Time: Sat Dec 06 10:00:16 1997 To: From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: House Panel Demands Freeh Memo (fwd) Cc: Bcc: sls References: <snip> > >>From the Associated Press: > >December 6, 1997 > >House Panel Demands Freeh Memo > >Filed at 9:21 a.m. EST > >By The Associated Press > >WASHINGTON (AP) -- House investigators want to know what was in >the memo that FBI Director Louis Freeh wrote urging Attorney General >Janet Reno to name an independent prosecutor to investigate President >Clinton's fund-raising activities. > >The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee subpoenaed >the document Friday from the Justice Department after both Freeh and >Reno declined to turn over the memo to the panel, saying it would >compromise their ongoing criminal probe. > >``The public has a right to know why the director of the FBI is concerned >about the progress of the investigation,'' committee Chairman Dan Burton, >R-Ind., said in a letter Friday to Reno. ``Concerns about >overcompartmentalization and micromanagement and delay have been >reported by the media. The American people deserve to know the truth >about the investigation.'' > >Justice Department spokesman Bert Brandenburg said Friday evening he >had not seen the subpoena yet, but he reiterated the attorney general's >position on the memo. > >``There has been a bipartisan consensus for half a century that Congress >should not tamper with open criminal investigations,'' he said. ``And the >reason prosecutors don't hand out open investigation files is they don't >want to hand road maps to criminals so that they can beat their raps.'' > >Brandenburg said Reno and Freeh ``agree 100 percent'' on that issue. > >The FBI director and Reno are scheduled to testify Tuesday before the >House panel about their disagreement over the independent counsel and >the status of their investigation. They are expected to face tough >questioning from Republicans, who have angrily denounced Reno's >decision. > >House aides said the committee also plans to subpoena independent >counsel Donald Smaltz to testify at the same hearing about recent >comments he made criticizing Reno's department for trying to thwart one >of his prosecutions. > >Smaltz was appointed by a court to investigate allegations of illegal >gratuities at the Agriculture Department during Clinton's first term and he >recently indicted former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. > >Espy's former chief of staff was convicted this week of lying to >investigators. > >After the conviction, Smaltz criticized the Justice Department for failing to >prosecute Espy's aide and then opposing his efforts to prosecute the case. >The department's ``opposition significantly delayed our investigation,'' >Smaltz said. > <snip>
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