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| POLITICS AND PROSECUTION
August 4, 1998The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript |
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Attorney General Janet Reno's refusal, thus far, to appoint an independent counsel to investigate alleged campaign fundraising abuses by the Clinton administration has led many congressional Republicans to question her objectivity and effectiveness. Following a background report, Margaret Warner and guests discuss the attorney general's job performance. Also, join in an Online Forum on the topic
A RealAudio version of this segment is available.
NEWSHOUR LINKS:
August 4, 1998
A discussion on Attorney General Reno's performance.
Online Forum
Is Attorney General Reno following the law or practicing partisan politics?
December 9, 1997
Should an independent counsel investigate the President's campaign fund-raising activities? Reno and Freeh disagree.
December 2, 1997
Janet Reno will not to seek an independent counsel to investigate the President.
April 30, 1997
Janet Reno resists pressure to appoint an independent counsel to investigate alleged campaign finance abuses.
Browse the NewsHour's coverage of law and White House.
OUTSIDE LINKS:
The Department of Justice.
KWAME HOLMAN: For the last 18 months allegations of White House involvement in fundraising abuses during the last presidential campaign have filled the airwaves, newspapers, and congressional hearings. And since her department began investigating those charges, Attorney General Janet Reno steadfastly has refused to call for turning that investigation over to an independent counsel, despite growing pressure from congressional Republicans and some Democrats for her to do so.
Growing pressure on the attorney general.
JANET RENO, Attorney General, April 1997: More than four years ago I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States. That is what I was sworn to do, and that is what I'm doing in this matter. At any time I find that the requirements of the Independent Counsel Act have been met, I will not hesitate to invoke it.
JANET RENO, March 1997 :As you know, I have consistently said that I will constantly review the evidence and if at any point the statute is triggered, we will ask for an independent counsel.
JANET RENO, October 1997 :I have a profound respect for you, and I think we may disagree on the law, we may disagree on the evidence, but I'm going to do it based on what I think is right, based on the evidence, the law, and the independent counsel statute.
KWAME HOLMAN: The independent counsel statute is triggered when the attorney general decides a potential conflict of interest prevents the Justice Department from investigating top government officials, including the president or vice president. But again last December--even after FBI Director Louis Freeh told Reno it was his opinion an independent counsel should be appointed--Reno told congressional investigators she respectfully disagreed and said little else.
JANET RENO: I think that I have a responsibility to make the decision and to not comment on the opinions given to me in the deliberation process with request to ongoing matters.
KWAME HOLMAN: The dispute surfaced again today. FBI Director Freeh was called to testify before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, as was Charles La Bella, until recently the head of the Justice Department's task force investigating campaign fundraising abuses. Three weeks ago, La Bella sent a 120-page memorandum to Reno in which he too concluded an independent counsel should be appointed. Now Chairman Dan Burton not only is demanding Reno request the appointment of an independent counsel, he has threatened her with contempt of Congress unless she gives a copy of La Bella's memo to his committee.
Rep. Burton: "The Attorney General cannot credibly investigate the president, who appointed her."
REP. DAN BURTON, Chairman, Government Reform Committee: According to the press, Mr. La Bella's memo makes the case that this investigation goes to the highest levels of the White House. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Mr. La Bella's report focuses heavily on Harold Ickes, the former Deputy White House Chief of Staff. And Janet Reno has stood like Horatius at the bridge, and refused to move this investigation out of the Justice Department. It looks to me like the Attorney General is ignoring the advice of the career professionals running this investigation. It looks to me like that she is only listening to the political appointees that have surrounded her. Time and again, we are seeing career professionals being ignored. We are seeing long memos written, we are seeing details from these memos showing up in the newspapers again and again. And let's be honest here: these aren't memos, these are cries for help. The sad thing is, it should never have gotten to this point. It is painfully obvious that you cannot investigate your own boss. The Attorney General cannot credibly investigate the president, who appointed her.
KWAME HOLMAN: But under questioning neither La Bella nor Freeh criticized Reno for disagreeing with their point of view. Nor did they reveal much detail about why they reached their opinion.
REP. DAN BURTON: Mr. La Bella, your memo to the attorney general, which is over 100 pages long and has 55 exhibits, is it true that in your memo you expressed your strong support for an independent counsel?
CHARLES LA BELLA, Former Chief, Justice Department Task Force: My recommendation was that it's appropriate to appoint an independent counsel at this time.
REP. DAN BURTON: When did you submit that memo to the attorney general? Do you know the exact date?
CHARLES LA BELLA: It's dated July 16th. I believe I gave it to her that evening, about 7, 7:30 that evening.
REP. DAN BURTON: And do you make this recommendation based on both the mandatory and discretionary sections of the statute?
CHARLES LA BELLA: I made the recommendation based on every fact and issue and legal argument that was fairly presented to me in the context of my job as the supervising attorney of the task force. I'm really reluctant to go into the analysis per se, but what I did recommend was-the recommendation I've given was based on the facts and the law as I saw them.
REP. DAN BURTON: Now, under the discretionary section, if the attorney general has a personal, financial, or political conflict of interest, then the statute may be triggered. Do you believe the attorney general has such conflicts?
CHARLES LA BELLA: I don't believe-that-I really-my recommendations to the-specific recommendations to the attorney general that I made in my report, I believe, need to remain confidential. I have recommended to her-I've given her my best analysis, my best judgment on all the facts and the law that have been fairly presented during the course of our investigation, and that's what I've done.
REP. DAN BURTON: So you don't want to go into the details-
CHARLES LA BELLA: I would really not like to go into the details of the advice that I gave to the attorney general because I think that it would impede, it could impede ongoing investigations. Not only could it impede ongoing investigations, but it could disclose grand jury materials.
REP. DAN BURTON: And Director Freeh, do you believe the attorney general is applying the law correctly to the facts in this case?
A decision only the attorney general could make.
LOUIS FREEH, FBI Director: I think she's made a decision under the statute which the Congress has charged her to make, which only she can make, and I certainly respect that decision. I recommended a different outcome, obviously, but I think she has properly exercised her authority and followed the statute because the statute requires her to make the decision.
REP. DAN BURTON: I know the statute requires her to make the decision, and I've reluctantly pressed this issue, but do you believe she's applying the law correctly in this case?
LOUIS FREEH: Again, I think my recommendation represents that we view the law differently, and I come out one way, and she comes out the other way, but it's her way that counts, because that's the authority you've given her.
REP. DAN BURTON: You're a real diplomat. Don't run against me, will you not? Mr. La Bella, do you believe the attorney general is applying the law correctly to the facts in the case?
CHARLES LA BELLA: I made my recommendation to the attorney general based on the facts and the law that I knew and as I know them. I gave her my best judgment. It's for her to decide. It's not for me to conclude whether she's right or wrong. It's for me to advise her what I think as a career prosecutor. I've done that. I've given my level best judgment, and it's for her to decide.
REP. DAN BURTON: Are there any facts-
KWAME HOLMAN: Reno has said she'll take three more weeks to review the information contained in La Bella's memo before responding to it. As to Chairman Burton's demand that she release the memo to his committee, both La Bella and Freeh recommended against it.
LOUIS FREEH: If we were to set a precedent where-an unnecessary precedent-where prosecution memos-and these are, in effect, prosecution memos-are disclosed and publicly discussed, the chilling effect that that would have on prosecutors, assistant U.S. attorneys, and investigators, in my professional judgment, would be very severe.
KWAME HOLMAN: And La Bella admitted his memorandum does contain a great deal of information that never had been made public.
REP. MARK SOUDER: You said that you felt releasing this report would be devastating. The attorney general in her letter said that it would tip off defense attorneys. So you're saying that there are things in this report that are significant and have not been in the media?
CHARLES LA BELLA: That have not been-
REP. MARK SOUDER: In the media thus far.
CHARLES LA BELLA: Oh, absolutely.
REP. MARK SOUDER: Do you agree with that, Director Freeh?
LOUIS FREEH: Yes, sir, I do.
REP. MARK SOUDER: And are you saying that just a few things that haven't been in the media thus far about your report, or are you saying there is many significant things, and that's why it would be so devastating to release this report?
CHARLES LA BELLA: I think there are many things in this report that has not been in the media. I think the media has only 1 percent. I mean, they have the bottom line. I know that I've acknowledged today for the first time-and that's really about it. I don't see much more substance that they have.
KWAME HOLMAN: This afternoon at the Justice Department Attorney General Reno confirmed that she asked to appear before the committee shortly before the hearing began. But Burton declined. As for the threat of contempt of Congress, Reno said she wouldn't be intimidated.
Attorney General Reno: "Politics does not belong in prosecution."
JANET RENO: Chairman Burton told me Friday that if I triggered the appointment of an independent counsel, I would not have to produce the memos. If I give into that suggestion, then I risk Congress turning all decisions to prosecute into political football. That is simply wrong. And I will not willingly allow that to happen. Politics does not belong in prosecution. If future attorneys general know that the innermost thinking behind their toughest law enforcement decisions will become fodder for partisan debate, then we risk creating a Justice Department and an FBI that tack to political wins, instead of following the facts and the law, wherever they lead.
KWAME HOLMAN: Late today, Chairman Burton said unless Reno turns over by Thursday the Charles La Bella memo as well as an earlier memo by FBI Director Freeh, Burton will hold a vote on his contempt citation against the attorney general.
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