Justice Dept.’s Staff Shaken Up by Thornburgh

Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh, in a startling acknowledgement that his “palace guard” style of management is not working at the Justice Department, Monday moved two of his senior assistants to less sensitive posts.

The unexpected shifts of Robert S. Ross Jr., Thornburgh’s executive assistant who has been regarded as his most influential aide, and David Runkel, his chief spokesman, means that the department will be run “along traditional lines”--through presidentially appointed officials, rather than Thornburgh’s personal staff, senior department officials said.

Both men came to the department after serving under Thornburgh when he was governor of Pennsylvania.

“The palace guard is no more,” a senior official said of the fundamental restructuring.

The changes follow the resignation Friday of Deputy Atty. Gen. Donald B. Ayer, who a colleague said had been “absolutely frozen out” by Thornburgh’s personal aides, and complaints that the attorney general has insulated himself from department officials.

Ross, knowledgeable sources said, initially “showed deception” in a polygraph examination during the FBI’s investigation last year of a leak of information about an investigation involving Rep. William H. Gray III (D-Pa.).

The investigation, ordered by Thornburgh after Democrats complained that the leak was politically motivated, also found that Runkel served as a secondary or confirming source for the leak.

But the senior officials insisted Monday that Ross’ polygraph problems played no role in his being moved to head the department’s new international office for two to three months, after which he will return to private law practice. Ross did not return a reporter’s call for comment.

Referring to a review being conducted by Solicitor General Kenneth Starr of the leak investigation, a senior official said: “We don’t have any reason to believe that anything Starr will say would force these changes.”

Runkel will serve as director of communications, devoting his efforts to “longer term planning,” rather than serving as Thornburgh’s spokesman and handling daily press calls. Appointment of his successor is imminent, the senior officials said.

Thornburgh always intended to run the department through the deputy attorney general and not depend on a close circle of personal aides, officials said. But the lack of “a good fit” between Thornburgh and Ayer prevented this from occurring, they said.

“Thornburgh is very comfortable with Bill,” a senior official said, referring to Assistant Atty. Gen. William P. Barr, who has been named to succeed Ayer.

The senior officials noted that when Thornburgh became attorney general under former President Ronald Reagan in August, 1988, it was not clear who the next President would be and whether Thornburgh would continue to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official. As a result, he turned to “tested people,” including Ross, Runkel and Murray Dickman, a non-lawyer who will continue handling judicial appointments and related matters.

“The staff took on more of a management role” than had been intended, a senior official said. “They are not people who have tried to control the department. It has gone to them by default.”

“To the extent that people feel it (the department) is too closed, this will open it up,” a senior official said. Long-time career official Mark Richard, now a deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, is considered a strong contender to take over the international office when Ross returns to Pennsylvania, a senior official said.