Agency Tries to Make 2 Testify on Neil Bush : S&Ls;: Regulators want the ex-thrift officials to relate their discussions with the president’s son about possible conflicts of interest.

WASHINGTON —  Federal regulators are seeking subpoenas to compel testimony about Neil Bush by two former top executives of the failed Denver thrift where the President’s son served as a director, according to documents issued Tuesday.

Bush has been charged in an administrative proceeding with violating conflict-of-interest rules for failing to disclose his business ties with two Denver developers, Bill L. Walters and Kenneth M. Good, who were major customers at Silverado Banking, Savings & Loan Assn. The two men defaulted on $130 million in loans from Silverado, contributing to the eventual insolvency of the S&L; and its takeover by the government.

Federal regulators want Michael Wise, former Silverado chairman and chief executive, and Russell M. Murray, former executive vice president, to testify under oath about their discussions with Bush concerning possible conflict-of-interest issues.

Wise said he will invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to answer any questions about the President’s son, according to documents issued Tuesday by the federal Office of Thrift Supervision.

There is a contradiction between a letter that Wise signed and testimony from Bush. Wise prepared a letter in 1985 to preferred shareholders and directors, saying that Bush “has agreed to abstain from any board consideration regarding Silverado’s relationship with Mr. Walters or Mr. Good . . .” The letter was written just before Bush joined the Silverado board.

Bush insists that he never made such a promise. “I did not agree with Wise to abstain from any board considerations regarding Silverado’s relations with Walters or Good . . . ,” he said in written testimony released Tuesday.

Wise told Congress that he could not recall sending the letter.

Also made public was testimony from two men who served on Silverado’s board with Bush. They stated that they did not know the extent of Bush’s dealings with Walters, links that the OTS charges amounted to conflicts of interest because Bush voted on transactions involving Walters.

“I do not recall knowing that Mr. Walters was a partner in Mr. Bush’s oil and gas exploration company,” said Richard J. Bunchman, a Breckenridge, Colo., real estate operator. He said he also did not know that Cherry Creek National Bank, whose majority shareholder was Walters, had extended more than $1 million in credit to Bush’s firm or that Bush’s company owed Walter’s company--and later Walters personally--$100,000.

Richard F. Vitkus, a West Hartford, Conn., lawyer, also said that he did not recall Bush disclosing to the Silverado board those ties to Walters.

In his testimony, submitted Monday, Bush said he had not disclosed to Silverado directors Walters Petroleum’s 6.25% interest in his oil exploration firm. He also did not disclose his firm’s subsequent indebtedness to Walters Petroleum or to Cherry Creek National Bank, or his personal guarantee of part of the firm’s debt to the bank.

“I never considered these facts material to the board’s consideration,” Bush wrote.

The government wants Murray, the former Silverado executive, subpoenaed to relate his discussions with Bush about a proposed $900,000 line of credit at Silverado. Bush sought the money on behalf of Good International, a firm controlled by Kenneth Good. Bush’s oil exploration firm, JNB, was affiliated with Good International in a plan to do business in Argentina.