FBI Chief Cites Public Officials’ Option to Quit : Avoids Direct Reference to Meese Despite Queries About Attorney General

WASHINGTON — FBI Director William S. Sessions, barraged by questions about Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III’s legal difficulties, said Thursday that, if the American public perceived that the FBI director was not legally or ethically carrying out his duties, “I always have open the route of resignation.”

Asked whether his comments should be interpreted to mean that he believes Meese should resign, Sessions told a press conference: “You’ll have to draw your own conclusions. . . . It’s not really appropriate for me to speculate.”

As to whether “the accusations against the attorney general might weaken the fabric of law enforcement, I think that is a very, very important item,” Sessions said. “To me, I think there is a general perception in the United States that all of us can elect and choose those laws which we will obey or disobey. . . .

“That is contrary to the fabric of American society, generally,” he said. “We are a country of law. We govern ourselves by law. We choose to do that. Therefore, the rule of law is extremely important to us and part of the fabric and strength of American society. So, I’d be concerned about that, yes.”

Meese Questions

Sessions’ meeting with reporters who regularly cover the FBI was dominated by questions on Meese’s situation. The attorney general has been under investigation by independent counsel James C. McKay for a year on a wide-ranging series of allegations, most of which involve help he extended to his longtime friend, E. Robert Wallach, in connection with government programs.

Pressure on Meese intensified after Deputy Atty. Gen. Arnold I. Burns and William F. Weld, chief of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, resigned in March in protest over Meese’s troubles and their effect on the department.

But the pressure lessened later that week when McKay announced that he did not plan to seek Meese’s indictment based on evidence that had been gathered at the time. Instead, he is expected to issue a detailed report late this month on his investigation.

Meese, backed by President Reagan, has rejected calls for his resignation, insisting that he is the victim of personal and political attacks and “media hype.”

Lawyers’ Ethics

At his press conference, Sessions said that “ethical conduct in connection with lawyers particularly is a very sensitive matter. I think it’s even more important when you’re dealing with a person who is, in fact, the attorney general of the United States, and I think that Mr. Meese would strongly agree with that.”

The FBI director, a former federal judge who has been in office for six months, repeatedly attempted to separate his emphasis on the importance of ethics and propriety in public office from any assessment of Meese’s situation. The bureau is overseen by the Justice Department, which Meese heads as attorney general.

Sessions said that he was “trying to talk about general principles that I do believe apply to the conduct of public officials. But I am not the keeper of the public conscience in that regard. . . .”

He also was asked about Meese-related graffiti that has been scrawled on walls inside the Justice Department building in recent months. The director said that the FBI is not investigating the incidents under the law that makes it a crime to deface government property.

‘Sleaze’ and ‘Resign’

The graffiti, which included the words “sleaze” and “resign,” were photographed and painted over by Justice Department security officials.

In a related development, Administration sources confirmed published reports that Meese has forwarded to the White House the names of candidates to fill the vacancies created by the Burns and Weld resignations.

For his deputy, Meese has proposed Harold G. Christensen, a Salt Lake City trial lawyer who is being pushed by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). To head the criminal division as assistant attorney general, Meese has recommended Edward S. G. Dennis, U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, who earlier headed the narcotics section in the division.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said, however, that a number of candidates are under consideration and that no nomination is imminent.

Meese has had unusual difficulty filling both posts, with some candidates turning him down and others withdrawing their names rather than face potentially contentious confirmation proceedings.