Lawmaker Seeks Probe of Memo on Gore, Supporter

Angered by the emergence of a mysterious document suggesting that Vice President Al Gore could help a political supporter win a lucrative federal contract, a Republican lawmaker Thursday asked the Justice Department to open a criminal inquiry into whether the supporter or his associates obstructed a congressional investigation.

The unsigned, undated and unaddressed memo, which packed provocative suggestions into a mere three paragraphs, was turned over to congressional investigators in April by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno. That was more than a year after the House Commerce Committee had concluded its review of a controversial real estate deal involving the federal government’s lease of a Washington building called the Portals, now occupied by the Federal Communications Commission.

The document alleges that “Gore has called or is ready to call” a high-ranking federal official in connection with a $400-million lease negotiated in part by developer Franklin Haney, a longtime supporter of the vice president.

The FBI interviewed Gore and about 20 other individuals about the document. A Gore spokeswoman, Melissa Ratcliff, denied that the vice president intervened on Haney’s behalf.

“The theories floated by the [Commerce] committee are baseless. The vice president had no knowledge or involvement in this whatsoever,” Ratcliff said. “No involvement, period.”

Nor does Gore have any idea who produced the memo or what the innuendoes contained in it might refer to, Ratcliff said.

But Rep. Thomas J. Bliley (R-Va.), the Commerce Committee chairman, heaped scorn on such denials. Calling the document “a serious matter,” Bliley wrote Reno on Thursday asking for a new criminal probe.

“It appears that this highly incriminating document must have been the product of immaculate conception, miraculously appearing in someone’s files,” Bliley wrote. “Obviously the credibility of these sweeping denials are highly suspect.”

But Stanley Brand, defense attorney for Haney, said the memo was closely examined by the FBI in 1998 and no one has been able to determine its source or authenticity.

“It could be made up. I don’t know,” he said.

Brand noted that Haney was acquitted last year in federal court on all 42 criminal counts alleging conspiracy and election law violations in connection with the Portals deal.

“What the committee is unable to accept is that nobody did anything untoward here,” he said. “They just can’t let go of Al Gore and Frank Haney. It’s all political.”

Myron Marlin, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said officials there had spoken with Bliley’s staff and were reviewing his letter. He declined further comment.

Controversy about the Portals lease is not new. Bliley’s committee looked into allegations of improper influence in the deal in 1998. Committee investigators wanted to find out whether $1 million in fees that Haney paid to Peter Knight, a lobbyist and key Gore advisor and friend, were illegal contingency fees meant to help him secure the Portals lease. The committee referred the case to the Justice Department.

Reno briefly reviewed allegations that Knight had illegally helped Haney. She concluded in January 1999 that there was no “specific and credible information” to support the allegations.

A congressional aide said Bliley’s committee asked Reno for the document upon receiving a tip that it existed. Reno turned it over April 14, Bliley wrote.

Justice Department and FBI officials briefed the committee on the document a week ago. They did not reveal who gave the document to law enforcement officials, Bliley wrote.

Bliley’s anger is focused on the fact that the document was not turned over to the committee during its 1998 investigation. In his letter, Bliley asked Reno to review committee subpoenas to determine whether the document should have been turned over earlier.

Because the document is so brief and offers few clues to help trace its origins, it was virtually impossible Thursday afternoon to independently verify its authenticity or contents.

The first paragraph appears to be a script suggesting how Gore might approach a key federal official, Roger Johnson, who from 1993 to 1996 headed the General Services Administration, on the real estate deal. It reads, in part: “It is time to end the posturing and get the details worked out. I have asked xxx to call you and discuss the issue in more detail. I would appreciate it if you could work this out within the next few weeks.”

The second paragraph alleges that Gore “has called or is ready to call” Johnson. A prominent Orange County businessman in 1992, Johnson broke with the Republican Party to support Bill Clinton for president.

The third paragraph of the memo says that two other federal officials “need strokes too.”