Dole Aide Leaves Over Real Estate Deal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The general finance chairman of Kansas Sen. Bob Dole’s presidential campaign said Thursday he is stepping down from the post until questions regarding his business activities are resolved.

Dole himself, trying to quell a controversy over a real estate deal involving his wife’s blind trust, said earlier in the day while campaigning in Iowa that he did not know if the official, David Owen, had committed any improprieties, but described the resignation as “a good thing.”

“If there was any appearance of bad judgment, he should step aside,” Dole said.

The Republican candidate made his comment as Don Campbell, deputy director of the Office of Government Ethics, said his agency will be exercising its “supervisory capacity” to take a look at the transaction.

‘There’s Nothing There’

Dole told reporters that neither he nor his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole, had done anything wrong. “There’s nothing there. Dave Owen may have a problem, but that’s his problem,” Dole said.

Owen said he was not asked by Dole to step down and that he decided to “temporarily suspend” his campaign activities after consulting with campaign leaders.

“To me, nothing is more serious than to have my honesty questioned, and when it is, I am the one who demands the answers. The facts, when fully understood, will demonstrate that my actions, in every regard, have been entirely proper,” Owen said.

He said he hopes to rejoin the campaign and said answers to many of the questions raised recently will be forthcoming soon.

Owen is a former Kansas lieutenant governor.

Involves Purchase of Building

At issue is the handling of an office building purchased by Mrs. Dole’s blind trust in Overland Park, Kan., and later sold.

The Office of Government Ethics is trying to see whether the managers of the blind trust failed to insulate the trust from people associated with the Doles. The real estate deal occurred in December, 1986, at a time when Owen was the trust’s investment adviser. The trustee was Mark McConaghy, who was chief of staff of Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation while Dole was chairman in 1981-1983.

A former Dole aide whose company served as intermediary in the December deal, John Palmer, was awarded a $26-million contract with the Army 11 months earlier.

The transaction has become embroiled in the Republican presidential campaign, after aides to Vice President George Bush circulated initial newspaper accounts of the real estate deal to reporters. Dole has attempted to portray Bush as a man born to wealth, while the vice president has challenged all his rivals to make a full financial disclosure.

No Details Disclosed

Campbell, the ethics office official, said he was not permitted to disclose details of any transactions, and noted that it is “rather difficult for the Doles to answer any questions.” Under the terms of the blind trust, established while Elizabeth Dole served in the Reagan Cabinet, any business transactions are to be conducted without the knowledge of either of the Doles.

Campbell also said the Doles are permitted to revoke the trust, which would allow them to make all the details public. Dole’s top campaign aide, William E. Brock III, announced earlier in the week that Dole would be making a financial disclosure statement by the end of the week. Officials are discussing whether to revoke the blind trust to include its information in the public disclosure.