Secrecy of Neil Bush Probe Decried : ‘Lift Veil’ on Query Into S&L; Failure, Congressman Urges

A House Banking Committee member called on federal regulators today to “lift the veil of secrecy” surrounding their investigation of President Bush’s son, Neil, in connection with a Colorado thrift collapse.

“If it has brought charges against Neil Bush, it should make those charges public,” Rep. Frank Annunzio (D-Ill.) said, referring to the federal Office of Thrift Supervision. “No law or regulation prevents the agency from revealing the charges.”

Neil Bush denied any wrongdoing in the collapse of Silverado Banking, Savings & Loan Assn. of Denver. He appeared May 23 before the committee, which was probing whether his business interests in Colorado conflicted with his role as a director of Silverado. He called allegations of conflict of interest “frivolous.”

“I’m calling on the Office of Thrift Supervision to lift the veil of secrecy which shrouds this matter,” Annunzio said at the outset of the latest hearing on the Silverado failure.

Annunzio cited an undated and unsigned internal Office of Thrift Supervision document that he said contained proposed charges against Neil Bush. But he said no charges were ever brought nor has there been any indication of whether any charges will be forthcoming from the government.

“The last time I checked, Neil Bush’s father was the head of that organization,” Annunzio said.

“Can any agency of the United States fairly and impartially investigate the son of the President of the United States?” he asked.

Rep. Stan Parris (R-Va.) defended Neil Bush, noting that he has declared his innocence and citing a May 22 statement by federal regulators that they could find no basis for issuing a prohibition on his further involvement in the banking industry.

Parris said the document cited by Annunzio “is undated. It’s unsigned. It was never circulated. It is in fact, a draft. . . . Mr. Bush appeared here voluntarily . . . for eight hours. . . . He believes he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

“I think . . . it raises the question: Is Neil Bush paying a penalty because of who he is, not being given some kind of unique benefits because of who he may be?”

One focus of the hearings is the length of time it took regulators to close the thrift after problems developed. The thrift was closed in late 1988, two years after trouble surfaced.

“Nothing has been more costly than regulatory hesitation through the entire savings and loan crisis,” committee Chairman Henry B. Gonzalez (D-Tex.) said in an opening statement.

Meanwhile, the White House blasted Democrats for the S & L crisis.

“A big part of the problem here is that in the dead of night a few years ago, the Democrats pushed through a bill raising the limits (of coverage for insured deposits) to $100,000 a person,” said White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater. The increase was part of a broader, bipartisan bill to overhaul the entire S & L industry.

“I’m saying the Democrats have a big role in it,” he said.