Ex-Envoy Oakley to Pay $5,000 Fine in Airline Lobbying Case

WASHINGTON —  Former Ambassador Robert B. Oakley, State Department counterterrorism chief during the Ronald Reagan Administration, agreed Thursday to pay a $5,000 civil fine to settle allegations that he improperly lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of Lebanon’s airline.

While head of the counterterrorism office in 1985, Oakley played a role in Reagan’s decision to prohibit Middle East Airlines from flying to or from the United States. The ban, still in effect, was imposed because Beirut International Airport--where the airline is based--was frequently a departure point for terrorists, the Justice Department said.

After he left the State Department in 1992, Oakley and his company, C&O; Resources, were hired by the airline to help persuade the government to lift the ban. In that capacity, Oakley made written and oral presentations to government officials that year and the next on the airline’s behalf.

A federal conflict of interest law bars former officials for life from trying to influence government action on a matter in which they participated personally and substantially while in government.

Oakley was paid $100,000 in fees by the airline over two years, some of it for “improper lobbying activities,” according to the Justice Department.

Oakley’s lawyer, Joel Cohen, denied that his client’s activities constituted improper lobbying. He noted that the $100,000 was divided between C&O; Resources and another unnamed firm that Oakley brought in as a consultant.

Cohen said Oakley paid the fine “to resolve the matter and let him go along with his life.”

According to court filings in the case, Oakley told U.S. government officials whom he contacted that he was representing Middle East Airlines and he did not recommend lifting the ban unless Middle East Airlines and the Beirut International Airport significantly improved security.

Under the settlement agreement, Oakley agreed not to seek or accept any indemnification for the fine and waived for himself or his company any “success fee” provided for if the ban on the airline were lifted by mid-1995.

Oakley also served as ambassador to Pakistan and as special envoy to Somalia.