White House Ethics Chief, Under Congress Fire, Quits

WASHINGTON — White House ethics watchdog David Martin, who has served an Administration plagued with ethical problems, said today he was resigning to become a private consultant on ethics.

Martin, under congressional fire for allegedly not aggressively enforcing ethics rules, said he will leave “in the near future.”

In telephone interviews Martin said he decided when he took the job in 1983 that he would serve only four years.

Martin, 46, is director of the Office of Government Ethics, which was set up to administer ethics laws, rule on potential ethical problems and oversee financial disclosure forms required of high government officials to avoid conflicts of interest.

During President Reagan’s term, a number of officials have encountered ethical or legal problems--highlighted by the investigation into the secret Iran arms sales.

Former White House deputy chief of staff Michael Deaver recently was indicted on perjury charges arising from investigations of violation of ethics laws through his lobbying after he left his White House post.

Congresswoman Pat Schroeder has distributed a list of more than 170 instances of allegations regarding possible unethical conduct during the Reagan years.