still developing...
By Jackie Judd and Chris Vlasto
W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 23 — Al Gore’s
presidential campaign today suspended a staffer
after he boasted about knowing of a mole in the
rival Bush camp.
The suspension of 28-year-old Michael Doyne,
assistant to the Democratic candidate’s field director,
came after questions were raised about his response to
inquiries from ABC News.
A source said that in late August Doyne claimed there
was a mole in the Bush campaign who “knew where Bush
was going before Bush knew.”
Two weeks later, Doyne cautioned the source to be
“hush-hush” about the mole issue.
Existence of Mole Denied
Gore communications director Mark Fabiani denied the
existence of a mole, saying there is “no systematic
transmission of information” from the Bush campaign to
the Gore campaign.
When ABC News confronted Doyne on Friday, he
denied having made any claims of knowing about a mole
and he denied receiving any confidential information from
the Bush campaign.
Gore officials had even prepared a sworn statement to
that effect signed by Doyne. However, later the same day,
after being showed a document in which he advised the
source to be “hush-hush,” Doyne changed his story.
Doyne today told ABC News he “didn’t intentionally
lie.” He claims he did not remember the discussion or
writing the document “because it wasn’t significant.”
Review Underway
Doyne continued to deny any knowledge of a mole,
saying he “does not know of anything coming from the
Bush campaign.”
Fabiani said today Doyne has “been reprimanded and
placed on administrative leave so the campaign can review
his actions and explanations over the last two days.”
Later on, Fabiani said that the campaign had
completed an internal review and “found no evidence
whatsoever that the Gore campaign has received or used
confidential information from the Bush campaign.”
Responding to the news, Bush senior spokesman Ari
Fleischer said, “This is a very troubling development…this
suggests people inside the Gore campaign have more
knowledge than they previously indicated.” Fleischer
suggested that if it hadn’t been for the media, the Gore
campaign would have tried to keep the information under
wraps.
When asked what he meant by ‘more knowledge than
previously indicated,’ Fleischer said this information
suggests that “people inside the Gore campaign have
heard and are talking about a mole inside the Bush
campaign.”
ABCNEWS’ Beverley Lumpkin reported Friday that
FBI agents conducting a preliminary inquiry to determine
how Bush debate preparation materials ended up in the
hands of a Gore adviser now believe they know who sent
the material. Sources say their suspect is within the Bush
camp.
There is no indication, however, that the Doyne
suspension and the debate material investigation are
related. |
