Deaver Lied to Shield Self--Prosecutor

WASHINGTON — Michael Deaver, his perjury trial scheduled to begin next week, lied to shield himself from ethics charges, protect his lucrative business and hide its true function--capitalizing on connections to the White House, a special prosecutor said today.

Whitney North Seymour, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate whether the former White House aide had violated the Ethics in Government Act with his lobbying activities, made the charges in a memorandum on the evidence he plans to introduce at Deaver’s trial, which begins Monday.

Deaver, the first person charged under the ethics law but only charged on related perjury counts, has pleaded innocent to five counts of lying to a federal grand jury and House subcommittee about his lobbying. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and a $34,000 fine.

“It is our intention to prove that Deaver had three distinct but interrelated reasons to give willful false testimony,” Seymour told U.S. District Judge Thomas Jackson, who will oversee the trial.

Sale of Business

Deaver “knew that truthful testimony would reveal not only potential violations of the Ethics in Government Act (some of which related to areas not yet explored by those investigating him),” Seymour said, but the former deputy chief of staff knew “that truthful testimony would end all chances” for the lucrative sale of his business.

“Money considerations, too, played a part,” he said.

The prosecutor also charged: “Defendant knew that truthful testimony would reveal the true nature of Deaver’s lobbying business, showing that defendant traded on his personal relationships with high government officials and collected large fees.

“Deaver falsely portrayed himself as a grand ‘strategic planner’ who was hired not for his connections with the First Family and the highest levels of the executive branch, but for his ability to engage in big-picture ‘strategizing.’

“Admitting that he was merely peddling ‘access’ would have resulted--in addition to the legal and pecuniary consequences--in embarrassment to himself and his friends.

“We intend to argue to the jury that the only way Deaver could achieve exoneration in the eyes of his clients was to commit perjury.”

The trial has been delayed by Deaver’s repeated constitutional challenges to the special prosecutor law, which have been rebuffed by courts. Most recently the Supreme Court ruled that he could bring an appeal on the challenge once convicted.