Trial Lawyer Money, Gore Link Probed

A trial lawyer at the center of a dispute with Texas over tobacco litigation has given hundreds of thousands of dollars from his law firm to the Democratic Party over the last four years since Vice President Al Gore was asked to call him to seek a six-figure check.

A Gore aide said Wednesday that the vice president never made the phone call to Texas trial lawyer Walter Umphrey.

Gore was asked to make the call in 1995 by a Democratic National Committee official after having had dinner in Texas with trial lawyers--at a time when they were concerned about Republican legislation that would have put limits on lawsuit awards.

Democratic call sheets that recently have been scrutinized by Justice Department investigators suggest Gore and former Democratic Party Chairman Don Fowler were asked to solicit Umphrey for contributions beginning in late 1995. The interest of the Justice Department fund-raising task force in the call sheets was described by a federal law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The task force is headed by Robert Conrad, who previously called for a special counsel to investigate Gore in the fund-raising scandal.

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno rejected the recommendation.

Umphrey and his law firm have donated $790,000 to the Democratic Party since 1995.

The call sheet to Fowler suggests the trial lawyer was waiting until after President Clinton followed through with a veto of tort reform litigation before sending money to the Democratic Party.