Claims Reno Was Stopped for DUI Are Denounced
President Clinton’s spokeswoman has branded as “absolutely unconscionable” unsubstantiated reports that Atty. Gen.-designate Janet Reno had been stopped several times on suspicion of drunk driving but not charged.
White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers told reporters: “There’s absolutely no evidence to back up their claim. It’s complete hearsay, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves. It’s absolutely unconscionable.”
Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, reported Thursday that the allegations about Reno had been brought to the attention of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which opens hearings on her nomination Tuesday.
Top National Rifle Assn. lobbyist David Gibbons gave the unsubstantiated report to a group of Senate Republican aides in mid-February, and Thomas L. Jipping, an official of the conservative Free Congress Foundation, gave it to the Judiciary Committee, the newspaper said.
Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the report “can only be described as stomach-turning.” He blamed the rifle association “and others” for spreading the rumors.
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