Analysis
UPI NewsTrack - July 11, 1983
Author/Byline: IRA R. ALLEN
The swirling mystery of the 1980 briefing books in some ways parallels the Watergate scandal of a decade ago, and President Reagan is trying to make sure that whatever the result, no one can accuse him of managing a cover-up.
Spokesman Larry Speakes, a veteran of President Nixon's darkest hours in the White House, maintains Reagan has not asked directly for information from his staff precisely to avoid the appearance of a cover-up.
‘You can recall what happened to one other president who didn't keep hands off an investigation,’ he told reporters last week. ‘Nobody can fault us for giving a full and free rein to the Justice Department and saying, ‘Pursue it with vigor.’’
The main parallel between Watergate and the current controversy is that both had their genesis in an effort by campaign aides to figure out what the opposition had.
And the specter of the Central Intelligence Agency loomed prominently in both cases.
Nixon was forced to resign after admitting that he had, only several days after the incident, told the CIA of the June, 1972, break-in at Democratic headquarters, which his spokesman characterized as a ‘third-rate burglary.’ The mastermind of the burglary was a former CIA operative, E. Howard Hunt.
While no fingers are pointing anywhere yet in the current controversy, there have been accusations that national security papers were passed to the Reagan campaign, whose manager was William Casey, now director of the CIA.
One former Reagan aide who denied a news report he was involved in a campaign intelligence ring, Stefan Halper, previously worked in the presidential campaign of Vice President George Bush, who was CIA director and Republican chairman when Nixon resigned.
(snip)
https://www.c-span.org/person/?stefanhalper
https://govtribe.com/vendor/halper-stefan-great-falls-va
Halper, Stefan Great Falls VA Federal Vendor (CONTRACTS)
Halper bump
Wow. You might check this out too. I provided a link to the text of a tweet by @The_War_Economy. I can’t vouch for the guy, but it seems like a well-researched background report on Halper, going back to before he joined the Nixon White House in 1971. Sounds like a real Bush insider =>
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/978269326519230465.html