ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994                   TAG: 9409240036
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

ESPY REPAYS MORE QUESTIONED EXPENSES

Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy has begun writing personal checks to clear up problems with his travel expenses, including some he originally had tried to pass on to taxpayers.

The latest reimbursement includes $450 to the American Crop Protection Association, a trade group for the pesticide industry, for a night he spent a year ago as the group's guest at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia.

Jay Vroom, president of the group known until Tuesday as the National Agricultural Chemicals Association, said the money was repaid in August.

Espy's attorney, Reid Weingarten, did not respond to a request to explain why the reimbursement was made in late August for a September 1993 event. Espy's original travel voucher claimed some small personal expenses but did not note the lodging expenses.

Weingarten confirmed to the Washington Post that the repayment had been made.

Espy is under investigation by independent counsel Donald Smaltz, who was appointed by a three-judge panel Sept. 9. Among the areas of his inquiry is Espy's acceptance of travel on a corporate jet, lodging and professional sports tickets from Tyson Foods Inc., the Arkansas-based poultry empire with ties to President Clinton.

The White House reaffirmed its support of Espy Wednesday. ``The president has confidence in the job Mike Espy has done,'' Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said.

Espy's 1993 speech to the pesticide group had been classified as official business in documents released by the Agriculture Department. The original records did not include lodging expenses.

Michael J. O'Bannon, lobbyist for the pesticide group, had driven Espy from his Alexandria home to The Greenbrier. O'Bannon's company, EOP Group, employs Espy's girlfriend, Pat Dempsey. O'Bannon did not return phone calls.Agriculture Department decisions have an impact on pesticide use. As a Cabinet member, Espy has further influence in administration decisions governing pesticides. 


 by CNB