Reno Survives House Committee Grilling

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 16) -- Despite the sharp grilling she received while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee on the Justice Department's campaign finance investigation, Attorney General Janet Reno said today she welcomed the opportunity "to show the Judiciary Committee what the general framework that we're trying to accomplish is."

At her weekly news conference, Reno said public hearings pose a dilemma to prosecutors because of the inability to discuss ongoing investigations. "It is frustrating because I want to be as open as I can, I want to be able to explain to people what we're doing, so that they can understand we're not dragging our feet and that we're really moving ahead," she said.

Whether members of the House panel were listening or not, Reno said it was important for her to reiterate that the Justice Department cannot prosecute "pure, unmitigated rumor."

"You have got to make sure that you do not use the power and the authority of the federal government to pursue rumor and innuendo," Reno insisted.

Asked how she felt about the personal attacks made by many Republicans, Reno said, "Name-calling may be a fact of life in politics. It's something that I try not to engage in."

She said that it was important for all involved to remember that important issues were at stake in the discussions. "It was interesting to sit there [Wednesday] and think that, at the heart of this hearing, was the whole democratic process -- how we finance an elected government, how we conduct investigations that protect the innocent, protect the innocent from abuses, while at the same time pursuing the guilty in an appropriate and fair way," Reno said.

Reno clarified one statement she made to the House committee on Wednesday. She told representatives then that no area of inquiry would be closed off without an agreement between herself and FBI Director Louis Freeh. (288K wav sound)

Today, the attorney general said she has given Freeh say over the investigative side of the inquiry and that in recent weeks a decision was made that both she and Freeh would attend weekly meetings with the investigating task force. Both changes were made, Reno said, "to try to make sure that we explore all the opportunities, all the appropriate alternatives under the law, that we have a full and frank discussion, and that we make sure that appropriate leads are followed."

But "the legal decisions are mine," she said, citing as examples, the decision on whether to trigger the independent counsel law or whether charges will be filed.

Reno's team is reviewing all of the video and audiotapes of fund-raising events attended by Clinton released by the White House. Reno has no plans to review any individual tapes herself unless they become part of the process of making a legal decision. (256K wav sound)

When asked if her department has made arrangements to question President Bill Clinton, Reno declined to comment. She did say she feels very comfortable with her ability to speak to the president on any "substantive" issue that requires his attention. (352K wav sound)

In regard to a videotape recently released in which former President Ronald Reagan speaking to contributors at the White House, Reno said, "Regardless of what happened there, the statute of limitations has run."

In Other News:

Thursday Oct. 16, 1997

• Democratic Contributors Got Hefty Government Contracts
• Clinton Spares Congress' Money
• Reno Survives House Committee Grilling

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• Gore Praises Hollywood For Imagination, Ethics
• DNC Pitches In In N.J.
• Herman: N.Y. Garment Shops Violate Labor Laws
• More Trade Tensions With Japan

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• The Money Trail: The White House Tapes