Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Senators seek Walsh hearings Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 17:35:41 EST Message-ID: \SE A \HD Senators seek Walsh hearings \BY Michael Hedges \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Republican senators yesterday pushed for Judiciary Committee hearings to determine whether the Oct. 30 indictment of Caspar Weinberger involved "political, unethical or illegal activities" by Iran-Contra prosecutor Lawrence Walsh. And Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole and Sen. Strom Thurmond, ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, sent Attorney General William P. Barr a list of specific criminal statutes to consider in deciding whether to investigate Mr. Walsh's activities. The GOP senators have called for a Justice Department investigation of whether the indictment of the former defense secretary - announced four days before the election - was intended to stem President Bush's comeback and if it was leaked a day early to the Clinton-Gore campaign. "The timing of the indictment and the date of the Clinton/Gore press release raise serious questions as to whether improper political considerations are a factor" in Mr. Walsh's probe, Mr. Dole wrote in requesting Senate hearings. A Clinton-Gore news release about the Oct. 30 indictment was dated Oct. 29, which Clinton aides said was a clerical error. "The recent hiring of Mr. James Brosnahan, an individual widely known to have strong ties to the Democratic Party and politics to handle the Weinberger indictment would seem to further undermine the impartiality of the office and the legitimacy of its actions," wrote Mr. Dole, Kansas Republican. Senate Republicans previously requested a Justice Department probe of the activities of Mr. Walsh and his staff in the six-year, $35 million investigation. The letter to Mr. Barr asked for a review of the following laws to determine if Mr. Walsh violated them: * 18 U.S. Code 595, which concerns government employees using their offices to "interfere with or affect the election of any candidate for president." The letter said that if political considerations went into the decision to release an indictment four days before an election, this law was violated. * 18 U.S. Code 241, which covers conspiracies to deprive a person of constitutional rights. * Rule 6(e), which prohibits leaking grand jury testimony or decisions before they are incorporated into an indictment. "Press reports indicate that the Clinton/Gore presidential campaign released a press release dated October 29 which commented in detail on the indictment which was handed up one day later," the letter said. A Justice Department official said yesterday a response will be made to the request for a probe of Mr. Walsh by early December, as required by law. The official said two factors will determine if a preliminary investigation will be ordered under Justice Department guidelines: whether there are specific allegations to investigate, and whether the source of the request is "credible." The official said the GOP senators' letter apparently "was to buttress the point about specific allegations." Mary Belcher, a spokeswoman for Mr. Walsh, said, "Allegations that the reindictment of Caspar Weinberger was politically linked are false." She declined further comment, saying the office had pending investigations. It was not clear yesterday how Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., Delaware Democrat and Judiciary Committee chairman, would respond to the request for hearings. A committee official said yesterday afternoon, "Senator Biden is expected to respond by letter to Senator Dole either later today or Monday, but we will not release the contents of that letter." Four days before the election, an indictment sought by Mr. Brosnahan to supersede an earlier charge against Mr. Weinberger was returned. The new indictment disclosed a note written by Mr. Weinberger that seems to put President Bush at a 1986 meeting where Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages plans were discussed. President-elect Bill Clinton seized on the indictment to attack Mr. Bush. A news release issued within three hours of the filing of the indictment was headlined, "New Iran-Contra Evidence Released By Prosecutor Shows Bush Flatly Lied About His Role In Arms-For-Hostages." But that news release carried the date Oct. 29, the day before the charges were announced. Clinton communications director George Stephanopoulos called that a mistake and said the campaign's statement was generated after the first wire service reports of the Weinberger indictment. Mr. Stephanopoulos invited reporters to look at Clinton-Gore computers to determine when the release was written. But a reporter from The Washington Times who accepted the offer found the timing could not be ascertained. The new Weinberger indictment and the response by Clinton-Gore workers blunted an effort by Mr. Bush to close the gap with Mr. Clinton in the final days of the campaign, say GOP officials, including Vice President Dan Quayle. Critics of the independent counsel questioned why Mr. Walsh recently added Mr. Brosnahan, a longtime liberal activist and Democrat, to an investigation at a critical point six years after the probe started. Mr. Walsh has said the fact that Mr. Brosnahan contributed to the Clinton campaign and heads a law firm whose members donated more than $20,000 to the Clinton-Gore ticket has no bearing on his ability to prosecute Mr. Weinberger. The special prosecutor law expires Dec. 15. Under the law first passed in the 1970s, Congress must reaffirm the act every five years. Congressional Democrats have said they will seek to reinstate the law early next year. Some Republicans have said they will oppose it. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM