Panelists Openly Skeptical : Claiborne Makes Plea to Senators for Exoneration

U.S. District Judge Harry E. Claiborne made an emotional plea to a Senate impeachment panel Tuesday, asking it to find that he was wrongly convicted of tax fraud. But he faced open skepticism from members about his explanation for his tax troubles.

The Las Vegas jurist, facing likely removal from office by the Senate on the basis of his 1984 tax evasion conviction, concluded three days on the witness stand by imploring senators to restore “my freedom, my good name and my honor.”

“I have done nothing wrong,” said Claiborne, his voice rising. “I have told my friends that to resign would be to admit that I had.”

But the tone of the questioning Tuesday indicated that most of the 12-member panel seemed inclined to favor impeachment.

Under-Reported Fees

Sens. Paul S. Sarbanes (D--Md.) and Warren B. Rudman (R--N.H.) told Claiborne that they could not understand how he could have signed tax returns and judicial financial disclosure forms that under-reported his deferred legal fees without noticing the errors.

Claiborne said that he “just did not think of” looking for discrepancies.

Concluding seven days of hearings, Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. (R-Md.), chairman of the panel, announced that the full Senate will be asked to vote on Claiborne’s impeachment within 10 days. In the meantime, he said, his special committee will file a report on the evidence assembled in the case.

The committee will not make a recommendation itself on whether the judge should be removed from office, but individual committee members may file their own separate statements.

Two-Year Sentence

Claiborne, who began serving a two-year prison sentence last May, is the first sitting judge in history to go to jail for crimes committed while in office.

Claiborne repeated his contention that his tax accountants were to blame for under-reporting his income on his 1979 and 1980 tax returns by $106,000 and that he was a victim of “selective prosecution” by vindictive prosecutors.

He said he never got the federal District Court in Nevada or the appellate court to hear all the evidence, and saw the Senate impeachment process as a way to present his side of the story.

“Maybe my grandchildren years from now at least can say, ‘Old Grandpa had guts,’ ” said Claiborne, who is 69.

Sens. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and Albert Gore Jr. (D-Tenn.) said that they had little respect for Claiborne’s defense that he often signed blank tax returns and scarcely glanced at them when they were completed.

But Claiborne responded that “most federal judges are like I am--they don’t take time for their personal business affairs.”