Justice Dept. Ponders Action Against Wright : Awaits Ethics Panel Report Before Deciding Whether to Act to Seek Independent Counsel

Justice Department criminal lawyers have been reviewing allegations of ethics violations by House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) for several months, but they have not yet decided whether to seek appointment of an independent counsel, an aide to Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh said Thursday.

Department lawyers want to see if a House Ethics Committee report--expected next week--turns up additional facts about the allegations against Wright, said David Runkel, Thornburgh’s chief spokesman.

The House ethics panel is investigating Wright’s financial affairs to determine if the Speaker violated rules governing the outside income of members of Congress.

Troubles May Not Be Over

Disclosure of the similar review by lawyers in the public integrity section of the Justice Department’s criminal division signals that Wright’s troubles may be far from over no matter what conclusions are reached by the House committee.

Runkel and other department officials would not discuss whether the agency’s review complies with specified time limits contained in an order issued by former Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III shortly before he left office last August.

Under the terms of that order, Thornburgh has only 15 days after receiving allegations of criminal wrongdoing to decide whether to move into a preliminary inquiry that would determine whether an outside prosecutor should be sought. During the 15-day period, Thornburgh is to determine whether the allegations are specific and whether they come from a credible source.

Charges by Activist

In a six-page letter sent to Thornburgh on March 19, conservative activist Paul M. Weyrich cited “specific and credible information suggesting that . . . Wright has violated several federal criminal statutes” and urged appointment of an independent counsel.

Most of the charges were drawn from a 1988 complaint filed with the House ethics panel by Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who is now the House GOP whip.

Weyrich told Thornburgh that “the (House) committee’s mission did not include investigation of criminal law.” Thornburgh has not responded to Weyrich’s letter.

“It’s fair to say (that) the matters raised by Weyrich have been looked at over a period of time by the department,” Runkel said. “The department has kept abreast of various allegations made against the Speaker.”

Wright said last week that President Bush had personally assured him that the Administration will take no part in the controversy over possible ethics violations by the Speaker. But Runkel said that neither Bush nor anyone on the White House staff had asked Thornburgh to delay the initial inquiry.

The department has not even taken the first step on allegations that have been made against other members of Congress, Runkel said. The allegations, he said, “don’t meet the test” for triggering the 15-day inquiry by Thornburgh to determine whether they are specific and from a credible source. He refused to describe the standards that the allegations failed to meet.

90-Day Investigation

The Justice Department regulation mandates a 90-day preliminary investigation if the allegations meet the two-pronged test within the 15-day period.

The Meese regulation requiring independent counsels to conduct criminal investigations of senators and representatives has been troublesome for Thornburgh.

“By announcing a policy that special independent counsels will investigate any criminal law allegation against a member of Congress, the department will be able to remove any real or apparent concern that a particular investigation may be politically motivated,” Meese said in issuing the regulation.

Critical of Regulation

After he replaced Meese in the Ronald Reagan Administration, Thornburgh spoke critically of the regulation and indicated that he would reverse it. But, when Bush appointed a special commission to consider ethics legislation, Thornburgh said that he would await the panel’s recommendations before deciding whether to repeal Meese’s order.

Last month, the commission recommended that special prosecutors be used to investigate wrongdoing by members of Congress.

Runkel said that he could not discuss whether allegations have been lodged against other members of Congress. On March 14, Thornburgh delayed for 60 days a decision on whether to seek an independent counsel to investigate payroll-padding allegations against non-voting House Delegate Walter E. Fauntroy (D-D.C.).