FBI Ends Rehnquist Probe; No Derogatory Data Likely

The FBI has concluded an investigation into Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist’s involvement with a family trust that was kept secret for more than 20 years from its intended beneficiary, the justice’s disabled brother-in-law, and the result is not expected to threaten Rehnquist’s nomination as chief justice, sources said Wednesday.

The FBI report, requested by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been reviewed by the panel’s staff in preparation for a scheduled committee vote today on Rehnquist’s nomination and that of Judge Antonin Scalia to be an associate justice.

Sources familiar with the FBI report said Wednesday that it had turned up no significant information beyond an Aug. 2 story in The Times in which Harold Dickerson (Dick) Cornell, 73, a former San Diego prosecutor who is disabled by multiple sclerosis, accused Rehnquist of joining other family members in concealing the existence of a $25,000 trust fund from him.

Established by Father

Under terms of the trust, established by Cornell’s father, the justice and other relatives stood to gain financially if the bedridden brother-in-law did not collect its proceeds.

Senate aides briefed on the Cornell matter added that they did not expect the subject to be cited in today’s Judiciary Committee debate.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) had asked the committee to investigate the allegations after Cornell, who lives in San Diego, contacted the senator’s office. Committee aides said the subsequent probe was undertaken with the cooperation of Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), Judiciary Committee chairman.

Cornell contends that Rehnquist, as a lawyer, had a special ethical duty to inform him of the trust’s existence. He also contends that Rehnquist had a conflict of interest in connection with the trust because it specified that if Cornell died, the money was to be divided among his children, brother and five sisters, including Rehnquist’s wife.

No Wrongdoing Seen

Harold Gross, an aide to Cranston, said that San Diego attorney Paul Peterson, who conducted a preliminary inquiry of Cornell’s allegations on Cranston’s behalf, concluded that Cornell’s testimony alone could not prove any wrongdoing by Rehnquist. Cornell, he said, does not have firsthand knowledge that Rehnquist actively chose to withhold information about the trust from him.

Rehnquist has been married for 33 years to Cornell’s sister, Natalie. In 1961, when Rehnquist was in private practice in Phoenix, his father-in-law, Dr. Harold David Cornell, asked him to draw up a trust benefiting his disabled son, according to Cornell, who did not learn of the trust’s existence until 1982.

Gross added that Cranston has decided to vote against Rehnquist’s confirmation--but not because of the trust allegations. Instead, Cranston’s opposition will be based on broader concerns, Gross said.

Times staff writers Ronald Ostrow in Washington and Barry M. Horstman in San Diego contributed to this story.