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4 re » Louis Past- DISSATEH, SsumoAy , MAht 44, [$8 eee ai Vebster Det ends William Freivogel it-Dispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — William H. ‘bster, director of the Federal reau of Investigation, says the real use revealed by the Abscam vestigation was not the bureau's dercover techniques but the political ad-raising used by persons who want bribe members of Congress. Webster said in an interview Friday at he hoped that Congress would turn. attention to fund-raising after it idies the FBI’s conduct of Abscam. Webster's statements were his first tailed response to the criticism of the FROM PAGE ONE them,” he said. - Webster defended his decision for agents to offer a ? pribe to Sen. Larry Pressler, ‘wrongdoing. ‘Senators _ memorandum dated Nov. tahe wi. ; R-S.D., despite the = absence of any evidence that Pressler had engaged in were particularly angered by . 7, 1979, in which Webster . permitted Pressler to be substituted at the last minute for another member of Congress. Pressler refused to Site whan it was offered. “Webster said Friday that he minutes to make the decision. - aydement call,” Webster explain said, ‘Don’t Jet him come until we f FBI heard last week as the Senate debated whether to expel Sen. Harrison A. Williams Jr., D-N.J. Williams was convicted of Abscam offenses but resigned before a vote on expulsion could betaken. — _ Webster strongly defended -the investigation, which led to convictions for seven members of Congress. He termed Abscam a “‘service to the nation.” ‘ “We've been hearing so much .!. . hyperbole in. the hi emotional stuation this week,’”’ er “It tends to ignore the record that is in the court on ail of these cases for everyone to review.” fo a true. Webster had only about 30 “7 had to make @ ed. “I could have know more.’ They were saying it would arouse suspicion. - . “So | said the system will protect him because it has to be clear that it is a criminal purpose and...no _ money was to pass was made.”” until a criminal representation This is the reason, Webster said, that he wrote onto the 1979 memo, knows he is being paid (bribed).’ that Webster acknowledged “Try to be sure this new senator the targets of the Abscam investigation were often in effect chosen by influence peddlers, who told undercover agents which politicians would accept money. “we tried to confine it to those we had reason to suspect would engage in this kind of activity. In some | - cases that rested heavily on the reliability” of the the middleman. _The middleman “had brought us people: who did | ” the’ things we have seen on the tapes, calied and said, ‘Mr. So-and-So would like to come, : we would try to . we thought that was a pretty good reason itself since we had these mechanisms to protect whoever came.” “Webster cited what he called a four-tier system of protection against entrapment. "First, the bureau tried to make its offer sleazy ‘enough that only those predisposed to crime would accept. * Second, no payments were ma In -represenation was made.” “until a criminal other words, no - payments were made until the legislator agreed to use his office for gain. - Third, prosecutors monitored ‘nearly ail of the “meeiings as they occurred. If a bribe offer were being made Npruprety, ww was ___ undercover agents to set them oe NNT gracecutors straigh’ . ctogeecn teeraterina. members. Of call the FBI Conduct I ‘Senate p' his own use. ae 7 , Webster said he didn’t think his supervision of the investigation should have been expec’ ; these allegations.-And he noted that they might not be emphatically columnist Jack Anderson that the Justice Department had not pursued some of those whose names came up He compared the FBI’s role in the ft ings last week to that of “a defendant without counsel during all of these highly publicized charges.” He ‘said he could provide the Senate with answers to’ the . Senators announced after Williams resigned ‘that they would investigate the FBI's conduct of Abscam. . _ Webster said he hoped that one of the " regular committees that oversees the FBI would do the investigating. Setting up a special committee would be unfair, . he said. - — Once those hearings are completed, _ Webster would like to see Congress ted to turned up denied accusations by , ‘for certain . specific cpeeta-y Ure ~~ during Abscam, poss e to President Jimmy Carter. . d some of the criticism of his conduc investigation Was contradictory. “ ‘We stop soon. We stop had no business gol after. We did not go afte that we should have gone after because of the’ and authority.’ Those statements _simply allegianc He sai n Abscam Inquir: examine what he called the gray are in laws on campaign contributions. “The real problem is the pervas effort to corrupt congressmen throw bogus campaign contributions in reti legislat activity,” he said. . Webster said that he wanted to li his comments on Abscam to per to cool down. Responding criticism that Abscam was “sleaz Webster said the operation © supposed to be just that. “J¢ was based on being sleazy,’ "said. “The sleaziness in part prot "* See ABSCAM, Page 18 ibly because of their | too late. We went after pe