Clinton Imposes Strict Ethics Code : Policy: President-elect says rules for transition team signal a political change. Limits apply to lobbying and inside information. Financial disclosure is required too.

President-elect Bill Clinton set down stringent conflict-of-interest restrictions for his transition team Friday, indicating his intention to preside over an Administration that does not trade public service for private gain.

In his only comment Friday on the new code, Clinton said: “I want to send a signal that we are going to change politics as usual.”

Applied equally to paid staff and volunteers, it bars transition team members from lobbying federal agencies for which they had “substantial” involvement for six months after his inauguration.

It also prevents them from ever using any “non-public information” for private gain and requires the filing of financial disclosure information.

In announcing the guidelines at a morning briefing here, transition director Warren Christopher said: “Today’s transition rules send a strong signal as to how President-elect Clinton intends to govern. . . . The era is over when too many in Washington sought to gain in some way from their access to power.”

Clinton is also finishing work on regulations that will prohibit Administration officials from engaging in similar lobbying activities for five years after they leave government--four years more than provided for in existing law.

In addition, Clinton intends to draft legislation aimed at bringing about campaign reform and restricting the ability of lobbyists to represent foreign interests.

Penalties for violating the transition ethics code are still being written, but they will be outlined in an executive order Clinton plans to issue in the opening days of the Administration, Christopher said.

Legal and ethics experts said the move is an attempt at a new, lofty era in public service but cautioned that it may be a largely symbolic gesture that could be circumvented.

They predicted that the six-month ban on post-transition lobbying would not dissuade many people from accepting transition jobs. Such service is widely viewed as prestigious and career-enhancing.

Several lawyers familiar with the government ethics laws, all of whom declined to be identified, said such restrictions, while customarily observed, can be overcome. A person leaving the transition team or the government could, for example, continue to advise others on techniques for lobbying agencies that he or she could not legally contact, they said.

There is no publicly acknowledged case in which a presidential transition official traded on information gleaned during service to a President-elect. But concern has been growing that a transition period provides private citizens and lobbyists with unusual opportunities to help shape policies that could benefit special interests.

Every President since Jimmy Carter has responded to these concerns by promulgating ethics codes for their transition teams.

President Bush’s transition ethics rules also provided for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest and required staff members to protect non-public information, but they imposed no restrictions on post-transition lobbying.

Because of its tougher requirement, Clinton’s transition ethics code won wide applause.

“It’s a revolutionary concept to impose on people a standard more stringent than exists in law,” said Stanley Brand, a Washington lawyer who specializes in government ethics laws.

Joan Claybrook, president of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen lobbying group, called Clinton’s action “a clear signal that his Administration will not tolerate ‘business as usual.’ ”

The guidelines, she said, could “put a lock on the ‘revolving door’ and restore the integrity of public service.”

Paradoxically, while the code has been in the works for some time, it was unveiled as questions were being raised about the corporate relationships of some of Clinton’s top aides, including the President-elect’s transition chairman, Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

A highly influential Washington lawyer, Jordan receives $50,000 annually as a board member of the RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., a major cigarette manufacturer.

Although Jordan has taken an informal leave of absence from all the boards on which he sits, a citizens’ lobbying group this week questioned whether Jordan could impartially help screen candidates for such jobs as secretary of health and human services or the surgeon general--posts that involve health policy.

Under the ethics guidelines, Jordan would not have to disqualify himself from participation in such decisions, conceded George Stephanopoulos, Clinton’s assistant director for communications.

In attempting to ease concerns about Jordan’s ties, Clinton declared in a Thursday press conference that he alone will have ultimate responsibility for major appointments.

In another case that could prove controversial, the Associated Press reported Friday that Clinton’s top national security adviser for the transition, trade attorney Samuel Berger, is a member of a firm that is a registered agent for Japan, Poland and other foreign interests, according to documents submitted to the government.

Earlier in the day, Christopher said in response to a question at the news briefing: “I don’t have any reason to think that there are any agents of foreign governments (on the transition team), and I suspect we would be very careful to screen those out of any assignments we would make.”

Berger is a partner in the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson, but he has been on leave since July, when he became an adviser to the Clinton campaign. He was deputy director of policy planning at the State Department under Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980.

Berger told the AP on Friday that he did not personally represent foreign clients, except for a brief lobbying stint in 1989 for the new, non-Communist Polish government and providing some advice on U.S. trade laws to Ontario. Other than the volunteer work for Poland, he said, “I’ve not done lobbying on behalf of any foreign government.”

Clinton campaign spokesmen could not be reached for comment Friday night.

Christopher said the code allows for waivers “in extraordinary circumstances,” but even then the waivers will be disclosed publicly.

Without being specific, he said Clinton’s executive order outlining penalties for violating the code will contain “appropriate steps to guarantee enforcement.”

Noting that the six-month ban on post-transition lobbying is three times longer than the transition period itself, Christopher nevertheless conceded that the hiatus might prove to be too short.

He said Clinton and his transition aides debated at length about the duration of the ban, ultimately deciding that six months “seemed like a reasonable period.”

“As with any new undertaking, we’ll try to learn from any mistakes that are made and adjust accordingly,” Christopher added.

He said he did not believe Clinton’s tough ethical stance would deter talented people from entering public service--either during the transition or after Clinton takes office.

“I feel very comfortable that we will be able to attract the top people in the country into the transition process,” Christopher said.

“There’s a sense of idealism afoot in the country now that I have not seen for at least 30 years, and I think that’s producing a level of interest in the transition in government that will serve us well and we can feel good about.”

The President-elect, meanwhile, continued working in his governor’s mansion on transition matters Friday, venturing out only for a morning jog, an hourlong meeting with his newly appointed transition staff in a downtown Little Rock office building and a brief hospital visit with Sen. David Pryor of Arkansas, who was recovering from surgery.

In response to persistent questions about Clinton’s timetable for major Administration appointments, Stephanopoulos said the President-elect was “taking his time,” poring over candidates’ names.

“He wants to cast as wide a net as he possibly can. And he’s asked for more names for every possible position. And so I think it’ll probably take some time, but you’ll probably see some before Christmas,” Stephanopoulos said.

Clinton has no public events scheduled for today and only church Sunday, followed by a meeting at the governor’s mansion with Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell of Maine, House Speaker Thomas S. Foley of Washington and House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.

Clinton also is scheduled to fly to Washington on Wednesday, when he is expected to meet with President Bush. On Thursday, the President-elect is to have breakfast with the Democratic leaders in Congress, followed by a lunch with congressional leaders of both parties.