WASHINGTON INSIGHT

SCANDAL SHIVERS: The mushrooming fraud scandal of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International is sending chills through official Washington.

The Administration and members of Congress are nervously eyeing each day’s developments, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The capital is abuzz with rumors that prosecutors may have found links between the Luxembourg-based bank and several dozen lawmakers and other Washington bigwigs. Moreover, the scandal now appears likely to tarnish both parties--starting with the Jimmy Carter Administration and continuing under Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

One potential glitch: Those involved in the case say that BCCI’s efforts to seek--and buy--political influence have been so intricate that prosecutors may be unable to find a single “smoking gun” that would lead to quick (and politically spectacular) indictments. As a result, they say, the affair could drag on for several more months--paving the way to potentially embarrassing revelations just before the 1992 elections.

CAMPAIGN COMING: The White House has begun training its guns on the 1992 presidential campaign.

Although Saturday’s strategy meeting at Camp David was portrayed as only an organizing session, White House planning for the race is moving rapidly into high gear. Bush’s campaign triumvirate--senior strategist Robert Teeter, media adviser Roger Ailes and White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu--already is in place. And the decks have been cleared of time-consuming foreign policy extravaganzas--such as presidential trips overseas--that might detract from the campaign.

But some rough spots lie ahead, such as the possibility of continued conflict among the advisers over whether to develop a more visible domestic agenda. Bush is expected to come under increasing pressure to do so, if only to blunt almost-certain Democratic charges that he has no domestic program.

Another potential problem: growing tension between Sununu and Teeter, Ailes and other key campaign staffers.

FED FOLLIES: The Administration is renewing its fight with the Federal Reserve Board, even though the President decided to reappoint Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.

White House economist Michael J. Boskin has publicly lambasted the Fed again, warning that if it does not soon loosen the monetary reins it could choke off recovery from recession. And Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady continues to grouse about interest rates.

The onslaught annoys some top Fed officials, who complain that the Administration had been expected to make peace with the central bank once Bush announced Greenspan’s reappointment last month.

But they caution that the greatest consequence may be to the economy, rather than their own egos. The more the White House complains, the more financial markets worry that it is pressing the Fed to give up on controlling inflation. And the more likely it is that interest rates will rise.

SUNUNU’S SILENCE: Sununu’s uncharacteristically low profile of late is prompting increased speculation that he may soon resign.

After being barely visible during the London economic summit last month, Sununu was virtually nowhere to be seen last week in Moscow as Bush met with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. During past sessions, the White House chief of staff dominated the scene.