April 19, 2002, 9:27PM
Government won't bow out of prosecuting Enron case
By MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department has refused a congressional Democrat's request for an outside prosecutor to take over its Enron Corp. investigation, denying charges of conflict of interest.
"We believe that the Justice Department has a duty to discharge its public trust to investigate allegations of criminal wrongdoing in this matter," wrote Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant to Rep. John Conyers of Michigan in a letter dated Thursday.
Conyers, senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, had requested a special prosecutor in the case, and called for Justice officials to withdraw from the investigation.
He has also requested a special counsel to focus on reports that Army Secretary Thomas White, a former Enron executive, was being investigated by the FBI. The FBI inquiry into whether White used insider information when selling Enron stock created a conflict of interest for the Justice Department, Conyers said.
The refusal to appoint an outside prosecutor was "a dramatic departure from the norms of ethical behavior," Conyers said in a statement Friday.
"The department has failed to point to a single post-Watergate incident where an administration investigated one of its own high-ranking officials where there was substantial and credible allegation of wrongdoing, as is clearly the case with respect to Secretary White," Conyers said.
The Justice Department has not commented on reports that White is under investigation, and did not address that issue in its letter to Conyers.
The Bryant letter said campaign contributions from Enron to President Bush and others now in the administration "simply do not create a conflict of interest for the Justice Department in pursuing this investigation."
Enron made sizable campaign contributions to many Republicans and Democrats during recent election cycles. Conyers did not receive any Enron contributions, a spokeswoman said.
Congressional Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have also dismissed Conyers' call for an outside prosecutor for Enron.
The independent counsel law, under which President Clinton, his wife, Hillary Clinton, and several members of his Cabinet were investigated, has lapsed. There has been no effort by members of Congress to renew that law, which allowed an outside prosecutor to be appointed by a panel of three federal judges.
Attorney General John Ashcroft could appoint a special counsel to conduct an investigation he felt could not be handled by federal prosecutors because of a conflict of interest.
Ashcroft and several other Justice Department officials have already bowed out of involvement in the Enron investigation because of ties to the company. Ashcroft accepted donations from Enron during a failed Senate re-election bid in 2000.
Conyers has called for Ashcroft's top deputy, Larry Thompson, to also bow out of Enron-related matters. Thompson was a partner in a law firm that once did work for Enron.
The Justice Department letter said "ethics experts" had determined Thompson did not have a conflict of interest, and that he could properly remain in charge of the investigation.
White is under FBI scrutiny for a series of phone calls to Enron employees last fall as he was in the process of selling $12.1 million in company stock.
Using secret company information to gain an advantage when deciding when to sell stock could constitute illegal insider trading, experts said. But White has emphatically denied the calls were to talk about Enron. He said he was just calling longtime friends to talk about post-Sept. 11 events and other matters. |
