White House Aide’s Papers on FBI Files Are Handed Over

Attorneys for Anthony Marceca, a central figure in the White House-FBI files controversy, submitted a sheaf of his papers to House investigators Tuesday in an attempt to show that “nothing clandestine or criminal” was done when he obtained FBI background reports on hundreds of people, most of them employees of Republican administrations.

Marceca, a former Democratic campaign worker, is scheduled to testify today to the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. D. Craig Livingstone, who directed Marceca’s work as head of the White House Office of Personnel Security, also will be questioned under oath.

But committee Chairman William F. Clinger Jr. (R-Pa.) said that information in Marceca’s papers only adds to the controversy. The documents show that Marceca sought confidential background reports on President Bush’s national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, and at least one other National Security Council staff member.

“The disclosure that Mr. Marceca requested additional FBI files of former National Security Council staff members also serves to reinforce the concern that all Americans should feel about this incredible breach of security,” Clinger said.

Marceca was described as “a plodding bureaucrat” by his attorney, Robert F. Muse, who said that his work papers “utterly belie any notion of corruption or wrongdoing.”

Marceca and Livingstone are the subjects of House and Senate investigations into the FBI file case, and they also figure in a criminal investigation begun last week by Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr.

About 200 pages of work papers Muse submitted to the House committee show that Marceca made no effort to keep his project secret. As part of what he said was an effort to update security clearances for holdover employees working for the Clinton administration, Marceca sought the help of other federal agencies, according to the documents.

“Please review this list of current and former employees and advise this office of their current status with the White House,” Marceca wrote in late 1993 to William M. Cobbs, the General Services Administration building manager for the White House.

“If they have left the White House,” the letter continued, “it would be very helpful if you would provide the date of separation.”

Muse’s description of Marceca as “a plodding bureaucrat” contrasted with the 1993 assessment of him by David C. Allen, Marceca’s supervisor at the Pentagon, who supported his being detailed to the White House.

In a letter to William Kennedy, the former associate White House counsel who requested that Marceca be hired, Allen described Marceca as “a sound and logical thinker, capable of handling any number of critical and sensitive missions at one time. . . . Mr. Marceca is always the master of every situation. His professional competence, can-do attitude and attention to detail have contributed to the smooth functioning and efficiency of the major procurement fraud unit.”

Kennedy, who was reprimanded in 1993 for improperly arranging to have the FBI issue a news release saying that it was conducting a criminal investigation of the travel office firings, also will testify before the House panel today.

But unlike Livingstone and Marceca, who are appearing voluntarily, Kennedy and former White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum have been subpoenaed to answer the panel’s questions.

White House officials, in apologizing for the work of Marceca and Livingstone, said that the two improperly obtained 407 FBI background reports on mostly Republican officials and employees who no longer worked for the government, in what was described as a bureaucratic mistake.

Some critics have been skeptical of this explanation because Marceca’s list contained the names of such well-known Republicans as former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater. The new material also showed that Marceca had obtained the background file of former CIA Director and National Security Council official Robert M. Gates, who worked in both the Reagan and Bush administrations.

The FBI said more than a week ago that the White House had improperly obtained 407 files but the latest disclosures appeared to add to that total more than 200 more names. It was unclear, however, whether all the additional files should be classified as improperly obtained.

The newly provided records also indicate that Marceca sought “IRS tax checks” on 82 people.

Republicans have written to the Internal Revenue Service to ask if Marceca illegally obtained income tax returns on some former Republican officials. But those familiar with Marceca’s records insisted Tuesday that the 82 tax reports refer only to people who now work for the administration and who signed routine waivers allowing the White House to determine if they had paid their taxes.

In a related development, the House committee investigating Marceca and Livingstone reached an agreement with the White House on Tuesday over access to other White House documents, apparently averting the threat of a contempt-of-Congress resolution that the House was scheduled to consider Thursday.

Clinger had renewed his demand for 2,000 documents on the 1993 White House travel office firings, which President Clinton was withholding on a claim of executive privilege. These documents dealt mainly with confidential advice that was given to Clinton by top aides, as well as materials furnished to Starr for his criminal investigations.

In addition, Clinger’s panel this week subpoenaed all memos, records and telephone logs relating to Marceca and Livingstone. Under the agreement, the White House will allow leading Republicans and Democrats on the panel to examine confidential documents without copying them.