11/03/00 12:05 p.m.
Dirty Tricks and Double Standards
But for Janet Reno, Gore might well be breaking rocks at some minimum-security federal penitentiary.

By Mark R. Levin, chief of staff to Attorney General Edwin Meese in the Reagan administration

hile serving as vice president, and after taking an oath twice to uphold the law of the land, Vice President Al Gore committed several federal offenses for which he has never been held to account.

For example, he participated in an illegal fundraiser at a Buddhist temple where money was laundered for the Democratic National Committee through several nuns who had taken vows of poverty. Despite documentary evidence to the contrary, Gore denies having any knowledge that the event was a fundraiser. Gore used his White House office to make phone calls to major donors for large contributions. When he was caught, his defense was that "there's no controlling legal authority" prohibiting this conduct. Gore participated in over 20 White House coffees where still more donors were hit up for big bucks. He said he didn't know the events were fundraisers. And, of course, Gore met with several top White House staffers, including Leon Panetta and Harold Ickes, where they hatched a scheme to raise more campaign cash. Gore said he didn't remember that because he must have been in the restroom, having consumed too much iced tea. It's illegal to turn the White House into Wal-Mart, where everything's for sale. Career prosecutors who looked at most of these offenses found Gore's responses unbelievable. And but for Janet Reno, Gore might well be breaking rocks at some minimum-security federal penitentiary.

Now, four days before the presidential election, we learn that 24 years ago George Bush was picked up for drinking and driving. He admitted guilt, paid a fine, and moved on with his life. He hasn't had a drink since 1986 and became a successful businessman and a popular two-term governor of Texas. We're supposed to ignore all of Gore's offenses while he was serving as vice president, but condemn Bush for a single event nearly a quarter century ago.

Furthermore, when confronted with this news last night, Bush called a press conference, confirmed the accuracy of the story, explained his actions, took questions, and demonstrated that he is a man of integrity and courage. Unlike Clinton and Gore, there were no lies, no recriminations, and no evasions of responsibility. He was cool under fire, an important characteristic for a leader.

For weeks the Gore campaign has been shooting personal spitballs at Bush. Gore, Bill Clinton, and their surrogates publicly questioned his intelligence, experience, and fitness for high office. They've used the race card in hopes of creating hysteria in the black community, which has been apathetic toward the Gore candidacy. They've used the Social Security card to frighten to grandparents and gin up votes in Florida and Pennsylvania. And they've falsely alleged that Bush did not attend required drills in 1972 and 1973 when he served in the National Guard.

We learned today that it was a Democrat operative — former Maine gubernatorial candidate Thomas Connolly — who retrieved Bush's court records and distributed them to a local TV reporter, and perhaps others. Interestingly, the reporter never mentioned that her source was a top state Democrat. Why? Moreover, Connolly has now admitted to the Associated Press that he was tipped off about the case by a "public official," whose name he refuses to reveal. Why won't he reveal the name?

This is nothing more than a dirty trick. And let us hope that the media will pursue this dirty trick back to its origin with the same vigor and lust with which it pursued Watergate.