testimony before the grand jury that
indicted Mr. Mitchell. But "no major
discrepancies were found which would
indicate that.Mr. Casey committed per-
jury,"the report said. ?
ported "nothing which reflects on the in-
tegrity, the business practices and ethi-
cal standards in which I have always
taken pride." .
"I look forward to continuing to work
together with the committee to improve
the nation's intelligence capabilities,"
Mr. Casey said.
SomeDemocrats, however, expressed
doubts about the wisdom of permitting
Mr. Casey to retain his post. Senator
WalterD. Huddleston, of Kentucky, said
that while only President Reagan could
ask Mr. Casey to resign, there were suf-
ficient reasons to prompt such a re-
quest.
Senator Biden praised Mr.' Casey for
his "decisive, imaginative leadership at
the C.I.A.'s helm." But, citing "a
con- sistent pattern of omissions, misstate-
ments and contradictions in his dealings
with this and other committees of Con.
gross," Mr. Bides said: "Mr. Caseybas
1.... --#4A
...... ;.. hi..w:t:.......r
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/27: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404440163-7