Meese Use of FBI Jet Scrutinized : He May Have Violated Reagan Order to Cut Costs--Lawmaker

WASHINGTON — Edwin Meese III’s frequent use of an FBI jet is under scrutiny by a House subcommittee chairman who says the attorney general may have violated President Reagan’s mandate to hold down travel costs.

Rep. Glenn English (D-Okla.) has directed the General Accounting Office, the investigative wing of Congress, to try to cut through a shroud of secrecy the FBI and Justice Department have placed over Meese’s travels.

Between June 3, 1986, and May 11, 1987, Meese used an FBI airplane on 40 occasions, compared to 37 trips by the FBI and other Justice officials, according to a House Government Operations Committee staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

During the same period, then-FBI Director William H. Webster used the aircraft only six times, one of them a joint trip with Meese, according to the staffer.

Where Meese went, however, remains a state secret because the FBI has failed to disclose any specific data about his travels, English said in a letter to Comptroller General Charles A. Bowsher, head of the GAO.

The focus on Meese is an outgrowth of a review by English’s government information, justice and agriculture subcommittee into executive aircraft ownership and use by a variety of executive branch agencies.

English is interested in determining whether any of the aircraft could better serve the public interest by transferring them from VIP service to front-line duty in the war on drugs.

English said that when GAO asked the FBI for flight logs for the FBI aircraft, the bureau supplied only an incomplete summary report of its use and declared the entire document classified.

The use of executive agency aircraft is governed by Circular A-126, an Oct. 5, 1983, White House policy statement that prohibits use of VIP airplanes when cheaper commercial transportation is available.

The circular requires that when an agency uses one of its aircraft to carry passengers, it must file a written economic justification showing that the cost does not exceed the price of flying commercial.

English said that “it is not at all clear that the attorney general’s use of the aircraft conforms to federal regulations. . . . It appears likely that some of the attorney general’s travel utilizing the FBI aircraft could have been accomplished more economically on commercial airlines.”