Cox to Take Lead Role in FBI Files Investigation
Rep. Christopher Cox will play a lead role in helping figure out why the Clinton White House secured hundreds of confidential FBI background files on prominent Republicans.
The Newport Beach Republican is the vice chairman of the Governmental Reform and Oversight Committee, which is investigating the scandal. The committee chairman, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Indiana), said he would let Cox lead the questioning if and when the panel holds public hearings.
“Cox will be out in front,” Mike Donohue, a spokesman for Burton, said Friday. “I think you will see him prominently involved in the questioning.”
Cox was unavailable for comment Friday.
Cox, elected to Congress in 1988, spent two years as White House senior associate counsel during the Reagan administration. He also serves in the GOP House leadership.
The committee is looking into why the White House took possession of several hundred confidential FBI background files, including those on several Republicans. Some Republicans have speculated that President Clinton was compiling information on his political foes, while the White House insists that the whole thing was a mistake.
Craig Livingstone, White House director of personnel security, quit last June after it was disclosed that the White House had taken possession of the files.
Donohue said committee investigators are still gathering information. He said the committee would decide later whether to hold hearings.
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