To the Shoals off Tripoli

By Spencer Davidson

Billy Carter, Libyan agent, embarrasses Brother Jimmy--again

From the start of his presidency, Jimmy Carter has had to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous Brother Billy. Capitalizing on his instant notoriety as a colorful presidential next of kin, Billy Carter has done everything--for a fee--from judging belly-flop diving contests to promoting a beer named after him. Last year Billy finally ended up in the renowned alcoholic rehabilitation service of the Long Beach Naval Regional Medical Center for a seven-week drying out. Things were less antic for a while, but last week, adding to Jimmy Carter's woes this election year, Billy reluctantly registered as the agent of a foreign government in order to avoid possible criminal prosecution by his brother's Justice Department.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act permits any U.S. citizen to work for a foreign government and lobby for its interests. But if he is under its direction or control, he must register with the Department of Justice. For almost two years Billy has quite openly been the best U.S. friend of the dictatorial Arab republic of Libya. But he had all along refused to register because, he insisted, he was just a friend to the Libyans, not an agent. All that changed when the Government found out earlier this year that Billy had received $220,000 from the Libyans in "loans." Loans are not compensation, but the Justice Department was prepared to argue the money was not a loan but payment. So Billy finally caved in and registered.

Billy Carter hotly denied last week that he was much of a foreign agent. "I registered under protest," he told reporters in Georgia. "I registered for the things they said I did in the past. I don't have influence in Washington and I have not tried to use influence I don't have." In deed, the Libyans seem to have got little from the country slicker from Plains. But Billy was frank enough to admit in an ABC interview: "I would not have been invited to Libya if Jimmy wasn't President. They sought my friendship because I was the brother of the President." Legally, he can now operate as an agent for the Libyans, but he claims he has no plans to do so.

Billy argues that he needed the Libyan money because he could not obtain loans elsewhere and was running short of funds. "I've spent all my time the past year in the drunk tank or the grand jury," he said, referring to an earlier, seven-month investigation into the tangled finances of the family peanut warehousing business that found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Billy continued to insist that the Libyan money was a loan, although there are no papers. If it was a loan, the money would not be liable to U.S. income' taxes. But the Justice Department insists that the sum is "compensation" and has handed over files from its investigation to the Internal Revenue Service, which could create new problems for Billy.

The problems for Brother Jimmy growing out of Billy's Libyan connection, meanwhile, continue to be embarrassing. Emerging from his Sapelo Island vacation hideaway last week, President Carter was repeatedly questioned by reporters. "I think it was a regrettable thing that happened," the President said. "I just hope he doesn't get hurt too badly."

The President insisted that he had first learned of his brother's activities last week. Said he: "As you know, Billy leads a life of his own. I didn't know about it; he conducted those activities privately." When he did find out, President Carter said, "I recommended to him to go ahead and make a complete revelation of what had been done."

The "activities" Carter was referring to were the actual granting of the loans by the Libyans to Billy in January and April of this year. But Billy's cavorting with the Libyans had, of course, been public knowledge for a long time. The President claims that he is not his brother's keeper, and Billy certainly prides himself on his stubborn and almost willful independence from his older brother. But Jimmy Carter might have tried earlier and harder to head off the damage to his presidency--and the office of the President itself--by endeavoring to find out from Billy what he was doing and ensure that he was not violating the law, even if the attempt proved to be fruitless.

Billy Carter's game of footsie with the Libyans began in 1978. Out of the blue, he and an old buddy from Plains, Henry Randolph Coleman, were invited on an expense-paid excursion to the country. In anticipation of their trip, Presidential Appointments Secretary Phillip Wise arranged briefings for Billy and Randy by two National Security Council Middle East specialists. The NSC experts, pointing out that fragile peace discussions were under way between Israel, Egypt and the U.S., sought to dissuade Billy from visiting Libya, which vehemently opposed the talks. But the presidential brother demurred. "I know more about Libya than the whole State Department put together. I'm going to succeed just by treating them like folks."

The State Department was relieved by cables reporting that the beer-guzzling Carter had behaved with utmost sobriety and propriety in Libya. Returning home, he reciprocated the hospitality by entertaining a Libyan delegation in Georgia and by forming a "Libyan-Arab-Georgia Friendship Society." Said Billy of his new friends: "There's a helluva lot more Arabians than there is Jews." Criticized for insulting the American-Jewish community, he retorted: "They can kiss my ass." Trying to make the best of an impossible situation, the President said at a White House press conference: "Billy doesn't tell me what to say and I don't tell him."

In January 1979, the Justice Department, acting on its own without any word from the White House, tried to induce Billy to register as a foreign agent. He refused. Says a Justice Department official: "His position was, 'I ain't a foreign agent. I'm entitled to have friends. If you don't like my friends, tough luck.' " In March, the department began to investigate to see if he was indeed violating the provisions of the law. But at that time he had received no money from Libya. So the Justice Department had no case, and the investigation languished.

Carter returned to Tripoli last August, this time for a monthlong stay to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Strongman Muammar Gaddafi's revolution. In the consent agreement he worked out with the Justice Department, Billy estimated the value of his and Coleman's travel alone, without food or lodging in Libya, at $15,980. In addition he disclosed that he was presented with gifts worth about $3,000, which included gold bracelets, a suit, a saddle, a serving platter and a ceremonial sword. At the same time, the Government learned, "loans" that were eventually to total $500,000 were promised him by the Libyan government.

Not until last May did the FBI first learn of the loans, and the investigation picked up, partly because Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti was getting increasingly impatient at the slow pace. Says Deputy Attorney General Charles Renfrew: "The longer it was open, the longer it looked like a whitewash job."

In early June, the Justice Department, convinced the loans were in fact "compensation," informed Billy that it would take "appropriate" action against him. Fearing a criminal indictment, he went to White House Counsel Lloyd Cutler, who referred him to Washington Attorneys Stephen Pollak and Henry Ruth, the pair who had successfully defended White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan against charges that he had used cocaine.

The lawyers and the Justice Department quickly worked out the settlement. Both top Justice Department officials and the White House insist that there was no White House role in reaching the agreement. The arrangement made with Carter is not unusual in such cases; in the past, prosecutors have had trouble winning criminal cases in court. Says Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mark Richard, who directed the investigation: "You have to ask, 'Was there an attempt to conceal, to lie? A conscious design to cover up?' As opposed to a guy who says, 'I'm out front, these are my friends. But I'm not an agent.' " The Carter investigation left some un finished business. The FBI was looking into the Libyan-Arab-Georgia Friendship Society to see if it might be connected with any terrorist movement mounted by the Libyans. Fearful that he may be in danger of being overthrown, Gaddafi has dis patched squads of assassins to intimidate and murder dissident Libyans abroad. So far this year, at least six have been killed in London, Rome and southern Lebanon.

No killings have occurred in the U.S. The Justice Department is also looking into Carter's attempt, admitted in his registration statement, to work out a deal so that Libya would increase the allocation of crude oil to the Charter Oil Co. of Jacksonville, Fla. Charter had been getting 100,000 to 125,000 bbl. a day, but in a new contract had been cut back to 60,000 bbl. in May. Now that Billy is registered as an agent, he could legitimately try to increase Charter's allotment and thereby receive a commission, which could run in excess of $1 per bbl. Only if Billy does not disclose full details of the arrangement might he get in trouble with the Justice Department. A spokesman for Charter asserts that Billy approached the company last March, but "nothing ever came of it."

Billy Carter himself last week, explaining his agency and his actions, insisted that the continuing investigations and the disclosures already made would not affect the President's campaign for reelection. "I'm his brother," he said, "but I'm still a private citizen. You know what they say, 'You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your kinfolk.'

-- By Spencer Davidson, Reported by Roberto Suro and Evan Thomas/Washington

With reporting by Roberto Suro, Evan Thomas

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.