Reno Defends Her Refusal to Appoint Counsel on Gore

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno clashed with Senate Republicans on Tuesday as she defended her rejections of an outside counsel to investigate whether Vice President Al Gore had knowledge of 1996 Democratic fund-raising abuses.

Her mood ranging from jovial to acerbic, Reno told a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee that she had consulted “a variety of persons” in the Justice Department over the last three years before turning down recommendations for an independent inquiry from FBI Director Louis J. Freeh; from Charles G. LaBella, the former chief of her campaign finance task force; and from Robert Litt, a former top advisor to Reno.

As for the latest proposal for an outside counsel from Robert J. Conrad Jr., the current task force chief, Reno said she has not yet decided.

But when Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) suggested that there is evidence that should have led to an outside investigation years ago, Reno told him acidly:

“You can tell me I’m wrong, but I’ll have greater confidence in your telling me I’m wrong when you have all the facts.”

Earlier, in a more relaxed, even jovial mood, Reno said that she has enjoyed the often tense back-and-forth sessions in the past with GOP members of Congress pressing her to seek independent counsels to investigate President Clinton and Gore because of allegations of campaign fund-raising abuses.

“I appreciate congressional oversight,” she said, smiling. “It sharpens our decision-making at the department.”

Specter, conceding that the approaching election may make it too late for another investigation, said that there was ample evidence at least two years ago for an independent inquiry of Gore’s activities. It would have focused on the vice president’s fund-raising phone calls, which Specter said may have violated election law limits, and Gore’s appearance at a Buddhist temple fund-raiser in Southern California that resulted in illegal foreign contributions, the senator said.

Reno said a preliminary inquiry produced no evidence Gore “knew or understood” that his efforts were raising a small percentage of “hard money” rather than unlimited “soft money” for Democrats. She would not discuss the Buddhist temple visit in April 1996, she said, because that was the subject of Gore’s interview with Conrad last April, which is still under investigation.

“If circumstances justify the appointment of a special counsel, I’ll be the first one to make it,” she testified.

Gore last week released the 123-page transcript of his questioning by Conrad to try to limit damage to his political campaign. The vice president told reporters: “I have told the truth. I have cooperated fully.”

According to the transcript, Gore said that he “sure as hell” was never told that campaign donations were expected from his visit to the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif. Asked if he knew foreign money was involved, he replied: “Of course not, of course not.”

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), the committee chairman, told Reno Tuesday that, because of her failure to seek an outside counsel, “public confidence in our institutions and system of justice has been severely undermined.”

But Reno insisted that “I base my decisions on the facts and the law” and not pressure from Congress, the media or other sources.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) told her: “We’re not concerned whether you’re independent but whether you’re too independent of the advice given you by your top professionals.”

Reno replied: “I try to reach out to a variety of people--those who say yes and those who say no.”

Committee Democrats rushed to defend her.

“Did the vice president ever pressure you in any way, in any matter?” asked Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.).

“No, sir,” Reno said firmly.

“What about members of this committee?” Leahy asked with a smile.

“I always try to listen and learn,” the attorney general responded.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told Reno: “No one has been more resistant to pressure or is more independent than you. The decision [on an outside counsel] is not in the hands of the FBI director or the head of the campaign task force, but in your hands.”