Paisley Lawyers Want Wiretap Data Suppressed

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of hours of telephone conversations involving Melvyn R. Paisley, a primary figure in the Pentagon fraud investigation, were recorded illegally by the government and should not be used against Paisley, the former Navy official’s attorneys said Tuesday.

Exclusion of the wiretaps would be a serious setback in the government’s investigation of Paisley, a defense industry consultant who served as assistant Navy secretary from 1981 until last year, said several attorneys who are familiar with the investigation.

Grand Jury Convenes

Paisley’s lawyers made their claim in federal court in Alexandria, Va., just hours after a federal grand jury convened in the same courthouse to begin consideration of the Pentagon case.

The grand jury proceeding follows a 2-year-old investigation of alleged bribery and fraud in defense procurement. U.S. Atty. Henry E. Hudson, who is supervising the massive fraud investigation from his Alexandria office, has said no indictments could be expected for months.

Meanwhile, at a nearby FBI office, other lawyers and their clients began surrendering thousands of documents requested by the grand jury in 275 subpoenas issued last month.

Among those on whom subpoenas were served were Paisley and his wife, who were asked to provide records about their consulting firms. The wiretap issue raised by Paisley attorneys on Tuesday was part of a motion to have the grand jury subpoenas killed.

Paisley attorneys E. Lawrence Barcella Jr. and Robert Plotkin said they believe the Justice Department omitted key information last year when it received court permission to tap Paisley’s home and office telephones.

Earlier Probes Cited

Specifically, the attorneys said, federal agents did not fully disclose the extent and nature of earlier internal investigations conducted by the Defense Department that dealt at least in part with Paisley’s conduct while he worked for the Navy Department.

Barcella and Plotkin said they “believe that these internal investigations may have employed unauthorized electronic surveillance” that was not disclosed to the judges who approved the later Paisley wiretaps. Therefore, they argued, “the entire body of surveillance information is inadmissible in any proceeding.”

A spokeswoman for Hudson said the government would have no comment. A hearing on the Paisley motion has not been scheduled.

In a related development, an attorney for another Defense Department official named in the investigation, Victor D. Cohen, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force, also filed a motion to quash grand jury subpoenas. However, the motion was sealed and Cohen’s attorney, Julian Greenspun, refused to comment.

Staff writers William C. Rempel in Washington and Greg Johnson in San Diego contributed to this story.