FINAL REPORT FINDS CASEY 'INATTENTIVE'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570135-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 135
• Publication Date: December 3, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570135-6
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ON PAGE 3 DECD R 1981
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ByJUDITH MILLER
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WASHINGTON, Dec. Z- 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 comply.
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 witlr the
I panel, but only Senators Joseph R.
conclusion that a review of the facts in
the four-month examination had
produced "no basis for concluding that
Mr. Casey is unfit to hold office as Direc-
tor of Central Intelligence."
Mr. Leahy, emphasizing that he sup.
Casey as "damning him with faint
praise .$* Catalo
uyofOmIssi^"~. ,l
g
The six-page, single-spaced report
catalogued Mr. Casey's omissions on
financial disclcsure 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
failed 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 on whose board Mr. Casey
served, four civil lawsuits and more
than 70 clients he had represented in pri-
vate practice in the last five years."
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
.7 .1
Inquiry
Mr. Casey h
an uxzury int
violations ste
manship of the
-Committee.
Federal Electi
the allegation
"pending theou tz=eoiuugauvn:..
The committee's wide-ranging inves.
ligation 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 wake of alle-
gations of financial misconduct. Mr.
Hugel denied those charges.' But his se-
lection by Mr. Casey, who had worked
J with Mr. Hugel in the campaign, re.
sulted in the inquiry into Mr. Casey's fit-
I! ness for his post.
The report stated that Mr. Casey had
"volunteered" in a hearing July 29 that
Mr. Hugel's appointment was a "mis.
take" for which he assumed "full re-
sponsibility."
"The committee concurs," the report
said.
Need for Improvement Cited
At a news conference, Mr. Moynihan
declined comment on whether he and
othercommittee members believed that
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 1976 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, ! Mr. Hugel, who had had little experi-
an oil company controlled by the Indo. ence in intelligence, was selected for the
nesian Government, and the Govern- sensitive post for political reasons.
ment of South Korea. i. However, Mr. Moynihan and Senator
I Revenue Service for two tax years, 1976
and 1977. He received a refund after the
1976 audit, the report noted, and the 1977
audit is being conducted now. In addi=
tion, the LR.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.
The committee also reviewed Mr.
Casey's testimony in the 1974 trial of for-
mer Attorney 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-
this pattern suggests an insufficient ap-
preciation of the obligation to provide
complete and accurate information to
the oversight committees of the Cori.
ereas." the retort said.
The document also disclosed that Mr.
Island, acting vice chairman, said the
Hugel affair indicated that bactgrourd
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 "pleased" that the committee, after an
`.exhaustive investigation," had re-
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.
Some Democrats, 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 c ould
ask Mr. Casey to resign, there were sue
ficient reasons to prompt such a re-
quest.
Senator Biden praised Mr. Casey for
his"decisive, imaginative leadership at
the C.LA.'s helm." But, citing "a con,
sistent pattern of omissions misstate.
wants and contradictions in his dealings
with this and other committees of Con.
grass." Mr. Bidet said: "Mr. Caseyhas
last net eonfidnYp in hi% ahilirv tn.,...t
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/01/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000303570135-6