Indiana Lawmaker Not Suspicious Back Home

A congressman from another district might have been uncomfortable if thrust into the position that Rep. Dan Burton found himself in Saturday.

At the same time the FBI is investigating his own fund-raising practices, the Indiana Republican is heading the House probe of campaign fund-raising that was prompted by Democratic Party improprieties. Back in Washington, there are calls on Burton to step down as chairman of the House’s prime investigative committee.

Yet as he returned home for the congressional recess, Burton faced no grilling from those who sent him to Washington. On the contrary, at a series of weekend town meetings he received handshakes, slaps on the back and calls to continue sticking it to the White House.

“Pure baloney,” Burton called the allegations against him. At the same time, he suggested that his committee’s inquiry into Democratic fund-raising might be as serious as the probe of the Watergate scandal that forced President Nixon from office. But he did not go so far as to join in when one man said Clinton ought to be impeached immediately.

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To be sure, the constituents who crammed into places such as Lawrence Township Fire Station No. 3 were not as interested as Burton or his colleagues on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee in the activities of John Huang, Webster L. Hubbell, Pauline Kanchanalak or other figures in the fund-raising controversy.

The questions Burton fielded centered on taxes, Medicare and even the influence of the United Nations. Yet constituents on this solidly Republican turf clearly delighted in their congressman’s role as a thorn in Clinton’s side.

Burton’s Senate counterpart also appeared at a friendly forum Saturday to pledge his commitment to holding impartial, bipartisan hearings into the campaign financing controversy.

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Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), addressing an audience of California Republican activists at their state convention in Ontario, said the top priority of his Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will be “the most serious accusations” leveled at the Clinton administration.

“We have to know whether or not our foreign policy is for sale,” Thompson told members of the California Republican Assembly. “We have got to know whether or not our national security was compromised.”

At the same time, Thompson said he has told committee Democrats that if they have evidence of Republican wrongdoing, to “lay it on the table, big boys, we’ll take a look at it.”

For the hearings to be credible, Thompson said, anyone following the investigation will have to see “a bunch of adults up there doing adult business, serious business. Keeping the cards on the table, letting the chips fall where they may.”

Burton said that he, for one, thinks public attitudes toward his latest project may well change.

“Most people at the outset of Watergate thought it was all politics,” said the eight-term congressman.

“It’s not surprising to me that this is not something that is in the forefront of everybody’s mind right now. But if the allegations of illegal activity are borne out, you will see a decided shift, which is the same thing you saw with Richard Nixon.”

It is not surprising that Burton would enjoy escaping the partisan heat of Washington to come back to Indiana’s 6th District, which is nothing less than a Republican’s fantasy land. Sweeping across suburban sprawl and far-flung farmland, the district is considered one of the GOP’s most rock-solid strongholds.

The commentary offered by voters Saturday was frequently so sugary that at one point Burton asked: “Can you downplay these accolades? I’m getting embarrassed.”

Burton has won his district by such huge margins that Democrats have trouble rounding up opponents. One supporter said the only way Burton will leave Washington involuntarily is if he dies.

During the town hall forums, this investigator who is being investigated dismissed allegations that he retaliated against a lobbyist for the government of Pakistan because the man did not raise $5,000 in contributions for Burton’s campaign.

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He noted that the lobbyist making the charges, Mark Siegal, is a former top official at the Democratic National Committee, and the congressman called the FBI inquiry nothing more than a partisan exercise aimed at distracting from his own work.

Burton said he expects intense scrutiny of everything he does. He said he has been beaten up before--by a towering, abusive father--and is bracing for some more blows, this time by the Democrats.

“It’s going to be a long, hard fight, and you’re going to hear a lot of things,” he told the audience. “This is the kind of thing that keeps you up nights thinking, ‘What are they going to bring next?’ Can you imagine the kind of scrutiny I’m under every day by these people?”

Nonetheless, Burton said he has no skeletons in his closet that will interfere with his getting to the bottom of the fund-raising mess.

“I’m as clean as a pin--as far as I know,” Burton said, noting that he has followed the advice of a political mentor who told him in his early days in the state Legislature to always pay his taxes, always tell the truth and steer clear of bribes.

“Right on, Dan!” said one backer, Ann Hanley, vowing to stick by her congressman no matter how messy things become.

“They are going to vilify you,” offered restaurateur Mark Jacob, encouraging Burton to come back home whenever he needs support.

Times staff writer Mark Barabak in Ontario contributed to this story.