Congressman Again Denies Charges : Newsletter Blames Gallegly for Inquiry Into 4 FBI Agents

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) is featured in the October issue of a federal law enforcement newsletter. But it is hardly the kind of publicity the conservative lawmaker welcomes.

In fact, Gallegly said, an article in the publication is the latest episode in a concerted effort by some “disgruntled” FBI agents to damage him politically--he is seeking reelection--as the Tuesday election approaches.

An editorial and column in “The 1811,” the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Assn. newsletter, criticize Gallegly for causing an internal investigation of four veteran Los Angeles FBI agents in the past year. The newsletter goes to 5,000 members of the professional association as well as members of Congress and heads of federal agencies.

“If you haven’t noticed it yet, there is a chill coming out of the West that freezes federal law enforcement officers out of their democratic rights,” begins the editorial, which is headlined “The Elton Gallegly Storm: Misjudgment All Around.”

The editorial states that three FBI agents were placed under internal investigation after they lobbied Gallegly in September, 1987, on a bill that would have increased the rate of overtime pay for 20,000 to 25,000 federal employees, including most FBI agents. Gallegly opposed the bill because he said it would cost too much. It died in Congress this fall.

Note Led to Review

Special Agent Greg Mercier said he was also placed under review for returning Gallegly’s campaign flyer in May with a note expressing outrage over the treatment of his three colleagues. Mercier said he was told by superiors that Gallegly had filed a complaint against him.

Gallegly repeated this week that he has never filed a complaint against any FBI agent.

The FBI has refused to discuss the inquiries, calling them internal matters. Bureau spokesman Fred Reagan reiterated that position Thursday.

Francis E. Quinlan, the attorney for John M. Callaghan, one of the three agents involved, said his client is under investigation but has heard nothing further about the review. FBI officials familiar with the matter said that the other two agents, Larry Langberg and Brent Braun, also have heard nothing.

But Mercier, a 12-year veteran, said that several weeks ago “an administrator called and said the bureau had concluded its investigation and found that I had not been guilty of anything.”

Asked this week whether he had heard anything more about the inquiries since a spate of publicity in June, Gallegly replied, “Not a word. I haven’t asked, and no one has volunteered.”

Offense Unclear

It is not known why it has taken the FBI so long to conclude its initial inquiry, which reportedly began last December.

Kathleen P. Solerwitz, general counsel for the association, said in her column in its October newsletter: “It is in everyone’s best interest that the cloud be removed from these agents’ lives.”

Although none of the four agents are members of the association, its 5,000 members include many FBI agents as well as those in the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal criminal and investigatory positions.

It also remains unclear what offense Callaghan, Langberg and Braun allegedly committed. They said they were on their own time when they met with Gallegly on behalf of the FBI Agents Assn. All four agents live in Gallegly’s 21st District, which includes eastern Ventura County and parts of northern and western San Fernando Valley.

Mercier said Gallegly had accused him and his colleagues of violating the Hatch Act, a 1939 federal law that prohibits government workers from participating in certain kinds of political activities. It does not preclude federal employees from voicing their views on politics or candidates for political office or lobbying for legislation.

After the September, 1987, meeting, Gallegly called Richard Bretzing, who was then the special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office, “to learn if the agents were speaking for the bureau,” the congressman said in a letter to The Times in May.

Follow-Up Letter

A subsequent statement issued by Gallegly’s Washington office said the congressman had contacted Bretzing “to communicate to the FBI and its agents why he opposed” the overtime bill.

Gallegly sent Bretzing a follow-up letter on Oct. 16, 1987. In the letter, Gallegly said, he confirmed his earlier conversation with Bretzing and expressed his concern that his opposition to the overtime bill should not be construed as “opposition to the agency and its work force.”

Quinlan requested a copy of the letter on behalf of Callaghan but Gallegly declined to provide it on the grounds that “it would not be in the government’s best interests.”

Gallegly said this week that it is no coincidence that the issue flared into public view shortly before the June primary and again less than a week before the general election.

“It’s political today,” he said. “It was political 4 or 5 weeks before the last election.”

Mercier and Stan Schwartz, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Assn.’s Central California chapter, denied Gallegly’s allegation.

“We’re not in the business of trying to influence elections,” Schwartz said. “This is a professional association.”