Rostenkowski’s Complaint of Leaks by Prosecutors Is Dismissed

A federal judge on Friday dismissed House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski’s complaint that prosecutors leaked details about a grand jury’s investigation of him to the media.

“The court is satisfied that the government has shown that it was not the source of the leaks,” said Chief U.S. District Court Judge John Garrett Penn.

Based on denials in sworn affidavits from U.S. Atty. Jay B. Stephens, former Atty. Gen. William P. Barr, FBI Director William S. Sessions and 71 other prosecutors, federal officials or law enforcement officers, Penn said he is convinced “that the government did not divulge the information,” related to the grand jury’s probe of irregularities at the House post office.

Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) has acknowledged that stamp purchases by his office and their alleged conversion into cash are being probed. But he has denied any wrongdoing and accused Stephens, a Republican, of politicizing the investigation.

Rostenkowski last week asked Penn to hold an open-court hearing on why Stephens should not be held in contempt for violating grand jury secrecy rules. The congressman cited 13 newspaper and magazine articles and two television broadcasts about various aspects of the investigation.

He also said that Stephens’ appearance on the “MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” and statements there that an Internal Revenue Service agent was expected to join the investigation suggested that “IRS personnel no doubt had access to the grand jury information.”

Penn concluded earlier that, on the surface of them, six articles in the Washington Post, the Washington Times, the Chicago Tribune, Time and Newsweek and a CNN videotape news report “appeared to reveal information that was presented to the grand jury.”

But, based on the 74 affidavits, the judge said Friday he is satisfied that “all reasonably identifiable government personnel who had actual or potential access to the information” were not sources of the information.

Penn said he also is unconvinced that the IRS has actual access to the grand jury proceedings. The House committee that Rostenkowski chairs originates all of the nation’s tax laws.

Rostenkowski’s office, through a spokesman, had no immediate reaction to Penn’s ruling.

Stephens called the judge’s ruling gratifying and accused Rostenkowski of attempting “to deflect attention from the substance of the investigation and to divert investigative resources” after the congressman rejected a subpoena to appear before the grand jury.

Stephens had suggested that virtually all of the information in the articles or newscasts originated from either Rostenkowski, his staff and attorneys, other House colleagues, or grand jury witnesses or their attorneys not subject to the secrecy rules.

The grand jury has been conducting a 15-month investigation into fraud and other irregularities involving the House post office, including financial transactions involving Rostenkowski’s campaign funds.