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= —-- on - “Glu S Louis Past= DISPATH, SumeAy, MARC Mh thre Vebster Defends FBI Conduct In William Freivogel iDispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — William H. ‘ster, director of the Federal reau of Investigation, says the real use revealed by the Abscam vestigation was not the bureau's dercover techniques it the political ad-raising used by persons ‘who want bribe members of Congress. i FBI heard last week as the Senate debated whether to expel Sen. Harrison A. Williams Jr., D-N.J. Williams was convicted bt Abscam offenses but resign fore a vote on expulsi could be taken. ~ on Webster strongly defended the investigation, which led to convictions for seven members of Congress. He termed Abscam a “service to the He compared $ Senate i said he could provide answers tO” ; announced after Williams resigned that they would investigate the FBI's conduct of Abscam. ‘Webster said he hoped that one of the Abscam Inquir, examine what he called the gray are in laws on campaign contributions. “The real problem is the pervas effort to corrupt congressmen thro bogus ign contributions in ret’ for certain specific legislat activity,” he said. ' Webster said that he wanted to li his comments on Abscam to per things to cool down. Responding ‘ nation.” Webster said in an interview Friday “We've been hearing so much \! lar committees that oversees the criticism that Abscam was “‘slea: at he hoped that Congress would turn hyperbole in. the | highly emotional FBI ‘would do the investigating. Setting Webster said the operation © ‘attention to fund-raising after it situation this week,” he said. “Ittends UP& special committee would be unfair, supposed to be just that. ‘dite the FBI's conduct of Abscam. to ignore the record that is in the court Desaid. : “It was based on being sleazy,” Webster's statements were his first on all of these cases for everyone to Once those hearings are completed, said. “The sleaziness in part Prot - Webster would like to see See ABSCAM, Page 18 stailed response to the criticism of the review.” tegen EE NT FROM PAGE ONE 7 me cter de during Abscam, possibly because of their allegiance to President Jimmy Carter, He said some of the criticism of his conduc investigation was contradictory. “We stop soon. We stopped too late. We went after pe had no business going after. We did not go afte that we should have gone after because of the’ and authority.’ Those statements simply Webster defended his decision for agents to offer a his own use. _ il i Webster said he didn’t think his supervision of the bribe to Sen. Larry Pressler, R-S.D., despite the investigation Sa have ee to tu up . absence any evidence that Pressler had engaged in ty ese allegations.-And he noted that they might not be ing. Senators were particularly angered by memorandum dated Nov. 7, 1979, in which Webster permitted Pressler to be substituted at the last minute , for another member ‘of Congress. Pressler refused to tahe an LLne cohen twas offered. "Webster said Friday that he had only about 30 minutes to make the ‘decision. “I had to make a i ent call,” Webster explained. “I could have , ‘Don’t Jet him come until we know more.’ They were saying it would arouse ‘suspicion. . “So 1 said the system will protect him because it hhas to be clear that it is a criminal purpose and... nO money was to pass until a criminal representation was made.”” This is the reason, Webster said, that he wrote onto the 1979 memo, “Try to be sure this new senator knows he is being paid (bribed).”” Webster acknowledged that the true. ‘Webster emphatically denied accusations by columnist Jack Anderson that the Justice t had not pursued some ‘of those whose names came up suspect would engage cases that rested heavily on the reliability” of the the middleman. -. The middleman “had brought us people\who did i tte things we have seen on the tapes, and when be calied and said, ‘Mr. ‘So-and-So would like to come,’ , Ge would try to check to see what else we EnEW. ee . We Tught that was a pretty good reason itselt since we had these mechanisms to protect came.” “Webster cited what he called a four-tier system protection againstentrapment. . First, the bureau tried to make enough that only ‘those predisposed accep’. “er ong, no payments were made “until a criminal tion was made.” In other words, 10 pal ‘were made until the legislator agreed to use his office for gain. Third, prosecutors monitored ‘nearly all of the : “meetings as they occurred. Ifa bribe offer were being . : aw prosecutors call the its offer sleazy to crime would made unyiurriay undercover agents to, irina..members. of. mee Aer