Democrats Want House, Senate Funding Probes Combined; GOP Leaders Reluctant

Congressional Democrats today will propose merging House and Senate investigations of campaign fund-raising abuses, but GOP leaders appear committed to separate, multimillion-dollar probes aimed at the Clinton White House.

“Redundant investigations are inefficient and waste taxpayer dollars,” the Democrats say in a letter to be delivered to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) today. “They will generate confusion, not better public illumination.”

The Democrats note that the Commerce Department has already received 35 requests for documents from nine House and Senate committees--even before the investigations have begun in earnest.

But a spokeswoman for Gingrich said he has not signed on to the concept and would not do so unless pushed by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who is leading the House probe. Burton’s office declined comment.

Although both chambers have already begun issuing a flurry of subpoenas, the two investigations remain in their infancy, mired in internal debate over their budgets and targets of inquiry.

Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, revealed to Democrats on Wednesday that he will request $3.8 million to look into presidential fund-raising abuses. Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles, the ranking Democrat on the House investigative panel, considers that request excessive and plans to fight it at a committee meeting today, an aide said.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) appeared to reach a deal with his GOP colleagues late Wednesday that would set a budget of about $4.5 million for the Senate investigation and focus the probe on any fund-raising illegalities that may have been committed by congressional or presidential campaigns during the 1996 election cycle, aides said.

The Senate would wind up its investigation by year’s end, with a report required by the end of January 1998.

In both chambers, Democrats are insisting that the investigations go beyond possible White House abuses to also look into the fund-raising practices of congressional campaigns.

Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio) said Lott and other GOP leaders would be engaging in a “giant cover-up” if they refused to allow the Senate probe to look into wrongdoing among congressional candidates.

Glenn said some Republicans want to “narrow the focus to only go after the presidential ’96 election.”

“That means we are trying to sweep this under the table up here,” he said. “That means we’re not going to look at ourselves up here. We’re not really going to look at the problems.”

In the letter to Gingrich, House Democrats said they want the two chambers to investigate together, which they say will prevent confusion, missteps and a waste of taxpayer funds.

“We support a thorough and comprehensive investigation into all alleged campaign finance abuses,” said the letter, which nearly 100 Democrats had signed as of Wednesday. “But it makes no sense to direct multiple congressional committees to investigate the very same alleged abuses. “

Meanwhile, Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday altered slightly his account of the controversial fund-raising calls he made from his White House office.

At a press conference Monday, Gore said he had charged the calls to a credit card provided to him by the Democratic National Committee. In fact, Gore explained through a spokeswoman, the calling card was provided by the Clinton-Gore campaign.

Lynn Utrecht, general counsel for the campaign, said the total cost of Gore’s calls was still unknown. “We are trying to determine the charges now and expect to be reimbursed” by the DNC, she said. “People make mistakes, and that is what happened here.”

Gore’s admission prompted Republican lawmakers to renew their calls for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fund-raising improprieties by the White House. The Senate is scheduled to vote today on an advisory motion calling on Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to name such an independent counsel.