Coverup of Chinagate at the Justice Department
Washington Weekly
Marvin Lee
Over the past several months, Attorney General Janet Reno has repeatedly told Congress that she is following the advice of "my people" in refusing to appoint an independent counsel to probe the Chinese penetration of the White House. Well, leaks from the Justice Department have made clear that this is a lie. "Her people," the two highest authorities on the matter, FBI Director Freeh and outgoing Campaign Task Force head Charles LaBella, have both counseled her in writing to seek the appointment of an independent counsel. The lead FBI agent on the case, James Desarno, is reported to be of the same opinion.
So unless Janet Reno means that she is following the advice of the White House and "my people" refers to Bruce Lindsey and Charles Ruff, she could very well be guilty of lying to Congress, which includes not telling the whole truth.
The cover-up at the hands of Janet Reno has reached farcical proportions. The CIA, FBI, and NSA have collected evidence of at least five agents of Communist China involved in funneling money to the Democratic Party and attempting to influence White House policy. Yet the response from the Justice Department is to charge some of the Chinese agents with tax evasion and violation of FEC reporting rules. This is the legal equivalent of charging Timothy McVeigh with speeding as he fled the scene of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The purpose is clear. It is to avoid including in the criminal investigations those in the White House and in the DNC who solicited the illegal bribes.
Congress is now stepping up the pressure on Janet Reno to let her feel the heat for her obvious obstruction of justice on behalf of her "client," Bill Clinton. Senator Arlen Specter is preparing a writ of mandamus to force, through the courts, Janet Reno to follow the law.
And Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee has announced hearings on the issue this week. "It is clear that it is only Ms. Reno's political appointees who are standing in the way of the appointment of the independent counsel," Burton says. Those political appointees include Robert Litt, a former partner of Clinton private attorney David Kendall.
Burton has invited Freeh, Reno, LaBella and Desarno for the Thursday, July 30 hearing, and will subpoena both Director Freeh and Mr. LaBella's memos regarding the need for an independent counsel.
"It is obvious that Ms. Reno cannot investigate her own bosses. That is why we have an independent counsel law in the first place," Burton says.
Published in the July 27, 1998 issue of The Washington Weekly Copyright 1998 The Washington Weekly (http://www.federal.com) Reposting permitted with this message intact
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