Oh, thanks, Give Gore $1M and the DEA goes away.
Reno sets investigation of aborted drug probe
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Attorney General Janet Reno yesterday ordered an investigation into accusations by five Houston police detectives who said they were pulled off a yearlong undercover drug probe after a key suspect in the case met with Vice President Al Gore. Top Stories
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Miss Reno ordered the probe amid accusations of "political interference" by the Houston detectives, members of a joint Drug Enforcement Administration/ Houston Police Department task force. The case was shut down two days after the probe's key target, Houston rapper James Prince, met with Mr. Gore at a Houston church.
She also ordered that DEA agents in Houston be removed from the case and replaced by "a new team of experienced special agents" from other offices — assisted by FBI agents, who also will be assigned to the investigation. She said the new team would be in place in a week.
"The Department of Justice and the DEA administrator find the DEA reports regarding the status of the Houston investigation disturbing," Assistant Attorney General Robert Raben said in a letter last night to the House Government Reform Committee, which had sought information on the accusations.
"Further, we take very seriously any allegation that an investigation has been politicized. For these and other reasons, the attorney general and the DEA administrator have asked the Office of Inspector General to investigate these matters," he said.
On Monday, the Houston detectives told House investigators that DEA Agent Ernest Howard, head of the agency's Houston office, said the probe had been shut down despite more than 20 arrests — with others pending. They said they were told not to conduct further inquiries or pursue new leads involving Mr. Prince, head of a music recording firm known as Rap-A-Lot.
One Houston detective told investigators, "It was a slap in the face to me . . .. The rug was pulled out from under us." The probe, dubbed "Rap-A-Lot," had netted several of Mr. Prince's employees.
House investigators want to know if there is a connection between a March 12 campaign visit by Mr. Gore with Mr. Prince at a Houston church to which Mr. Prince had donated $1 million and a decision two days later to end the probe. They also are looking into accusations that Mr. Prince offered $1 million to the Gore campaign prior to the vice president's visit.(cont)
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