Nofziger's Turn Another Reagan aide is guilty

Another Reagan aide is guilty

The intent of the 1978 Ethics in Government Act is clear enough: to prohibit former federal officials from selling their influence with friends in Government. The law is not unduly restrictive. A would-be lobbyist must wait only one year after leaving the Government before contacting his old associates. Yet Congress wrote such ambiguous language into the law that until last week no one had ever been convicted of violating it.

The hapless precedent setter was Lyn Nofziger, 63, a onetime California newsman who served as Ronald Reagan's political director until January 1982. After a 16-day trial, a federal jury in Washington...

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