The Nation - News from Feb. 16, 1989

Former Transportation Secretary James H. Burnley IV received clearance from the department’s ethics officer to review a request to investigate Eastern Airlines while he was negotiating to join a Washington law firm that represents Eastern, according to documents released by the department. The documents indicate that on Dec. 13 Burnley received a one-sentence memorandum from Rosalind A. Knapp, the designated agency ethics official, stating that he was “not disqualified from participating in this matter.” Knapp’s memorandum came the day before Burnley issued a strongly worded opinion denying a petition from the Air Line Pilots Assn. to launch a “continuing fitness” review of Eastern’s financial condition. Knapp’s memorandum was released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the law firm, Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge, after the pilots’ union requested that the department reconsider its petition.