Word: probe
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...special counsel" is assigned to probe those peanut loans
...bank to the Carter peanut warehouse in Plains, Ga. It was a hard argument to sustain. Not only was Bell a Democrat, of course, but he was an old friend of the Carters' and of Lance. Faced with increasing criticism, Bell last week finally decided to put the probe into other hands. His choice was highly qualified: Paul Jerome Curran, 45, who not only is a Republican but had been the U.S. Attorney in New York City...
Republicans in Congress, who had been complaining about the dawdling pace of the peanut probe all along, immediately protested Bell's action, saying that he had not gone far enough to free the special counsel from possible Justice Department interference. Republican Presidential Hopeful Robert Dole called the special counsel role "a perversion of the whole concept of an impartial investigation." Said Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, who is also expected to declare for the presidency: "It is not proper for the Administration to be dragged kicking and screaming into this investigation...
Curran will not be joining the main Justice Department investigation of possible violations of the banking laws by Lance. Now 18 months old, this probe reportedly is ready to produce indictments against the man that Carter made director of the Office of Management and Budget. However, Curran will be able to investigate Lance's role in the peanut loans...
Curran is confident about his new position and claims to be undaunted by the possibility that his probe could involve the President of the U.S. Says he: "I have the tools to do the job. I will talk to anybody and everybody I have to. I will pursue this investigation wherever the facts lead...