BUSH CONSULTANT PEDDLED INFLUENCE AT H.U.D., HE SAYS

A leading strategist for George Bush's 1988 Presidential campaign told Congress today that he and a group of partners in a New Jersey housing project had obtained nearly $31 million in Federal subsidies after a pivotal meeting three years ago between his lobbying firm and a top housing official.

The project, to rehabilitate a large low-income apartment complex in Seabrook, N.J., has been opposed by local officials.

The testimony by the Republican consultant, Paul J. Manafort, offered significant new information about ties between his firm - Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly - and the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Reagan Administration. New Details in a Pattern

It also added details to what is emerging as a pattern in which former Reagan aides and other prominent Republicans used their political influence, in return for large consulting fees from developers, to obtain millions of dollars from Federal low-income housing programs.

In earlier press interviews, Mr. Manafort said he did not recall any contacts about the Seabrook project between Black, Manafort and Deborah Gore Dean, who was chief assistant to the Reagan Administration's Housing Secretary, Samuel R. Pierce Jr. But today, in an appearance before the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Employment and Housing, Mr. Manafort acknowledged that a representative of the firm had met with Ms. Dean and that the firm's actions in the project could be described as ''influence peddling.'' 'Waste of Taxpayers' Money'

Asked during his testimony to describe the involvement of Black Manafort in the project, Mr. Manafort replied, ''I would stipulate that for the purposes of today, you could characterize this as influence peddling.'' He also acknowledged that Black, Manafort had lobbied the housing department on behalf of at least three other clients.