Word: mckay
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WASHINGTON--Attorney General Edwin Meese III probably broke two tax laws and violated a criminal conflict-of-interest statute, but won't be charged with a crime, Independent Counsel James McKay concluded in an 814-page report unveiled to the public yesterday...
...report which concluded his 14-month investigation, McKay wrote that "a trier of fact would probably conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Meese violated" a section of the Internal Revenue Code by filing "a materially false tax return." McKay added that Meese probably also violated a section of the Internal Revenue Code for "willfully failing to pay tax at the time required...
...McKay report is likely to claim that Meese violated various provisions of the federal Standards of Ethical Conduct for Government Officers and Employees, which all officials and staff members must abide by or face administrative action. Meese is likely to have violated the requirement that officials avoid any action that creates the appearance of "using public office for private gain" and "giving preferential treatment to any organization or person." McKay is also expected to refer this list of lapses to the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, which may then launch an investigation of its own. Some Justice officials...
...Attorney General's resignation was greeted with barely concealed glee by the Bush campaign. Although Bush himself had stoically refrained from publicly criticizing Meese, Bush advisers had warned Meese that the Vice President would have to go on record with an opinion once the McKay report was released. One Bush emissary had confidentially informed Meese that it was unlikely that his ethical conduct would satisfy the high ideals of the Bush presidential campaign. As it turned out, the resignation allowed Bush to confine his public remarks to a simple, noncommittal phrase: "Ed did the right thing, and I wish...
Meese decided to get out while the getting was good. As a past master of White House spin control, he knew he could soften the sting of McKay's report by characterizing it himself before anyone else knew what was in it. Moreover, Meese realized that his effectiveness at Justice was crippled. The department is operating with three of its four top officials having been there only a short while, and morale is such that U.S. attorneys joke that the nation's highest law officer is barely staying a step ahead of the sheriff...