Security Aides’ Political Links Questioned

The political backgrounds of two officials in the White House security office emerged Monday as a central issue in the broadening inquiry over the office’s improper requests for FBI files on top Republicans.

With congressional hearings on the files scheduled for Wednesday, Republicans raised questions about whether their political work for several campaigns should have disqualified D. Craig Livingstone, head of the Office of Personnel Security, and his former aide, Anthony Marceca, from taking White House security posts.

“On its face, it’s troubling to have political operatives have access to information on people who may be potential adversaries,” said Ed Amerosi, spokesman for Rep. William F. Clinger (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.

He said that the committee had not yet reached conclusions on the issue. But, he said, the newly available information about the two men’s backgrounds “was prompting a lot of members to ask questions about the choice” of the men.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said that the selection of officials with political backgrounds “has been the history of the office, to my understanding.”

And, he said, the office’s work was primarily concerned with helping White House staff members and others complete paperwork and manage their security-clearance requests. “It’s more of a liaison role,” he said.

Jane Dannenhauer, who ran the office during the Ronald Reagan administration and part of the George Bush administration, was also a political appointee. One former senior Bush administration official, however, said that she did not have a history of political campaign work, as the two Clinton appointees do.

She could not be reached for comment.

As the criticisms grew, there were signs that the White House was preparing to reorganize the security office.

Another official, Mark D. Fabiani, associate White House counsel, said it was “troubling” that the evidence “that’s out there so far” shows that Livingstone did not appear to have kept close control on his operation.

Livingstone, a Pittsburgh native, and Marceca, of Meadville, Pa., knew each other from political work even before Marceca was given a six-month assignment at the White House in the spring of 1993. According to some who know them, both shared a love of the undercover and security aspects of their White House work.

Both worked as Clinton campaign advance men in 1992 and for the vice presidential campaign of Al Gore. They also worked on the 1984 presidential campaign of former Colorado Democratic Sen. Gary Hart.

Livingstone got his White House job after impressing Clinton friend Harry Thomason with his work on the Clinton inauguration in 1993. He had worked earlier as a restaurant bouncer and said that he had held a public relations position at an Atlantic City casino.

Marceca worked as a staff member of a congressional committee. He also had roles in the New Hampshire presidential primary campaigns in the 1980s of Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) and Vice President Walter F. Mondale.

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In addition, he once worked as an investigator for the Pennsylvania state auditor, and he sought several times to be chosen as a delegate to Democratic national conventions.

Since 1988, he has worked as an investigator at the Army Criminal Investigations Division. In the official applications that got him the six-month job, Marceca was praised by his boss at an Army procurement fraud unit as “the master of any situation” and “comfortable” in directing investigations.

In another development, a nongovernment employee close to the case made available one page of a Feb. 16, 1994, Secret Service list of White House pass-holders that appeared to support a White House claim that the agency had provided out-of-date lists to Clinton administration workers who requested the files.

The page listed Reagan and Bush administration official James A. Baker III twice, as well as two other individuals, Danica Bizic and Gary Robert Blumenthal, who were no longer with the White House. Baker was chief of staff for Reagan and secretary of state and, later, chief of staff in the Bush administration.

On one line of the computer printout, Baker was listed as a White House Cabinet secretary but two lines later he was listed as “White House operations”--an apparent reference to the position of chief of staff.

The February 1994 list also included Nicholas F. Brady, described as a Cabinet officer--accurate during the Bush years when he served as Treasury secretary.

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Also Monday, Justice Department and FBI sources denied that the White House or the Justice Department had pressured FBI Director Louis J. Freeh to draw up the statement of “clarification” that he issued over the weekend.

In his original statement Friday decrying “egregious violations of privacy,” Freeh said: “The prior system of providing files to the White House relied on good faith and honor. Unfortunately, the FBI and I were victimized. I promise the American people that it will not happen again on my watch.”

The statement was widely read as a criticism of White House officials by the FBI director, an unusual step that Freeh’s clarification said was not intended.

“The FBI and I fell victim to my lack of vigilance and this failure to exercise proper management controls also affected the privacy rights of many persons,” the follow-up statement said. “I deeply regret those problems and pledge that they will not [recur]. . . . I have not reached any conclusions regarding the motivations of any White House employee.”

The clarification was issued, FBI sources said, after a reporter raised questions about Freeh’s original statement and Saturday newspaper coverage showed he was not alone.