Pen Pal

Since he first went to work for California Governor Ronald Reagan in 1967, Lyn Nofziger had been one of the Republican Party's shrewdest and most colorful strategists. Blunt and profane, with a wisecracking sense of humor, the former newspaperman served on Richard Nixon's White House staff, advised the Republican National Committee and helped guide Reagan to the presidency. Nofziger left his job as Reagan's political director in January 1982 to launch one of Washington's proliferating "communications" firms. He apparently succeeded at his brand of lobbying, but at considerable risk to his reputation as a smart operator.

The Justice Department confirmed last week that it is considering the appointment of an independent counsel to determine whether Nofziger violated federal conflict-of-interest laws in 1982 by helping a New York City defense supplier win a $31 million contract to produce small engines for the Army. Nofziger admitted to the New York Times that he signed a letter sent on behalf of the company to James E. Jenkins, who was the top aide to then Presidential Counsellor Edwin Meese. The letter, written in May 1982, just four months after Nofziger left the White House, urged Jenkins to intercede with the Army in considering the Welbilt Electronics Die Corp., later renamed Wedtech. Whether or not the letter played a role, the firm got the nonbid contract in September 1982.

Wedtech, whose net revenues jumped from nearly $10 million in 1981 to $117 million last year largely on the strength of Government contracts, issued stock publicly for the first time in August 1983. Nofziger and his partner Mark Bragg, who had been retained by Wedtech as public relations consultants, had each received 22,500 shares of the stock, then worth $360,000 at $16 per share. Jenkins quit the White House in May 1984, began consulting for Wedtech in October 1985, and now is the company's Washington representative.

Ironically, Meese, who is now Attorney General, or one of his subordinates must soon decide whether to pursue a criminal investigation of Nofziger. Federal laws prohibit onetime senior employees of the Government from lobbying their former agencies for at least a year after leaving office. Nofziger told the Times he was recovering from a mild stroke in 1982 and did not actually recall his letter to Jenkins. Meanwhile, investigations of Wedtech's ties to influential politicians are under way in New York City and Baltimore; a federal grand jury in New York has called Nofziger to testify. Like Michael Deaver, a fellow Reagan intimate and lobbyist who is already under investigation by a special counsel, Nofziger may have stumbled while walking too fine a line between serving the public and seeking private gain.