Head of P.R. Agency Raps Deaver Lobbying Efforts

The head of the nation’s fifth-largest public relations firm on Thursday criticized as unethical the lobbying activities of former presidential aide Michael K. Deaver. He said the industry should support new laws aimed at tightening government oversight of lobbyists.

In a sharply worded speech to about 30 Los Angeles business executives, Daniel J. Edelman, founder and chairman of Chicago-based Daniel J. Edelman Inc., accused Deaver of crossing the line “between traditional public relations practice and the area of overt influence peddling. . . . I believe that Michael Deaver has acted, at the very least, unethically.”

Deaver, 48, a close friend of President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, was White House deputy chief of staff until his resignation on May 10, 1985.

Deaver says he has not done anything wrong in the year since he began representing business and foreign interests that include the governments of Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. He also has said he welcomes the appointment of a federal special prosecutor to review his activities.

Federal conflict-of-interest laws prohibit for life former federal officials such as Deaver from lobbying on any issue in which they were personally and substantially involved while in government. Former officials are also banned for one year from lobbying their old departments or agencies, including the White House.

Edelman told the Los Angeles business executives that if left unchallenged, Deaver’s controversial lobbying activities might hurt the reputation of the $1-billion-a-year public relations industry.

“I call on the leadership in public relations to assist Congress in developing new laws,” Edleman said. “We’re the people involved on a day-to-day basis. . . . We must be seriously concerned about the kinds of activities that can jeopardize our hard-fought gains.”