DRUG OFFICIALS DEFEND ADVERTISING PARTNER

WASHINGTON -- The White House drug policy office is defending its major
private partner in a billion-dollar, anti-drug campaign amid allegations
the advertising firm overbilled the government for its work.

Don Maple, senior policy analyst for the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, and drug czar Barry McCaffrey said Wednesday that the government
remains confident in the agency, Ogilvy & Mather, and was not ending its
deal with the New York City firm.

''We don't believe there is fraud,'' Maple said during a break in a
congressional hearing in which lawmakers suggested the allegations could
hurt the anti-drug campaign.

Still, the government continued to withhold $18 million in payments for
what it calls questionable billings by its advertising partners --
including $13.5 million by Ogilvy.

The General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress' auditing arm, is
investigating the drug policy office's contracting operations. Ogilvy
President Bill Gray said the government was billed within industry standards.

Meanwhile, U.S. investigators who have examined McCaffrey's relationship
with advertising contractors found that the public relations firm of
Fleishman-Hillard, which has a $10 million piece of the anti-drug media
campaign, provided McCaffrey free advice on a private matter. A GAO report
found that Fleishman-Hillard counseled McCaffrey, a former Army general, on
how to respond to a magazine article critical of his actions in the Persian
Gulf War. A McCaffrey spokesman said ''nothing inappropriate'' occurred.