Special Counsel Call Is Pressed on Ties to Iraq

Responding to new evidence in a sensitive Iraqi loan scandal, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday formally asked for appointment of an independent counsel to investigate whether Bush Administration officials broke the law in trying to conceal prewar relations with Baghdad.

In requesting the independent counsel’s investigation, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Brooks (D-Tex.) said that the withholding of CIA files with possible Justice Department complicity should persuade U.S. Atty. Gen. William P. Barr to reverse his earlier decision.

“It is beyond dispute that these allegations are extremely serious and demand a thorough and unbiased investigation,” said the committee’s letter to Barr.

In the Senate, Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said that he expects Democrats on his panel to vote for a similar request by Monday. The twin demands sharply expand the controversy over the Administration’s secret ties to Iraq, which began emerging months ago.

Barr responded to a similar congressional request in August with a resounding and detailed rejection. But, confronted by new questions about the roles of the Justice Department and CIA in withholding intelligence files from a federal judge, Barr said Thursday that he has not ruled out any options.

“Obviously, the independent counsel statute is something we will consider to make sure this is actively investigated,” Barr said in an interview. “My interest is to clear the air. The department has nothing to hide. If there is any wrongdoing by anyone, we want to get to the bottom of it.”

Biden told reporters after talking to Barr that he thought it possible the attorney general would change his mind and seek an independent counsel. Republicans, however, were skeptical of the renewed request.

The House request, signed by 18 of the 21 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, added to the pressure on the Justice Department, which was accused earlier this week of trying to stifle an FBI inquiry into its role in the Iraqi loan case by leaking word that FBI Director William S. Sessions was the subject of investigations.

On Thursday, Sessions refused to be questioned by Justice Department attorneys investigating whether he abused the use of government telephones and provided conflicting accounts about his tax status. His lawyer demanded the postponement because of news leaks and because he said that the department has not provided Sessions with specifics about the actions under investigation.

Word leaked earlier this week that Sessions, his wife and his executive assistant were subjects of an investigation. Democrats suggested that the leaks were orchestrated to chill the FBI investigation into the disclosure that the CIA and Justice Department had withheld CIA files from the judge in the Iraqi loan case. Barr, who ordered the FBI inquiry last Friday, said that there was no connection.

Sessions’ wife, Alice, saw a different motive for the inquiry, contending that he is the victim of a smear campaign organized by disgruntled FBI officials.

“He (Sessions) is waking up out of a stupor, realizing he’s been had,” she told the San Antonio Light, her hometown newspaper.

Sarah Munford, Sessions’ executive assistant, was placed on administrative leave by a senior Justice Department lawyer Thursday and told that she will be fired, according to her lawyer.

In the Iraqi loan case, the CIA admitted last week that it withheld classified cables last month from U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob, who has presided over the case in Atlanta. A bank manager there is accused of making $5 billion in illegal loans to Iraq. The cables contradicted the prosecution assertion that the manager acted without the knowledge of his superiors at the Rome headquarters of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro.

The CIA said that its decision came after it received “strong advice” from the Justice Department, but the department contended that its lawyers told the CIA to make its own decision on providing the material to the judge.