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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Daniel Schuh who wrote (5905)	9/28/1998 10:08:00 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 67261

Actions have consequences except when one destroys documents. Commerce offers settlement to watchdog group By Ted Barrett/CNN WASHINGTON (September 25) -- U.S. Commerce Department lawyers asked a federal judge Friday to grant "an unprecedented judgment" against their own department for failing to "adequately and reasonably" fulfill a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Clinton Administration adversary Larry Klayman and his watchdog organization Judicial Watch. The motion, if granted, would cost taxpayers more than $2 million, the cost of Judicial Watch's legal fees, according to Klayman. Commerce Department officials, who asked not to be identified, said the cost to taxpayers could be justified because of the "incredible resource strain" and "huge costs" the department has faced after four years of litigation with Judicial Watch. The dispute centers around Commerce Department documents related to trade missions it sponsored to Russia, China, India, South Africa and other nations. Judicial Watch alleges the missions were used as a tool by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in concert with Commerce and the White House, to raise money for the 1996 election cycle. Judicial Watch alleges corporations and business leaders were given access to the missions in return for large donations to the Democrats. The White House, DNC and Commerce Department deny the link. The matter is also being reviewed by the Justice Department's Office of Public Integrity as part of its investigation into alleged campaign finance abuses by Democrats. Lawyers for Commerce have not been able to account for some 2,000 documents, out of 28,000, asked for by Judicial Watch. Klayman says those documents were willfully destroyed because they support the sworn testimony of Yolanda Hill, a former Commerce employee and business partner of the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, that the trade missions supported Democratic donors. As part of the settlement, which Judicial Watch opposes, Commerce would agree to redo the search. But Klayman said the offer is a delaying tactic designed to put the results of a new search off until after November's election. A Commerce Department official said the cost and effort of a new search was worth the Department's time and money if they could get out from under the onslaught of depositions and motions filed against them by Judicial Watch. Commerce Department lawyers also asked Judge Royce C. Lamberth to deny a Judicial Watch motion to begin contempt-of-court charges against former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta; current Deputy Chief of Staff John Podesta; and four Commerce officials who Klayman alleges have obstructed justice, as it relates to the missing documents, or lied under oath during Judicial Watch's investigation. Lamberth, who did not rule on either motion Friday, asked Judicial Watch to file separate motions on each of the officials, spelling out for the court exactly what Judicial Watch believes they did wrong. Those motions will be filed Monday. Marina Braswell, an attorney representing Commerce, asked Lamberth to turn obstruction and perjury charges over to the Justice Department's Public Integrity division as part of its campaign finance investigation. Klayman told the judge the Integrity division is a "black hole" when it comes to campaign finance. Judicial Watch, a conservative group, is investigating several charges against the Clinton Administration, including the so-called Filegate and Travelgate scandals. cnn.com