Immunity Sought to Force Ex-HUD Official to Testify
A House committee voted Tuesday to seek a court order granting immunity from prosecution to compel testimony from a former official at the scandal-plagued Housing and Urban Development Department.
Dubois Gilliam, now serving an 18-month prison sentence for a HUD-related conviction, is expected to testify in late April or early May before the House panel investigating scandals under the Ronald Reagan Administration’s HUD secretary, Samuel R. Pierce Jr.
The House Government Operations Committee approved a motion to compel the testimony after its investigations subcommittee voted to seek the federal court order.
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo) said that Gilliam, a former deputy assistant secretary and a top aide to Pierce, was being offered no reduction in his sentence.
If a judge approves immunity, Gilliam could not be prosecuted based on his testimony before Congress or information derived from that testimony.
Gilliam has been cooperating with the committee and was “a key player” in awarding grants under HUD programs, Lantos said.
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