Congress not target of investigation. PENTAGON PROBE UPDATE

Although the scope of the Pentagon fraud and bribery investigation continues to unfold, no members of Congress have been implicated, congressional leaders say they were told Wednesday by the chief federal prosecutor in the case. Senate Republican leader Robert Dole and House Speaker Jim Wright both said US Attorney Henry Hudson stressed that no member of the House or Senate was the target of investigation - despite news reports saying the probe was focusing on five lawmakers. All five legislators have said they were not involved.

Mr. Wright said Mr. Hudson said that ``no subpoena has been sought for any member of Congress, no wiretap has been directed at any member of Congress and no search warrant has been directed at any member of Congress.''

US Attorney Andrew Maloney in Brooklyn, not Hudson, is spearheading the investigation into Congress.

Wright said Hudson indicated the investigation is focused on three areas:

``The first involves the deliberate sale of proprietary government information by consultants to individual corporations and contractors.

``The second involves the manipulation of bid specifications in ways to favor certain contractors over their competitors.

``The third involves indications of collusive bidding on the part of individual contractors.''

Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said Hudson told them 75 to 100 contracts worth tens of billions of dollars were involved in the investigation.

In other developments:

USA Today reported in Thursday's editions that BDM International Inc. of McLean, Va., has been served with a subpoena by federal agents investigating the case. Robert Bennett, a lawyer for the company, said the subpoena demands any business records that may relate to probe suspects, but said BDM was not a target of the investigation, the paper reported. BDM employs Vicki Paisley, the wife of Melvyn Paisley, a key figure in the investigation.

A federal grand jury in nearby Alexandria, Va., has begun weighing evidence in the case.