Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley has asked the three-judge panel that oversees independent counsel David Barrett for a copy of Barrett’s report on the Henry Cisneros investigation. The report — the product of a ten-year investigation costing the taxpayers more than $20 million — has been finished since August 2004, but its release has reportedly been blocked by Clinton-era figures who do not want to see it made public. “As chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, I have a particularly strong interest in this report given that it is my understanding from the media that it focuses significantly on areas within my committee’s jurisdiction,” Grassley wrote the judges on October 19:

As you know, the [judicial panel] is a creation of the Congress and would not exist but for its establishment as part of the law creating the independent counsel. A fair reading of the law is that given my legislative responsibilities in the Congress, the court should provide a copy to me if requested.
There has been a great deal of attention in the media regarding this report. The Congress and the taxpayers have a right to know its contents. A good amount of taxpayers money has been spent on this report and there has been widespread media speculation about its contents. This speculation is of concern and raises very troubling issues about the administration of the tax code. However, I cannot legislate based on rumors and whispers — I need the completed report.
It is for these reasons that I am requesting a copy of this complete report.