Didn't that old yo-yo guy tell us Cisneros was clean?
Cisneros pleads guilty to single misdemeanor count
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of lying to the FBI about payments to an ex-mistress, reaching agreement in the four-year, $9 million-plus investigation just as his trial on 18 felony counts was to begin.
The former Clinton Cabinet member, once considered a rising Democratic Party star, must pay a $10,000 fine but will face no jail time or probation under the agreement. He had been charged by an independent counsel with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI.
He is the highest-ranking Clinton administration official to be convicted of a crime.
Cisneros admitted in court that he falsely told the FBI, while under consideration for a Cabinet post, that he had never paid his ex-mistress more than $2,500 monthly. He gave Linda Jones more than $250,000 between 1989 and 1994, prosecutors said.
''I accept responsibility for the conduct as outlined,'' Cisneros told U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin. Cisneros' lawyer was at his side. His wife, Mary Alice, was not in the courtroom.
Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor who is now president of the Spanish-language television network Univision in Los Angeles, left the courthouse without talking to reporters. But in a prepared statement, he said: ''I regret my lack of candor. ... I hope that all who follow me in public service learn the lesson that truth and candor are important in the process of selecting our leaders.''
In accepting the plea agreement, the judge said: ''I know there will be some second-guessing about this plea. There will be some who will say that the sanction is not tough enough and others who will say here is more evidence of the Independent Counsel Act as not serving the public interest.''
Sporkin's own bottom line: ''We cannot permit an individual to lie his way into high public office. ... The work of the independent counsel in this case reaffirms the importance of telling the truth.''
Independent Counsel David Barrett, whose investigation would appear to be winding to a close with Cisneros' plea, told reporters: ''We are just glad to have this over and done with.''
The independent counsel also had prosecuted Ms. Jones, whose earlier immunity deal was revoked after she was found to have lied to prosecutors. She was sentenced last year to 3 1/2 years in prison, pleading guilty to conspiracy, bank fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. In July, Barrett decided not to prosecute two Cisneros aides who were indicted with Cisneros and Ms. Jones in December 1997.
''This disposition should in no way be viewed as minimizing the serious ethical breach by Mr. Cisneros,'' Barrett said in a prepared statement on Tuesday's agreement. ''However, a just disposition of any prosecution must include an evaluation of the defendant's overall conduct. In this case, the conduct, while egregious, was committed by a person whose life has been otherwise dedicated to public service, and this fact must season the final decision.''
The charges against Cisneros had said that while he was being considered for a Cabinet post he conspired with Ms. Jones and his two aides to conceal the scope of his payments. He had pleaded innocent.
Prosecutors said Tuesday they were dismissing two remaining felony counts pending against Ms. Jones under the 1997 indictment.
Ms. Jones was to be the government's star witness. But she was a shaky witness at best during a pretrial appearance, with her credibility under constant attack from Cisneros' high-profile legal team. She had agreed to testify in a bid to gain a reduction in her prison sentence.
The independent counsel had won a victory during the 13-day hearings in July, with Sporkin agreeing to allow into evidence 26 tape recordings that she had secretly made of her conversations with Cisneros as their relationship soured.
The recordings, some of which the government acknowledges were edited, capture conversations in which she and Cisneros discussed their financial dealings. The tapes, most of which have yet to be heard publicly, also reflect Cisneros' characterizations of his discussions about the money with the Clinton transition team and the FBI agents conducting his Cabinet background check.
During that background check, Cisneros admitted giving Ms. Jones financial support after their affair burst into public view in 1988 while he was San Antonio's mayor.
Cisneros, who served as HUD secretary from 1993 through 1996, has said he offered financial support because he felt sorry for Ms. Jones after their affair became public. Tuesday, he said he understated the payments in part to protect Ms. Jones and his wife and also because he wasn't sure of how much he actually had paid her.
Prosecutor Larry Scalise told the court: ''I just want to affirm again that Mr. Cisneros is pleading guilty because he is guilty.''
Ms. Jones filed a breach-of-contract suit against Cisneros in Texas in 1994, charging he had reneged on his promise to support her.
A few months later, she took her claims to the tabloid TV show ''Inside Edition,'' where she accused Cisneros of lying to the FBI. Based on that accusation, Attorney General Janet Reno initiated a Justice Department inquiry and in 1995 requested the appointment of an independent counsel.
Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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