Burton vs. Ashcroft
Dan Burton takes on the Bush Justice Department.

August 1, 2001 9:05 a.m.

n 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."