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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Shawn Donahue who wrote (414)	8/4/1998 3:31:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 13994

Clinton and cronies send a message - those who stray from the coverup will be punished: Today's NYT Lead Editorial August 4, 1998 The Prosecutor Who Spoke Up Democrats have added a new tactic to the campaign to protect President Clinton from an independent investigation of White House fund-raising during 1996. That tactic is to punish the truth-tellers. The victim in this tale of political revenge is Charles La Bella, who was billed as an indispensable star when Attorney General Janet Reno brought him in to direct the Justice Department's campaign finance task force. Then in April, Ms. Reno's spokesman circulated word that Mr. La Bella had done such a stellar job in getting the campaign investigation on track that he would be returning to California as interim United States Attorney for San Diego. He dreamed of permanent appointment. As he prepared to leave last month, Mr. La Bella made a costly mistake, which is to say that he performed his duty to the taxpayers. As the person in Justice with deepest knowledge of the case, Mr. La Bella said in a written report that Ms. Reno had no choice, as a matter of law, but to appoint an independent counsel. Only 15 days after Mr. La Bella's burst of candor came the news that his interim appointment would not be made permanent, even though he had the support of Louis Freeh, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Senator Barbara Boxer has recommended that another Federal prosecutor, Gregory Vega, receive the appointment. The San Diego Union-Tribune played this as a political story of the elective kind. Mr. Vega is president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, and his appointment was described as an effort to shore up Senator Boxer with Hispanic voters in southern California. We see it as a different kind of political story that will send a chilling message to assistant United States attorneys throughout the country. Democratic fund-raising is a no-go area for Federal law enforcement, and if you push too hard, the President's Congressional allies will make you pay. This page was critical of Mr. La Bella's initial decision to leave the campaign task force, but his final report did a great service by publicizing the degree to which the Government's top law enforcement officials view Ms. Reno as failing in her legal duty. For the record, Senator Boxer says politics did not enter into her appointment and that she did not coordinate her action with the White House. We are urged to believe that this is a matter of coincidence and merit. For our part, we say with Senator Fred Thompson that this is not our first rodeo. We understand how the game is played in Washington, and we also understand how the Democrats feel about people who want to look closely at their 1996 money machine. So does Mr. La Bella, now. nytimes.com