Ethics Panel Delays Action in ‘Keating 5’ Investigation

The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday delayed a decision on five senators under investigation for their ties to former savings and loan executive Charles H. Keating Jr., prompting a protest from Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) that the five are being victimized by the panel’s “fear of acting.”

Lott, a committee member, described himself as “furious” about what he said was the committee’s inability to decide how to proceed. He said he was pessimistic about chances for action before Congress adjourns, adding: “I feel like I’ve become an accomplice to a crime.”

Before the six-member panel is a recommendation from its special counsel, Robert S. Bennett, that it take no further action against Sens. John Glenn (D-Ohio) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) but proceed to a full investigation of Sens. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and Donald W. Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.).

After brief meetings over the last two days to decide what to do, the committee, distracted by other business and apparently split over how quickly to act, put off a decision until at least Monday.

Although Bennett found no reason to proceed against Glenn and McCain, he said he found critical links between Keating’s contributions to the other three senators and their intervention with thrift-industry regulators on behalf of Keating’s failed Lincoln Savings & Loan of Irvine, Calif. Keating gave a total of $1.3 million to the campaigns and causes of the five senators.

Documents being examined by the committee indicate that Cranston, DeConcini and Riegle had more extensive dealings with Keating than they acknowledged, including a relationship that continued after regulators warned them that Keating faced a criminal probe.

The collapse of Lincoln is expected to cost taxpayers about $2 billion. Keating was released Thursday on $300,000 bond after a month in jail in Los Angeles.

Lott’s angry outburst to reporters occurred as pressure for action by the committee mounted among Republicans in the Senate, many of whom are complaining privately that Democrats on the panel are waiting until after the Nov. 6 congressional elections to act. If Glenn and McCain are dropped from the probe, the bipartisan “Keating Five” would become the all-Democratic “Keating Three,” they note.

Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.), chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics, expressed frustration as he left the meeting, but his annoyance was directed at leaks to newspapers of documents that have been compiled in the case.

When asked if the slow pace were attributable to Heflin, who is known for his deliberative way of doing business, Lott said, “I can’t say it’s one or two (members) or even that it’s partisan, quite frankly.” Instead, he said, “I’m afraid it’s the Senate . . . which is completely incompetent to let go of anything.”

Colleagues have said that both Glenn and McCain are intensely frustrated by the delay in action by the committee. “I’ve been frustrated for a year,” Glenn said Friday. McCain, who has been more outspoken in his impatience, said: “Frankly, I’m deeply disappointed they haven’t been able to act. I think they owe the American people an explanation.”