Ex-N.Y. Prosecutor Tops Whitewater Counsel List

Former New York prosecutor Robert B. Fiske Jr., a Republican, emerged Wednesday as the leading candidate for the job as special counsel in the Whitewater case, government sources said.

An announcement could come as early as today.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno has promised she would move quickly to find a “ruggedly independent” lawyer to investigate whether Bill Clinton or his wife, Hillary, violated any laws in connection with their investment in the Whitewater land development company in the Ozarks or the subsequent failure of the Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. The Clintons made the investment when he was Arkansas governor and Mrs. Clinton worked as a prominent Little Rock attorney.

Reno’s aides have considered several prominent Republican attorneys, including former Chicago prosecutor Dan Webb and former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr.

But Fiske, 63, has moved to the top of the list, government sources said. He is known both as an aggressive prosecutor and a specialist in white-collar crime.

During the late 1970s, he was U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and compiled an impressive record, including the conviction of powerful labor bosses on racketeering charges and breaking up a notorious heroin ring.

Now in private practice, he successfully defended former Defense Secretary Clark M. Clifford and his partner Robert Altman against federal charges that they deceived regulators by hiding foreign ownership of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International, whose failure cost investors billions of dollars.

But despite his GOP and Wall Street credentials, Fiske is not a particular favorite of Washington conservative activists.

In 1989, Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh planned to named Fiske as the deputy attorney general, the No. 2 post in the Justice Department. But conservatives, including Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee, raised objections. Fiske had chaired the American Bar Assn.’s committee that evaluated potential court nominees, and conservatives blamed him for the ABA’s lukewarm endorsement of the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Robert H. Bork in 1987.

Thornburgh finally dropped Fiske’s nomination.

Reno was traveling for much of the past week but returned to the Justice Department Wednesday. Aides confirmed that she was nearing a final decision and planned to hold a press conference today even though government offices will be officially closed because of extreme cold temperatures.

Justice Department officials were at work late Wednesday evening making preparations for an announcement.

Reno had originally opposed choosing an outside counsel to handle the Whitewater investigation, but Clinton bowed to political pressure on Jan. 12 and ordered her to do so.

The Whitewater investigation could drag on for months or years, and several candidates have reportedly been reluctant to take on the assignment.

With Republican senators clamoring for a special counsel, Reno can head off potential criticism by choosing a Republican for the job.