• ,"

Bush Appointee
Headed Council

Edward J. Derwinski,
President-elect George
Bush's designate for
Secretary of Veteran's Af-
fairs, has been linked to a
group that reportedly has
ties with anti-Semites,
facists and former Nazis.
Derwinski served from
1973-1976 as chairman of
the Republican Heritage
Groups Council, an um-
brella organization for
various ethnic Republican
clubs under the auspices of
the Republican National
Committee.
Detroit researcher Russ
Bellant charged in a 1988
publication Old Nazis,

The New Right and the

Washington Correspondent

A

s if it didn't have
enough trouble al-
ready, the American-
Israel Public Affairs Commit-
tee (AIPAC) was hit last week
with a formal complaint filed
with the Federal Election
Commission.
The complaint, lodged by a
group of pro-Arab organiza-
tions, alleges illegal AIPAC
control over the distribution
of money by pro-Israel
political action committees
(PACs). The group also argued
that AIPAC should be
\„ registered as an agent of a
/--- foreign government.
AIPAC, despite the PAC in
1
its name, is a registered lob-
: hying organization, not a
PAC; as such, it is prohibited
from controlling the flow of
money to candidates.
A "Sixty Minutes" expose
last fall, and a subsequent
story in the Washington Post,
revealed the existence of
memos that seemed to draw a
more direct connection to the
funding process.
J Ever since, Jewish activists
here have been holding their
breath in anticipation of a
complaint with the FEC.
The cast of characters par-
ticipating in the action in-
cluded a number of leaders of
The American Educational
Trust, a Washington-based
organization comprised
primarily of former State
Department officials.
Andrew I. Kiligore, the
group's president and a

Of The

Reagan Administration,

that the Republican Heri-
tage Groups Council "ap-
pears to have consciously
recruited some of its
members — and some of its
leaders — from an Eastern
European emigre network
which includes anti-
Semites, racists,
authoritarians and facists,
including sympathizers and
collaborators of Hitler's
Third Reich, former Nazis
and even possible war
criminals."
Spokesmen for Bush de-
nounced the Bellant report
upon its publication in
September, saying it was
full of "reckless allegations."

Group Hits AIPAC
With FEC Complaint

JAMES D. BESSER

ONLY Two
DAYS
LEFT

former ambassador to Qatar,
said in an interview that the
effort to lodge a complaint
was delayed by "the power of
AIPAC to intimidate."
The complaint was also
signed by former Under
Secretary of State George
Ball and former Rep. Paul
Findley, who has published a
book blaming the pro-Israel
community for his failure to
win re-election in 1982.
AIPAC, meanwhile, appears
to be circling its wagons in
preparation for even more
flak — including a rumored
Internal Revenue Service in-
vestigation.
Early last week, the group
moved to shore up its congres-
sional lobbying department
with the appointment of
Ester Kurz as chief of the
legislative department. Kurz
replaces Doug Bloomfield,
whose departure was forced
as the result of a longstan-
ding squabble over strategy
and turf.
Kurz's appointment was
generally seen as a positive
development for the
beleaguered group. As Bloom-
field's top assistant, she
became a well known figure
on Capitol Hill— and enjoys
the respect of a number of pro-
Israel congressional aides.
"I have nothing but high
regard for Ester's profes-
sionalism," said Morrie
Amitay, a leading pro-Israel
lobbyist ad former executive
director of AIPAC. "But the
question is whether she'll be
permitted to perform her job
by some of the powers-that-be
at AIPAC.

C0.
L L UGGAGE 641-t
C
1 )1(
SPECTACULAR
CLEARANCE

SALE

Storewide

ac

p

qqc).g
\,̀•
\c`
•

•

O.Sc\

N/

•

A400 43
mo d.

Sale Ends This Sunday At 5:00

Open Friday 9-9, Saturday 9-5
Sunday 12-5 (For Sale Only)

AL

ceadcW.

LUGGAGE Co.

3116 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Between Greenfield and Coolidge

545-7393

41•1111111MINER

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

31