Some House Members Cleared in Check-Writing Probe : Investigation: Packard receives exonerating letter from special counsel. Decision on prosecution of others is pending.

The special counsel investigating the House bank check-writing scandal said Wednesday that he has begun notifying the lawmakers who have been cleared of “criminal culpability,” but he declined to make their names public.

Justice Department officials said the counsel, former federal Judge Malcolm R. Wilkey, is expected to complete most of the notifications by the end of next week and will then decide whether to prosecute the remaining House members implicated in the affair.

If Wilkey determines that any House members violated U.S. banking, fraud, theft or campaign finance laws, he could ask a federal grand jury to return criminal indictments against the lawmakers.

It was not immediately clear how many House members might be exonerated in the initial round of letters.

Only one of the three Orange County congressmen who overdrew their accounts reported receiving the exonerating letter Wednesday. Aides to Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside), who represents South County and who had four overdrafts, said he received a letter from Wilkey indicating that the congressman is not the subject of a criminal probe. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who overdrew eight checks, said he has not received the letter but expects to. And a spokesman for Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), who had 26 overdrafts, said he does not know if Dannemeyer has received the letter. Dannemeyer was not available, the aide said.

A survey of California lawmakers showed that at least 15 of the 31 who were cited for having piled up overdrafts in their House bank accounts reported receiving exoneration letters on Wednesday, but the tally was sketchy and far from complete.

Among the recipients were Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham (R-San Diego), Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) and Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside).

A check of some members of the House leadership showed that Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and Republican Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) had received clearance letters. Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) had no overdrafts.

Wilkey and his staff refused Wednesday to answer questions about the letters, referring callers instead to the three-paragraph form letter he had sent lawmakers.

Although Wilkey’s office did not say how many letters had been sent in the initial batch, a Justice Department statement said it was his “firm expectation” that “the vast majority of (House) members and former members under review will receive clearance letters.”

The Justice Department also said Wilkey has sent Atty. Gen. William P. Barr an interim report outlining his steps in the inquiry, explaining the operation of the House bank and discussing whether evidence so far points to any illegalities.

Foley said in a statement that it “has always been evident” to the House Democratic leadership that “no member has violated any law in this matter.”

Wednesday’s action follows a six-month investigation of thousands of bad checks drawn on accounts held by current and former House members. Another 171 accounts were free of such overdrafts and were not included in the probe.

In April, the House Ethics Committee released the names of 22 current and former House members who it said had abused their accounts by writing frequent large overdrafts. It was not known Wednesday how many of these, if any, would be cleared.

Although the liberal use of overdrafts did not seem itself to violate any law--and involved the members’ own money and not public funds--the scandal nevertheless struck a chord with voters, who rapidly became incensed over the perception that lawmakers enjoyed special privileges that their constituents could not.

Times staff writers Stephanie Grace, Matt Marshall, James Bornemeier and Robert W. Stewart contributed to this story.