Senate Panel Subpoenas Key Figure in Files Case

A Senate committee voted Tuesday to subpoena a central player in the White House FBI files case and force him to provide sworn testimony in a closed hearing later this week.

Anthony Marceca, who said that he will invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions, also was ordered to turn over to the Senate Judiciary Committee all of the government documents and computer disks he took home after serving as a temporary White House security official.

Although Marceca may not answer questions during his appearance, committee members said that they believe the documents he possesses could help explain why the White House was in possession of classified FBI records on employees from past Republican administrations.

But the Senate panel may find that Marceca is not forthcoming about turning over his records either.

A House committee, which is conducting its own investigation, announced Tuesday that it subpoenaed the records last Thursday, only to be advised by Marceca’s lawyer Monday night that his client would not comply.

“Mr. Marceca will invoke his 5th Amendment privilege with regard to any inquiries by the committee,” his lawyer, Robert Muse, wrote to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Muse could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

It was not clear why Marceca is suddenly refusing to cooperate with congressional committees after first testifying before the House panel, providing sworn statements and appearing before a federal grand jury.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) said that Marceca’s appearance would be in a session closed to the public. Even so, Hatch said, Marceca has made it clear that he appears against his will and that he plans to invoke the 5th Amendment right.

“The result is that Anthony Marceca will not voluntarily appear and testify before this committee,” Hatch said. “That result is unacceptable.”

He added that he had hoped Marceca might find it easier to answer questions in a closed-door setting. “The Senate has followed that practice in recent times, and I believe that it is a reasonable course for us to follow in this case too,” Hatch said.

On the House side, Rep. William F. Clinger (R-Pa.), who chairs the Reform and Oversight Committee, said that Marceca’s refusal to turn over the documents “makes many of us skeptical of President Clinton’s explanation that this was a ‘bureaucratic snafu.’ ”

Among the records sought by the House panel are those pertaining to his work developing opposition research for Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign and documents relating to efforts by his former boss, D. Craig Livingstone, to “gain employment or seek recommendations from” such Clinton advisors as Harry Thomason, James Carville and Bruce Lindsey.