Faith Ryan Whittlesey

Despite exoneration by the Justice Department, Faith Ryan Whittlesey, U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, remains under investigation by the State Department for alleged misuse of an embassy gift fund and faces possible disciplinary action. The State Department announced yesterday that all privately funded entertainment accounts for U.S. ambassadors will be banned as a result of the controversy over Whittlesey's alleged swapping of diplomatic favors for contributions. "Some contributors may have felt that their donation might entitle them to some special benefits . . . By ceasing to accept these funds, the department will resolve these potential problems," the new State Department gift policy said.

Sworn testimony given behind closed doors by Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and former Delaware County Council member, provided no reason to believe that she was involved in the Iran-contra scandal, two congressmen said yesterday. "I haven't seen anything to indicate she was involved," said Rep. Peter H. Kostmayer (D., Pa.), a member of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that heard testimony from Whittlesey in executive session yesterday. Kostmayer said that, according to Whittlesey's sworn testimony, her relationship with former National Security Council staffer Oliver L. North is a "rather superficial one. " North and Whittlesey were White House colleagues when she ran the Outreach Working Group on Central America.

For a good time in Switzerland - and after plunking down a tax-deductible donation - call Faith Ryan Whittlesey. She's your ambassador in Bern and reservations and dinner at the embassy certainly will meet your approval. It helps - doesn't it always? - if you're rich and famous and a loyal Reagan Republican with inner-circle conservative credentials. But act now. Mrs. Whittlesey is in Washington on "personal business," and the newspapers are observing that part of that business involves chatting with spoilsports in the State and Justice Departments who are inquiring into whether the good ambassador has not been running her official residence as a bit too much of a country club.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, who ends her tour of duty as U.S. ambassador to Switzerland today, will join a New York law firm founded by former baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Harvey Myerson, the lawyer who represented the United States Football League in its 1986 antitrust suit against the National Football League. In a telephone interview from Bern, Switzerland, yesterday, Whittlesey said the new job is a result of a recent meeting between herself and Myerson, in which "there was an immediate click.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey got a taste of success at age 17 when she landed a bit part in a Broadway touring company making a stop in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Years later, the Buffalo native's interest shifted away from the stage and to the political arena, and her star continued to rise. Especially when the Delaware County Republican organization was reeling from a near-disaster in the 1974 elections. The organization, known as the "War Board," was being battered by charges of corruption and the party badly needed candidates not associated with the machine.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the former state legislator from Haverford Township who became an aide to Ronald Reagan and his ambassador to Switzerland, is back among the Pennsylvania Republicans who once formed her political base. Having returned from Switzerland just three weeks ago, the question that Whittlesey appears to be asking herself is whether that base still exists. Whittlesey, 49, looking trim and with lighter hair, is an honorary member of the Pennsylvania delegation to the convention and has been greeting old friends at every turn.

The Justice Department has recommended against the appointment of an independent counsel to pursue allegations that Faith Ryan Whittlesey, U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, swapped diplomatic favors for gifts to her embassy entertainment fund. That decision, made public late yesterday, was made by Attorney General Edwin Meese, despite a recommendation from his department's Office of Public Integrity that an independent counsel was warranted. "There was a line attorney in that office who did recommend that an independent counsel be appointed, but as it moved up the line that was not the case," a Justice Department spokesman said.

Influential political friends of Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, were asked to make inquiries on her behalf with a congressional committee investigating allegations that she misused funds from a special embassy account. Whittlesey and embassy official Robert R. Reilly made a number of telephone calls from Switzerland to at least one congressman and several other acquaintances in the United States, some of whom later contacted lawmakers who had a role in the investigation, according to government sources quoted by the Associated Press yesterday.

The State Department, stung by allegations that the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland misused an embassy gift fund, has ordered all American embassies to stop accepting private contributions and is reviewing the conduct of the ambassador, Faith Ryan Whittlesey, with an eye toward possible disciplinary action. The department's inspector general is reviewing the actions of Whittlesey, even though the Justice Department last month declined to name a special prosecutor in the case, State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said yesterday.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the controversial Pennsylvania conservative whose assertive style set her at odds even with the toughest of President Reagan's inner circle, has resigned as ambassador to Switzerland. In her letter of resignation, Whittlesey said she would "be pursuing opportunities in the private sector," but gave no indications of her specific plans. The resignation, effective July 15, was accepted "very reluctantly" yesterday by the President, who called Whittlesey "one of my most steadfast and effective supporters.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the former state legislator from Haverford Township who became an aide to Ronald Reagan and his ambassador to Switzerland, is back among the Pennsylvania Republicans who once formed her political base. Having returned from Switzerland just three weeks ago, the question that Whittlesey appears to be asking herself is whether that base still exists. Whittlesey, 49, looking trim and with lighter hair, is an honorary member of the Pennsylvania delegation to the convention and has been greeting old friends at every turn.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, who ends her tour of duty as U.S. ambassador to Switzerland today, will join a New York law firm founded by former baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Harvey Myerson, the lawyer who represented the United States Football League in its 1986 antitrust suit against the National Football League. In a telephone interview from Bern, Switzerland, yesterday, Whittlesey said the new job is a result of a recent meeting between herself and Myerson, in which "there was an immediate click.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the controversial Pennsylvania conservative whose assertive style set her at odds even with the toughest of President Reagan's inner circle, has resigned as ambassador to Switzerland. In her letter of resignation, Whittlesey said she would "be pursuing opportunities in the private sector," but gave no indications of her specific plans. The resignation, effective July 15, was accepted "very reluctantly" yesterday by the President, who called Whittlesey "one of my most steadfast and effective supporters.

With what deftness Democratic Congressman Peter Kostmayer plants the harpoon. The SRO crowd at the House hearing on Faith Ryan Whittlesey's stewardship as Ronald Reagan's ambassador to Switzerland loved every minute of it. They snickered, their heads bobbed, they elbowed each other excitedly to make sure they hadn't missed the last barb. And in the silences, they craned their necks appreciatively to catch the body english as Kostmayer honed another: Whittlesey had tried to "intimidate" the committee into calling off the hearing.

Sworn testimony given behind closed doors by Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and former Delaware County Council member, provided no reason to believe that she was involved in the Iran-contra scandal, two congressmen said yesterday. "I haven't seen anything to indicate she was involved," said Rep. Peter H. Kostmayer (D., Pa.), a member of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that heard testimony from Whittlesey in executive session yesterday. Kostmayer said that, according to Whittlesey's sworn testimony, her relationship with former National Security Council staffer Oliver L. North is a "rather superficial one. " North and Whittlesey were White House colleagues when she ran the Outreach Working Group on Central America.

Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, told a congressional subcommittee yesterday that she had no role in providing aid to the Nicaraguan contras and that she was not involved in setting up secret Swiss bank accounts. Whittlesey, testifying before a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was asked about phone calls that were made by Lt. Col. Oliver L. North to the embassy in Bern at a time when North, a National Security Council aide, purportedly was directing the diversion of funds to the contras from U.S. arms sales to Iran.

The chairman of a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee says attempts have been made to scuttle his panel's investigation of possible misconduct by Faith Ryan Whittlesey, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland. "In the last few weeks, I've had contacts I've considered upsetting," Rep. Dan Mica, D-Fla., told the Daily News in an interview yesterday. "I've indicated to several government agencies my concern . . . my extreme displeasure at the pressure," the congressman said. "It has me infuriated that they would try to stop us from doing our job. " The International Operations subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs committee is probing Whittlesey's use of a controversial embassy entertainment fund and her personnel practices at the U.S. Embassy in Bern, and trying to learn what, if any, knowledge she had of Swiss bank accounts related to the Iran-Contra scandal.

A controversial gift fund run by Faith Ryan Whittlesey at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland was used to wine and dine guests ranging from Teamsters president Jackie Presser and his fiancee to a former Iranian ambassador. The State Department last month abolished the use of privately raised funds by ambassadors because of previous revelations about Whittlesey's spending habits. But details of her expenditures have not been made fully public. State Department regulations had allowed ambassadors to solicit private donations to their embassy entertainment accounts to supplement congressional appropriations.

Despite exoneration by the Justice Department, Faith Ryan Whittlesey, U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, remains under investigation by the State Department for alleged misuse of an embassy gift fund and faces possible disciplinary action. The State Department announced yesterday that all privately funded entertainment accounts for U.S. ambassadors will be banned as a result of the controversy over Whittlesey's alleged swapping of diplomatic favors for contributions. "Some contributors may have felt that their donation might entitle them to some special benefits . . . By ceasing to accept these funds, the department will resolve these potential problems," the new State Department gift policy said.

The State Department, stung by allegations that the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland misused an embassy gift fund, has ordered all American embassies to stop accepting private contributions and is reviewing the conduct of the ambassador, Faith Ryan Whittlesey, with an eye toward possible disciplinary action. The department's inspector general is reviewing the actions of Whittlesey, even though the Justice Department last month declined to name a special prosecutor in the case, State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said yesterday.