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Show WeeMy Specnaill ZESjZZr" Assistant to Carter aide says he copied Debategate' briefing book Washington The Washington press corps is already calling it "Debate-gate," "Debate-gate," but that may be a little melodramatic to describe the uproar over the Reagan campaign's use of Jimmy Carter's White House briefing documents just before the 1980 debate between the two contenders. There's no indication yet that the briefing-book caper could turn into a scandal on the scale of Watergate. But reporters and congressional investigators investiga-tors are digging into the mystery. The FBI has been unleashed on the case. And our own staff is hot on the trail. Here's what we've learned: The Carter briefing book was copied late on the night of Oct. 22 and early in the morning of Oct. 23, 1980. Twency-four Twency-four hours later, David Stockman was using the briefing papers to rehearse Reagan for the debate. Who did the copying? We have identified him as James C. Rowland, who worked directly under Carter aide David Rubenstein in the White House. Rowland told us he made about a dozen copies of the briefing book 15 copies at the most. They were circulated only to Carter intimates at the White House and at Camp David. Significantly, no copies of the briefing book were sent to campaign headquarters. Any material that found its way to the Reagan campaign, therefore, must have come from the White House itself, not from some disgruntled Carter campaign worker. That might explain why House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, D-Mass, D-Mass, isn't anxious to pursue the Great Briefing Book investigation: It could prove to be as embarrassing to the Democrats as to the Republicans. Meanwhile, former Reagan campaign cam-paign officials have admitted that they set up a task force to keep check on possible military operations that might help Carter's re-election bid. A network of former military officials, for example, kept a worldwide watch on stockpiles of spare parts for F-14 jet aircraft. Why spare parts for this plane? Because Be-cause Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini needed the parts for Iran's air force and might have been willing to trade the hostages for them. If the campaign spies spotted any unusual movement of the parts, it might have been a signal that a deal had been struck airplane parts in exchange for the hostages. The trade, of course, was never made, but the incident demonstrates the extent of campaign espionage. Soviet Cinema: Residents of Moscow have been flocking to see a government-produced propaganda film called "Incident in Quadrate 36-80." It portrays an American submarine commander as a gun-packing nut who reacts atrociously after his nuclear reactor catches fire and starts an accidental attack. The Russians, of course, react with kindness and humanity. They offer their assistance to the Americans and decline to escalate the conflict. The film, however, represents an intelligence bonanza for U.S. agents who have seen it. The Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev is prominently featured, and there are close-ups of the vessel's jets, bombers, refueling apparatus and shipboard anti-missile system. So in their eagerness to make the United States look bad, they have revealed some of their closely guarded military secrets. Invalid Complaint: Last year, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro accused the CIA of using biological warfare against Cuba. The resulting dengue fever, malaria and parasitic disease, he charged, had resulted in 158 deaths and widespread illness. CIA sources tell a different story. The answer, they say, is so simple that it eluded the intelligence analysts for some time. Dengue fever, they now realize, is transmitted by mosquitoes, and is endemic to Africa and Southeast Asia. Coincidentally, Cuban military advisers have been serving in these areas and have returned home with the disease. Apparently, Cuban soldiers and advisers have been picking up the other diseases in remote areas of the world. Malaria cases were reported after Cuban troops returned from Angola. And parasites found in Africa and Nicaragua are also showing up in Cuba, Political Potpourri: According to our sources, former White House political aide Lyn Nofziger has been urging Drew Lewis, the former secretary of transportation, to take command of Reagan's 1984 campaign. If Lewis accepts the job, Nofziger will join the campaign; if not, he will sit it out. Apparently, Nofziger believes Lewis is the one man who can keep the lid on Reagan's faction-ridden camp. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson has been toying with the idea of running for the presidency and has been traveling around the country with a large entourage in search of support. His candidacy will probably not get off the ground but his effort should force a change in the delegate selection process and give blacks a greater voice. House Speaker Tip O'Neill believes that the Democratic presidential contenders have been too timid in their criticisms of Ronald Reagan and plans to become more vocal in hope that the candidates will follow suit. (c) 1983 United Feature Syndicate, Inc. |