Word: freeh
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...That's hardly conclusive evidence, but it may be enough to tip the balance in the DOJ's bitter civil war over whether to call for a campaign-finance independent counsel. Repeated calls for a probe from Louis Freeh and prosecutor Charles La Bella have so far gone unheeded by Janet Reno; according to a report in Thursday's New York Times, however, the A-G is beginning to swing. Reno has until the end of August to order a 90-day preliminary inquiry into the allegations against Gore. That's just enough time to give Al a nice "welcome...
WASHINGTON: The bullying of the attorney general continues. GOP hammer Dan Burton wants Janet Reno to appoint an independent counsel to tackle Clinton/Gore campaign finance allegations. Failing that, he's asked that the administration turn over two memos to Reno (one by FBI chief Louis Freeh and one by prosecutor Charles LaBella, both of whom agree with Burton). But Reno, says TIME Justice Department correspondent Elaine Shannon, isn't about to do either -- even if Burton's committee votes Thursday to hold her in contempt...
...last week, saying she did not yet see evidence that the President or the Vice President had broken any laws. Republicans immediately condemned Reno as a White House stooge, but the real damage to the Attorney General was internal. Her decision exposed a private fight with FBI Director Louis Freeh, who believes Reno has an inherent conflict of interest when it comes to probing her boss. And it may have emboldened some Justice officials into broadening the investigation to explore a simple but far-reaching premise: that the Democrats engaged in a widespread conspiracy to evade the nation's weak...
This division of labor has bred a lot of resentment. Reno has created two competing teams of prosecutors. Add to that FBI agents who, like Freeh, believe that an independent counsel is the wisest course, and the result is a squabbling muddle. Lines of responsibility are blurred. LaBella has tried to maintain a "detente" with Radek, but as a Justice Department official puts it, "it's not warm and fuzzy between them." The disputes are left for Reno to settle, which she does, but only after free-for-all senior staff meetings...
...side was Radek, who advised against an outside counsel. On the other was LaBella, who said Radek's legal reasoning amounted to "pablum." Last Tuesday, before her announcement, Reno tried some shuttle diplomacy. She took a hard-to-miss walk across Pennsylvania Avenue to FBI headquarters, both to consult Freeh and to be seen consulting him. And Reno was careful to say a few hours later that the investigation proceeds. Just where it will lead has a lot to do with whether Labella pushes Radek aside--and whether Reno lets...