Samuel R Pierce

An independent counsel cleared former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. of criminal wrongdoing Wednesday in a scandal that uncovered payoffs and widespread political favoritism in his Cabinet agency during the Ronald Reagan Administration. But the counsel, Arlin M. Adams, was sharply critical of Pierce, saying that he "permitted the conditions to exist that allowed the corruption" in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He endured eight years in a government post he never wanted, then suffered through five years as the target of an independent counsel who never charged him with a crime. Such was the legacy of Samuel R. Pierce Jr., who died Tuesday at age 78 in a hospital outside Washington.

Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh Thursday asked a special court to appoint an independent counsel to investigate whether former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. conspired with other HUD officials to defraud the United States. Thornburgh asked the three-judge panel to name a prosecutor to look into the way Pierce and other HUD officials under former President Ronald Reagan handled the Moderate (income) Rehabilitation Program, a multimillion-dollar housing program.

An independent counsel cleared former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. of criminal wrongdoing Wednesday in a scandal that uncovered payoffs and widespread political favoritism in his Cabinet agency during the Ronald Reagan Administration. But the counsel, Arlin M. Adams, was sharply critical of Pierce, saying that he "permitted the conditions to exist that allowed the corruption" in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Former Cabinet Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. agreed to testify Aug. 3 before House investigators on allegations that he ordered two subordinates at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to approve a controversial Durham, N.C., apartment project. In addition, Pierce promised to answer questions on other issues from the House subcommittee investigating political favoritism and poor management at the department during his eight-year tenure there.

With the pledge "never again," President Bush signed legislation Friday to overhaul procedures at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where abuses during the tenure of ex-Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. led to a multimillion-dollar scandal. Announcing his action, Bush said the legislation will "help eliminate the systemic flaws" that allowed such transgressions to occur.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce on Friday exercised his right to ban cameras from his forced congressional testimony next week about scandals at the housing agency during his eight-year tenure. Pierce's attorney also gave his strongest indication yet that the former secretary might refuse to answer certain questions when he appears before a House subcommittee on Tuesday. But the attorney said no thought was being given to ignoring the subpoena altogether.

A House committee voted Tuesday to seek a court order granting immunity from prosecution to compel testimony from a former official at the scandal-plagued Housing and Urban Development Department. Dubois Gilliam, now serving an 18-month prison sentence for a HUD-related conviction, is expected to testify in late April or early May before the House panel investigating scandals under the Ronald Reagan Administration's HUD secretary, Samuel R. Pierce Jr.

A former top aide to Samuel R. Pierce Jr. will begin testifying today about how Pierce decided who got federal grants during his tenure as the Ronald Reagan Administration's housing secretary. Dubois L. Gilliam, a former deputy assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development, is serving an 18-month prison sentence on federal conspiracy charges involving abuse of HUD programs.

Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. said Monday that "we are taking care of more people by far, with much less money" than when he took office in 1981. Pierce defended before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee the Administration's $19-billion spending request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development for fiscal 1989, up slightly from the current $18.6 billion.

The 10-month-old federal investigation of former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. was expanded Monday to include Pierce's relationship with his former New York law firm and potential fraud in a fourth housing program. The investigation now will include Pierce's dealings with Battle, Fowler, Jaffin & Kheel, the law firm, and with Lance Wilson, once his executive assistant at HUD.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. helped steer federal funds to friends, his former law firm and politically connected consultants, a House committee concluded Thursday in its report on the biggest domestic scandal of the Ronald Reagan Administration. "During much of the 1980s, HUD was enveloped by influence peddling, favoritism, abuse, greed, fraud, embezzlement and theft," the House Government Operations Committee said in its unanimous report.

A House panel on Tuesday urged a special prosecutor to widen the investigation of former HUD Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr., saying it had evidence that Pierce steered federal grants to his former law firm. In their most detailed finding, congressional investigators questioned whether Pierce's former law firm, a former top aide and Pierce himself may have violated federal bribery, conspiracy and conflict-of-interest laws during his tenure as secretary of housing and urban development.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is recovering about $81 million of federal funds lost through widespread fraud and mismanagement, HUD's inspector general said Friday. "The department recovered $18.6 million in the six-month reporting period as a result of our audits and investigations, and HUD management made commitments to recover another $62.3 million," Inspector General Paul Adams told a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

A federal housing program that financed expensive projects including marinas and golf courses probably will cost the government $177 million in loan defaults, more than three times earlier estimates, federal auditors reported Thursday.

Former Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. so abused discretionary funds under his control that he once approved a $350,000 grant just to help a "down and out" former campaign manager who was promoting a project, a House subcommittee was told Friday. DuBois L.

A former top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development continued Wednesday to rebut former HUD Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr.'s claim that he was a "hands-off" manager who was unaware of fraud and abuse within the agency.

An aide to former Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. testified Monday that Pierce often awarded federal housing grants on the basis of friendship and political favoritism. The testimony of DuBois L.