GOP Lawmakers Plan Probe of Agriculture Department

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said Thursday that he plans hearings to determine whether senior Agriculture Department employees illegally raised campaign funds to support Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential bid.

In addition, Roberts said that he and Rep. William F. Clinger Jr. (R-Pa.), chairman of the Government Operations Committee, intend to investigate why some career Agriculture Department employees who contributed to a Democratic campaign committee were subsequently awarded better jobs while others who were not solicited were given less desirable posts. And Roberts said the two panels will explore allegations that some Agriculture Department donors took favorable actions to benefit politically connected farmers.

At the same time, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno has asked the Justice Department’s public integrity section to conduct an internal review of the fund raising at the Agriculture Department to assess whether any criminal laws may have been broken. And the office of special counsel, which enforces the Hatch Act, has said it plans to investigate whether Agriculture Department employees violated the act by seeking contributions to a pro-Clinton political action committee.

At the time, the Hatch Act prohibited all solicitation and collection of campaign funds by civil servants. Violations are punishable by job suspension or dismissal.

“We’re going to hold hearings on the possible violations of the Hatch Act,” Roberts said. And whether “there were other special favors done for people in the farming community” by career Agriculture Department employees who contributed to the PAC that backed Clinton’s campaign.

The Times initially disclosed on Nov. 19 that 38 senior career employees then working in the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service made contributions of $50 to $500 to the Farmers & Ranchers ’92 PAC, which was established to raise funds from farm interests, spending much of its money on behalf of Clinton’s candidacy. Some of those approached, most of whom were Democrats, said they were solicited by colleagues and gave their checks to co-workers.

The Times also reported that many contributors to the PAC--which was co-chaired by then-Rep. Mike Espy, who later was named agriculture secretary--subsequently received promotions or more desirable jobs under the Clinton Administration. Others, identified as Republicans, were transferred to lower-profile posts.

Roberts said no dates have been set for the hearings. Among those he said he expects to testify is Grant B. Buntrock, a former career Agriculture Department employee who worked for a national farm organization in 1992 and was active in the fund-raising effort.

In October, 1993, Buntrock was appointed by Espy and the White House as administrator of the Stabilization and Conservation Service, the nation’s major domestic farm-aid program. The agency became part of a new Consolidated Farm Services Agency last year.

Espy, who resigned amid allegations that he accepted illegal gratuities from agribusiness interests, has said his PAC post was purely honorary.

Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow contributed to this story.