Probe of Rostenkowski Finances Said to Be Widening : Congress: He condemns investigation, which is reported to be seeking records of all his funds for several years.

A federal grand jury has broadened its investigation of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), seeking records of all funds he has received or spent during the past several years, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.

Investigators, supervised by U.S. Atty. Jay B. Stephens, have obtained records here and in Chicago of Rostenkowski’s bank accounts as well as financial records of his campaign organization, congressional offices, business accounts and statements filed with financial institutions, the sources said.

In a telephone interview Friday, Rostenkowski complained about the widening nature of the investigation, which he said included subpoenas for some employees who had worked for him only a few months.

“My lawyers tell me I’m not a target, and then I see all these leaks,” he said. “I think I’m being tried in the press. They don’t have anything, but it makes me look guilty.”

The “net worth investigation” goes well beyond the scope of the original probe begun last spring, which sought to determine whether Rostenkowski and two other House Democrats converted congressional expense vouchers or campaign funds to cash through transactions that were made to look like stamp purchases at the House post office.

In addition, sources said, at least two criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service have been assigned full time to the investigation here and in Chicago.

CNN reported Friday night that the grand jury is investigating “possible income tax violations,” and quoted sources saying that “felony charges including tax fraud may soon be brought.”

“The fact is, they’ve subpoenaed a lot of paper,” a Rostenkowski aide said Friday. “(The investigation) has been pretty broad. They’ve laid their hands on just about any conceivable thing.”

During the past five years, Rostenkowski’s congressional office reported spending $29,672 in taxpayer funds to purchase stamps. In addition, the Illinois Democrat’s campaign organization and a political action committee purchased $26,000 in stamps from the House post office, according to press accounts.

Rostenkowski has described as “totally untrue” allegations that he received cash in exchange for office expenditure vouchers written for postage stamps. The only explanation offered on the stamps is that his office sends a lot of mail overseas.

James C. Smith, a supervisor at the House post office, told federal prosecutors last year that he improperly exchanged postage vouchers from Rostenkowski for cash, in amounts that varied from several hundred dollars to more than $2,000, according to sources.

The federal probe also is examining more than $73,000 in payments made by Rostenkowski’s campaign committees since 1986 to rent office space in a building adjacent to Rostenkowski’s North Side Chicago house. Rostenkowski and his two sisters jointly own the building.

The grand jury met for four hours Thursday and heard testimony from several witnesses, including Robert J. Leonard, former chief counsel and staff director of the Ways and Means Committee. Leonard, who spent nearly three hours with the jury, was accompanied by House general counsel Steven Ross and two other House lawyers.

House Sergeant-at-Arms Werner Brandt and the director of House members’ payroll, George Chapin, apparently delivered subpoenaed documents to the grand jury. Ways and Means Committee aide James M. Jaffe also is scheduled to testify.

At least 18 aides in Rostenkowski’s congressional office and on the committee staff were subpoenaed.