Why did Gore suspend staffer if there was no mole?
Gore Staffer Suspended After ‘Mole’ Boasts
ABCNEWS.com
W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 24 — Al Gore’s presidential campaign Saturday 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.
“I think you have to be concerned,” said Republican vice-presidential nominee Dick Cheney on ABCNEWS’ This Week when asked about the matter today. “There’s a little smoke there.”
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 B ush campaign to the Gore campaign.
When ABCNEWS 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 Saturday told ABCNEWS 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 Saturday 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.
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