Nominee Denies Leaking Files for Anita Hill Book

Judge Terry L. Wooten, a former Senate staffer who has been nominated to become a U.S. district judge, denied under oath Monday that he had leaked confidential FBI files nearly a decade ago for a book that would discredit Anita Faye Hill, the woman who accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

“That allegation is absolutely, 100% untrue,” Wooten told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I don’t even remember seeing those files. I would not discuss that material with anyone” outside the committee, he said.

Wooten is a federal magistrate in Florence, S.C. At the recommendation of Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), President Bush nominated Wooten to be a U.S. district judge there.

But late last week, author David Brock said Wooten gave him the FBI files that he quoted in his 1993 book, “The Real Anita Hill.”

In 1991, Wooten was the chief Republican counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he played a key role in the battle over Thomas’ nomination to the Supreme Court.

After Thomas was narrowly confirmed, conservatives were angry about Hill’s accusations and were anxious to discredit her and Angela Wright, who also accused Thomas of making lewd and uncouth comments to her.

Brock said he was commissioned to write a book that would disparage both women.

“During the course of my research, I met with Mr. Terry Wooten in a Capitol Hill office,” Brock said in a sworn statement sent to Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). “Mr. Wooten handed me copies of several pages of Ms. Wright’s raw FBI file.”

Leahy, the committee’s chairman, asked Wooten whether he had spoken with Brock.

The judge replied that he had agreed to meet with him to discuss the book. “It was a very brief conversation,” Wooten said. “I can’t remember the details of the conversation.”

When Leahy pressed him again on whether he had disclosed any confidential information, Wooten replied, “Absolutely not.”

The dispute is unlikely to derail Wooten’s confirmation, the senators said afterward, although they may ask the judge to answer further questions in writing.

Leahy had scheduled the confirmation hearings for Wooten and another former committee staff member, Sharon Prost, during the August recess because their confirmations were seen as a near certainty.

Prost, a longtime aide to Hatch, is scheduled to become a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which handles appeals in patent cases.

Brock sent his statement to the committee late Friday, but the senators and their staffs said they did not see it until Monday.

As a result, they did not have time to consider whether it deserves further inquiry.

“Sen. Leahy will consult with Sen. Hatch when Congress returns next week to decide on how to proceed,” said David Carle, a spokesman for Leahy.

The liberal Alliance for Justice said the committee should postpone action on Wooten’s nomination.

The judge has “been accused of a serious ethical impropriety. . . . The committee’s bipartisan investigative staff must fully look into these charges before deciding whether to confirm Judge Wooten,” the group said.