Nation IN BRIEF : PENNSYLVANIA : Ex-Federal Official on Trial in Drug Case

A former aide to U.S. Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh lied about his cocaine use to get the federal job, a prosecutor in Scranton, Pa., said. Assistant U.S. Atty. Gordon Zubrod, in his opening argument in U.S. Middle District Court, accused Henry Barr, who was the Justice Department liaison to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies, of lying about drug use on a federal form and in a 1988 interview with the FBI. Barr, 47, is believed to be the highest-ranking present or former federal official to face drug charges, Zubrod said. He is being tried on charges of making false statements, conspiring to use cocaine and using cocaine.