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a confrontation reminiscent of earlier run-ins with the Clinton
Justice Department, Dan Burton, the Republican chairman of the House
Government Reform Committee, is demanding that the Bush Justice
Department allow him to see sensitive documents from the investigation
into the campaign-finance scandal of 1992/1996. For now at least,
the answer from the Justice Department is no.
Burton wants to see what is known as the "Conrad Memo," an extensive
analysis of the case written by Robert Conrad, the last head of
the Department's campaign-finance task force, outlining why a special
counsel should be appointed to investigate former vice president
Al Gore's fundraising activities. There are those on the committee
who think Conrad's memo contains new information — "We've been
led to believe it will blow your doors off," says one investigator
— but similar things were said in the past about the La Bella
Memo, a case study written by previous campaign-finance investigator
Charles La Bella, who also favored an outside counsel for the scandal.
When La Bella's memo became public, it contained no extraordinary
revelations.
Burton also wants to see internal Justice Department memos in which
prosecutors discussed their decision not to bring charges against
Mark Middleton and Ernest Green, two mid-level figures in the scandal.
But the Justice Department is not inclined to cooperate. "That stuff
is off limits," says one official at Justice. "We don't think Congress
should be second-guessing our line attorneys." In recent weeks,
Burton has met twice with Criminal Division chief Michael Chertoff,
who on each occasion has declined to allow Burton to see the documents.
The Department's position might be weakened by precedents set in
the Clinton years, when Burton and then-Attorney General Janet Reno
went to war over the La Bella Memo. After much haggling, Reno allowed
members of Congress to see a heavily redacted version of the document.
After more protests, lawmakers eventually saw the entire thing,
as well as other internal memoranda from the campaign-finance investigation.
"The problem was that no one trusted Reno, so Congress pushed really
hard and got some of that stuff," says the Justice Department aide.
"We don't want to continue that precedent. We want to take it back
to where it was before Clinton came along."
It's not clear what will happen if the Department refuses not change
its position. Committee sources hint that Burton, who believes his
request is part of his committee's legitimate oversight responsibility,
might seek to pressure Attorney General John Ashcroft to give up
the material. "We're not looking to beat up people politically,"
says one House aide. "All we want to do is not have congressional
prerogatives snubbed."
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