In an ethics filing last week, Meese disclosed that Chinn on several occasions had invested significantly more funds for him and his wife than was in their investment account, although they denied any knowledge of those transactions at the time they took place. The Meeses realized more than $35,000 in profits from speculative one-day stock trades that Chinn carried out with the money over a two-year period. But it is understood that chief among them is $55,000 that Meese and his wife, Ursula, invested at Wallach’s suggestion in a trust handled by Chinn. McKay and lawyers in his office would not describe the other matters involving Meese that are being investigated. and other matters,” McKay told reporters after a pretrial hearing for Lyn Nofziger, Reagan’s former political adviser, who has been indicted on conflict-of-interest charges involving his lobbying for Wedtech. However, “there are a number of unresolved questions concerning his involvement with the Wedtech Corp. Justice Department officials said Tuesday that they do not expect Meese to step aside while the McKay investigation is being pursued because, as one put it, there “would have to be a direct hit” on the attorney general-not just those around him-to persuade him to resign.
“I’m more concerned about the way it’s been presented-ignoring the fact that, in many of the cases, the charge appears on and then, when it’s determined that the charge is meaningless and has no foundation, that appears on ,” Reagan said at a photo session. McKay disclosed also that he “is actively investigating other matters” involving the conduct of Meese, Wallach, Chinn and “others as it relates to matters not directly dealing with the Wedtech Corp.” Presumably, he would attempt to force their testimony by arguing that the defendants could not invoke the Fifth Amendment when asked about matters for which they had been convicted.
#WAS EDWIN MEESE EVER CHARGED TRIAL#
All three were consultants to Wedtech, and Wallach and Chinn were on the corporation’s board of directors.Īfter noting that those indicted have asserted their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination rather than testify before the federal grand jury investigating Meese in Washington, McKay said that he might still seek their testimony about the attorney general after their trial is completed. Franklyn Chinn and Chinn’s associate, Rusty Kent London. McKay, the independent counsel in the case, said that “there is insufficient evidence as of this date” to indicate that Meese “knowingly participated in criminal activity in connection with his Wedtech actions.”īesides San Francisco attorney Wallach, a friend and confidant of Meese since their law school days at UC Berkeley, those indicted are investment manager W. Meese’s ties to Wedtech are being investigated by a non-Justice Department prosecutor under the Ethics in Government Act. The small manufacturing firm sought no-bid defense contracts as a minority-operated company and in fact landed a $250,000 Army contract after Meese’s intervention. Robert Wallach, Meese’s former attorney, had sought to influence Meese on behalf of now-defunct Wedtech. The indictment-returned by a grand jury under the direction of U.S. Edwin Meese III and Meese’s former investment adviser were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury here on charges of racketeering, mail and wire fraud and conspiring to defraud the United States in actions related to their work for Wedtech Corp.
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