Skip Aldrich, Get to the Real Abuse of Power

Some advice for the congressional Republicans investigating the FBI file flap: Get rid of Gary Aldrich. Don’t put him on TV. Don’t let him into your hearings. Don’t talk to him. Don’t listen to him. Stay away from him. If you see him on the street, cross to the other side.

Certainly, putting Aldrich on the stand when hearings resume is a tempting thought. The former FBI agent who has accused the Clintons and their advisors of a veritable bacchanal of sex, drugs and other illicit behavior is a walking media storm. Putting him under oath would almost certainly guarantee a nationwide audience for the hearings. And aside from the more salacious, if unverifiable, anecdotes he tells, Aldrich purports to have inside information on the problems with the White House personnel security office that led to the improper acquisition of several hundred confidential FBI files that is at the heart of Congress’ investigation.

But Aldrich causes two problems for the Republicans. First, his continued public presence allows the White House to evade serious scrutiny on the substantive questions surrounding the abuse of FBI files by refocusing the debate on the more outlandish charges that he has leveled. Before Aldrich’s book was even in the stores, the president’s advisors leaped at the opportunity to change the subject from difficult questions regarding breaches in their security operation to much easier ones about Aldrich’s credibility.

The other problem, more damaging in the long run, is that any prolonged association with a discredited Aldrich will make Republicans look petty and venal. The Whitewater investigation failed to have a significant political impact because the voters saw it, more than anything, as a purely partisan exercise. In order for Filegate to cut more deeply, Congress will have to appear less politically motivated. There are better ways to accomplish this goal than associating with Aldrich.

The Filegate controversy is beginning to pique the interest of the American people in a way that Whitewater never did. The alleged wrongdoing is easier to understand. It occurred while Clinton was president. And the specter of government invasion of personal privacy strikes much closer to home than old real estate holdings and bank loans. But for Republicans to establish this matter as a serious one in the minds of the American people, they have to avoid the appearance of political gamesmanship.

If the opening days of the Filegate debate are any indication, they seem to be learning this lesson. The tone of this round of hearings, with dignified Bill Clinger replacing combative Al D’Amato as the GOP point man, has been more of sorrow than of anger. And the “politics-as-usual” defense first offered up by the White House rang hollow when Democrats in both houses of Congress joined in the criticism of the administration’s security operation.

But Aldrich has given the White House a renewed opportunity to dismiss Filegate as politically motivated. Clinton aides immediately tried to imply complicity between the Dole presidential campaign and Aldrich’s book, and challenged Dole to denounce Aldrich. The surest and swiftest way to force the Clinton administration back to the more serious questions is to call their bluff, disavow any association with Aldrich or his charges, and shift public and media scrutiny back where it belongs: on a White House-sponsored threat to individual privacy and constitutional rights.

In numbers that have been growing steadily, the American people believe that the White House is hiding something. They believe that the FBI files were acquired for illicit purposes and they believe that the President knew about it. They don’t buy the argument that two low-level employees with a history of political dirty tricks were operating independently of any authoritative supervision. And every day that the White House changes its story, refuses to provide relevant information and otherwise stonewalls legitimate inquiry raises even more suspicions.

These are the targets toward which congressional Republicans ought to be directing their inquiry, not on the angry charges of a bitter rumor-monger. By distancing themselves from Aldrich, publicly and forcefully, Republicans have the chance to reclaim the nonpartisan high ground and refocus public attention on a White House willing to trample individual liberties for political gain.

It’s said that a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth gets its shoes on. The Aldrich corollary to this is that a lie, if brazen and sensational enough, can give the truth plenty of time to sneak away and hide.