Answers Still Are Needed in White House Files Case

The number of confidential personnel files obtained by the White House from the FBI and held for more than two years is now acknowledged to exceed 400, all part of what President Clinton maintains was an “innocent bureaucratic” mistake and Republican critics proclaim was a deliberate abuse of power. A report from the FBI and a blistering statement from Director Louis J. Freeh avoid taking sides in this partisan battle of characterizations, but the FBI does conclude that “egregious violations of privacy” were involved in the requests for the files.

In an effort to quell the growing controversy, the White House on Monday abruptly announced that it is reshuffling its personnel security office. Some will see the change as an admission of managerial incompetence at the least. But it does not settle the question of whether the case involved flagrant political manipulation. An answer to that question is now being sought.

A key point in the White House’s explanation for the files fiasco reportedly has now been challenged by the Secret Service, which is responsible for White House security (the FBI keeps files on past and present government personnel and others). The administration’s story has been that when it asked the service for the names of those entitled to White House access so it could review security clearances it was given an outdated list; that supposedly explained why the personnel files of so many officials from past Republican administrations came into the hands of Clinton political appointees. But three GOP senators say Secret Service officials have told them the service’s access list is updated as often as two or three times a week. If that’s the case, it’s hard to see how a list long out of date would have been passed on and treated as valid.

Freeh, describing the FBI as having been “victimized” and its “good faith and honor” abused, has joined with the White House to produce a tightening of the rules on access to personnel files. That’s fine for the future, but the political problem produced by this mess is something President Clinton must deal right now.

The FBI report says, accurately, we believe, that the White House’s acquisition of the files was “unquestionably unjustified.” The report does not try to ascribe motives. The Republican-led congressional committees that are about to begin hearings on this issue can be counted on to do their best to fill that gap. So will independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, who is also conducting an investigation.

It’s still to be proven that anything more sinister than administrative bungling was at fault. But as doubts keep piling up, the suspicions grow.