Senate GOP OKs Broader Funds Probe

Faced with a defection by key members of their own party, Senate Republicans agreed Tuesday to expand the chamber’s investigation of campaign fund-raising abuses to encompass “improper” actions as well as actual violations of the law.

The GOP revolt, led by Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), chairman of the investigating committee, prompted Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to back away from an earlier proposal restricting the inquiry to illegal activity in the 1996 congressional or presidential campaigns.

Surprised Democrats hailed Lott’s sudden retreat as a victory that would allow for a wide-ranging review of both parties’ fund-raising practices, including methods that may be technically legal but raise ethical concerns.

For instance, the decision will allow the panel to look into so-called “soft-money” contributions--the largely unregulated flow of money to the Democratic and Republican national committees that is not supposed to directly benefit a candidate. Such donations, frequently involving large sums, have been at the center of much of the current controversy.

“We are very pleased with the result,” said Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). “In my tenure as leader, this is one of the biggest turnabouts I’ve experienced.”

But Republicans suggested that the new language--approved by the Senate, 99-0--would also free them to examine the many White House activities that have raised questions but not necessarily broken the law.

“Some of those coffees and White House sleepovers may be improper,” Lott said, referring to examples of the access that the Clinton administration frequently accorded large contributors to the Democratic Party.

“We’re getting what we can all live with to get the job done,” Lott added.

The dispute over process underscores the high stakes for both parties once the Governmental Affairs Committee begins calling witnesses before television cameras in coming months.

Democrats have expressed fear that the inquiry could turn into a partisan witch hunt aimed at embarrassing their party and president. They pointed out that only two of the more than 50 subpoenas the committee has sent out focus on GOP targets.

Republicans clearly see an opportunity to help their party by exposing aspects of the Clinton fund-raising effort during the last campaign. But the broader the committee’s investigation, the more likely it is that it will delve into questionable fund-raising practices by the GOP, such as influence on legislation by corporate lobbyists in the House.

Signs of fissures within Republican ranks appeared early Tuesday when Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) warned that an investigation restricted to illegal activity probably would grind to a halt with bickering over whether particular acts violate the law.

Later, at a GOP caucus lunch, Thompson and enough of his colleagues raised objections to force Lott to reconsider. It had been another GOP faction, strong opponents of campaign finance reform, which had prompted Lott to move to restrict the inquiry to illegalities.

“Today we really are back on track again,” Thompson said. ‘This is an opportunity here to start a new day.”

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), one of those who wanted the investigation restricted to violations of the law, said that “obviously I would have preferred” the narrower investigation. But he voted for the broader effort because he said it was “important we move the process forward.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) speculated that some Republicans embraced broadening the investigation’s scope because they realized that looking at illegal activities alone might exclude examination of many of the White House’s most controversial practices. For instance, the revelation that Margaret Williams, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s chief of staff, accepted a campaign check at the White House caused a stir but the Justice Department has said she did nothing illegal.

While most attention focused Tuesday on maneuvering in the Senate, Democrats in the House were jockeying for a broader fund-raising investigation in their chamber.

Democrats continued to voice their objections to the decision by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, to limit his panel’s inquiry only to White House and Democratic National Committee fund-raising.

The 20 Democrats on the committee, led by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), wrote Burton that his proposal would ignore fund-raising abuses in congressional campaigns. They also demanded a special meeting to protest Burton’s “unilateral authority” to release committee documents and issue subpoenas.

Also in the House, officials testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday that Clinton ran up nearly $3.7 million in bills entertaining people at coffees, Christmas parties, receptions and other nonofficial events since he took office in 1993.

The National Parks Service, which oversees day-to-day operation of the White House, said that the money had been reimbursed by the Democratic Party or other groups.