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Subject: Justice Dept. Opens Preliminary Criminal Inquiry Into Passport File Search<By
Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:44:02 EST
Message-ID: <33.1992Nov26.104402@AmeriCast.com>
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Justice Dept. Opens Preliminary Criminal Inquiry Into Passport
File Search<By Walter Pincus=Washington Post Staff Writer=

The Justice Department has opened a preliminary criminal investi-
gation into the preelection search by State Department officials
of President-elect Clinton's passport files, according to a
department official.

The inquiry, which was first reported by CBS News late yesterday,
is being conducted by the department's Office of Public Integrity
and will center on whether provisions of the Privacy Act were
violated. Under that law, the State Department is prohibited from
disclosing information from passport records and other consular
files without the prior written consent of the individual in-
volved.

Justice Department personnel were not available for comment last
night.

A State Department official said last night: "We are aware of the
Justice Department investigation and are cooperating."

Sherman M. Funk, the State Department's inspector general,
released the results last week of his own month-long investiga-
tion into the search of Clinton's passport file and the
department's consular records. Funk concluded that the two-day
search, on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, had been directed by Steven K.
Berry, then-acting assistant secretary of state for congressional
affairs, and Elizabeth M. Tamposi, then-assistant secretary of
state for consular affairs.

Funk said in his report the two political appointees had under-
taken the searches to gather information that could be helpful
for the reelection of President Bush. He also disclosed that
White House Chief of Staff James A. Baker III and at least one
top aide, Janet Mullins, were kept aware of the effort, though
there was no evidence uncovered that they "orchestrated" the
searches.

Funk, after consultation with acting Secretary of State Lawrence
S. Eagleburger, has continued his investigation into the matter,
a State Department spokesman said yesterday.

Tamposi was dismissed from the State Department on Nov. 10, and
Berry was removed from his job last week but has been permitted
to remain employed at the State Department until the Jan. 20
change of administration.

At the time the inspector general's report was released,
Eagleburger announced that Funk had not found that any criminal
law had been violated. But Funk's report, which has drawn criti-
cism from Democrats on Capitol Hill for not being thorough, did
suggest a number of areas where possible Privacy Act violations
could have occurred.

For example, the report said that Tamposi had Clinton's four
passport applications delivered to her Virginia townhouse late on
the evening of Sept. 30. After reviewing them, Tamposi, according
to the report, called Berry and one of her assistants, Michael
Brennan.

Berry said Tamposi offered to describe the contents of the docu-
ments to him, a statement Tamposi denied making. Their conversa-
tion is believed to be one of four between the two that was moni-
tored by the Operations Center of the State Department. Describ-
ing the contents of a passport application to someone who has no
governmental need for that information could be a violation of
the Privacy Act.

On Oct. 1, a Tamposi assistant and longtime career State Depart-
ment employee, Carmen A. DiPlacido, took the Clinton file home
with him for safekeeping but without Tamposi's knowledge, accord-
ing to the report. DiPlacido maintained, according to the inspec-
tor general's report, that only his wife and daughter were home
that night. DiPlacido was recommended for disciplinary action for
his part in the affair.

Sometime between Oct. 1 and the afternoon of Oct. 2, Tamposi had
an aide copy the Clinton file before she turned the originals
over to the FBI, according to Funk's report. Sometime during the
week of Oct. 11, Tamposi shredded the copies, the report said.

Funk, questioned last week, said his investigators did not learn
why Tamposi had copied the Clinton documents but said she insist-
ed she had not shown them to anyone.

Tamposi has been unavailable for comment.<02:25 11-26C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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