[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 183 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 183

  Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the failure of 
  Attorney General Janet Reno to seek application for an independent 
counsel to investigate a number of matters relating to the financing of 
   campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, including the conduct of 
               President Clinton and Vice President Gore.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 31, 1997

 Mr. Salmon (for himself and Mr. Scarborough) submitted the following 
   concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the failure of 
  Attorney General Janet Reno to seek application for an independent 
counsel to investigate a number of matters relating to the financing of 
   campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, including the conduct of 
               President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

Whereas the majority of the members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
        House of Representatives, in letters dated March 12, 1997, and September 
        3, 1997, requested that the Attorney General request the appointment of 
        an independent counsel to investigate a number of matters relating to 
        the financing of campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, including the 
        conduct of President Clinton and Vice President Gore;
Whereas the majority of the members of the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
        Senate, in a letter dated March 13, 1997, requested that the Attorney 
        General request the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate 
        a number of matters relating to the financing of campaigns in the 1996 
        Federal election, including the conduct of the President and the Vice 
        President;
Whereas the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louis Freeh, has 
        reportedly called for the appointment of an independent counsel to 
        investigate matters related to the financing of campaigns in the 1996 
        Federal election;
Whereas some officials at the Department of Justice have reportedly called for 
        the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate matters related 
        to the financing of campaigns in the 1996 Federal election;
Whereas former Democratic President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, has 
        stated that an independent counsel should be appointed;
Whereas Common Cause has called for the appointment of an independent counsel;
Whereas the Attorney General has denied the requests of the Committees on the 
        Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Senate to request the 
        appointment of an independent counsel to investigate a number of matters 
        relating to the financing of campaigns in the 1996 Federal election;
Whereas in testimony before the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
        in 1993, the Attorney General expressed her support for the 
        reauthorization of chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, and 
        expressed support for requesting an independent counsel when there is an 
        actual conflict of interest or an appearance of a conflict, stating 
        that: ``The reason that I support the concept of an independent counsel 
        with statutory independence is that there is an inherent conflict 
        whenever senior executive branch officials are to be investigated by the 
        Department and its appointed head, the Attorney General. The Attorney 
        General serves at the pleasure of the President. . . . It is absolutely 
        essential for the public to have confidence in the system, and you 
        cannot do that when there is a conflict or an appearance of conflict in 
        the person who is in effect the chief prosecutor. . . . The [statute] 
        was designed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in the 
        consideration of allegations of misconduct by high-level executive 
        branch officials and to prevent . . . actual or perceived conflicts of 
        interest.'';
Whereas consistent with the Attorney General's testimony, an independent counsel 
        should be appointed where there is even the appearance of a conflict of 
        interest;
Whereas the Attorney General forces both an actual and an appearance of a 
        conflict of interest in the matters relating to the financing of 
        campaigns in the 1996 Federal election, indicated, among other things, 
        by: (1) the fact, as the Attorney General pointed out in her testimony, 
        that she serves at the pleasure of the President; (2) the political 
        considerations that may have influenced the implementation of the law in 
        the past; (3) the political appointees who have served as the Attorney 
        General's lieutenants; and (4) the Department of Justice's ineffectual 
        investigation;
Whereas the Attorney General did not seek the application of an independent 
        counsel to investigate the matters referred to as Whitewater until the 
        President publicly requested the appointment of an independent counsel;
Whereas the Attorney General refused to seek an extension of the authority for 
        the independent counsel investigating former Secretary of Agriculture 
        Michael Espy (who has been indicted on bribery-related charges)--a 
        position rejected by the Court charged with deciding whether expansions 
        of the authority of appointed independent counsels is warranted;
Whereas the United States Supreme Court in Clinton v. Jones rejected by a vote 
        of 9-to-0 the Attorney General's position that the Constitution affords 
        the President complete immunity while in office from a civil action 
        (concerning unwanted sexual advances) before he took office;
Whereas the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari for Grand Jury 
        Subpoena Duces Tecum (No. 96-4108, Eighth Circuit) in which the court 
        held that the Attorney General's position that notes taken by White 
        House aides concerning matters related to Whitewater were protected by 
        executive privilege, attorney-client privilege, and the attorney work 
        product doctrine;
Whereas former top advisers to the Attorney General, including convicted felon 
        Webster Hubbell, and Ron Klain, current Chief of Staff to Vice President 
        Gore, are close associates of the President and Vice President;
Whereas critical information concerning the investigations continues to be 
        uncovered, not by the 120 lawyers and investigators the Attorney General 
        has assigned from the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation to handle this matter, but by members of the media, 
        particularly, Bob Woodward of the Washington Post;
Whereas the work product of the 120 Federal agents from the Department of 
        Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation assigned to handle the 
        fundraising probe on a full-time basis has been anemic, and the 11-month 
        investigation, which has more resources devoted to it than any other 
        criminal case in the Department of Justice, has not resulted in a single 
        conviction related to the 1996 election;
Whereas earlier this year the Attorney General stated that one key reason she 
        did not seek an appointment for an independent counsel to investigate 
        the Vice President's 86 White House fundraising calls was that the calls 
        were for soft money;
Whereas it has since been learned through media reports and documentary evidence 
        that much of the money the Vice President solicited was deposited in 
        hard money accounts;
Whereas the Department of Justice refused to grant immunity from prosecution to 
        four nuns involved in a 1996 fundraiser at a Buddhist Temple attended by 
        the Vice President;
Whereas the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate subsequently voted 
        15 to 1 to overrule the Department of Justice and to grant immunity to 
        the nuns;
Whereas key witnesses to the probe have fled the country while the Department of 
        Justice has pursued its investigation;
Whereas the Attorney General failed to report to the National Security Adviser 
        that she had learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation turned up 
        evidence that the Chinese Government may have attempted to influence the 
        1996 Federal election;
Whereas the Attorney General herself has said that she was ``mad'' about the 
        White House delivering evidence (now approaching almost 200 videotapes 
        of Clinton administration fundraising events) one day after she 
        submitted a letter (October 3) to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
        House of Representatives, explaining that she would not conduct a 
        preliminary investigation of the President's participation in 
        potentially illegal campaign activities--a decision she subsequently was 
        forced to reverse;
Whereas chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, requires the Attorney 
        General to conduct a preliminary investigation whenever ``specific'' and 
        ``credible'' evidence exists that a covered person ``may have violated 
        any Federal criminal law'';
Whereas the following officials implicated in the fundraising investigation are 
        covered persons under the independent counsel law: President Clinton, 
        Vice President Gore, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, former 
        Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary, former White House Deputy Chief of 
        Staff Harold Ickes, and the former head of the Democratic National 
        Committee, Don Fowler;
Whereas the Attorney General has not opened preliminary investigations under 
        chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, in a number of instances 
        where ``specific'' and ``credible'' evidence exists that covered 
        officials violated Federal law;
Whereas high administration officials, including the President, may have 
        knowingly accepted foreign contributions, and have engaged in a scheme 
        to launder foreign money through straw donors in violation of sections 
        437g(d)(1)(A) and 441e of title 2, United States Code;
Whereas $3,000,000 in campaign donations raised primarily by three fundraisers 
        close to the President (John Huang, Charlie Trie, and Johnny Chung) was 
        returned because it came illegally from foreign contributors;
Whereas the Democratic National Committee has returned $325,000 raised by Mr. 
        Trie, and the President's legal defense fund has announced that it has 
        returned about $800,000 in illegal contributions he collected;
Whereas the Democratic National Committee, only after the election and only 
        after a public outcry, has returned about half of the $3,400,000 raised 
        by Mr. Huang;
Whereas individuals associated with raising foreign funds, including Charlie 
        Trie, Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak, the head of the Indonesian 
        Lippo Group, James Riady, and gardener Arief Wiriadinata and his wife 
        have fled the country to avoid interrogation and possible prosecution;
Whereas Charlie Trie, now hiding in Beijing, China, said to Tom Brokow of NBC 
        news that Senate investigators ``will never find me'';
Whereas James Riady has reportedly fled to Jakarta, Indonesia;
Whereas Pauline Kanchanalak has reportedly fled to Thailand;
Whereas Arief and Soraya Wiriadinata have reportedly fled to Indonesia;
Whereas close associates of the President implicated in the plot to raise 
        illegal foreign money, including John Huang and Johnny Chung, have 
        refused to cooperate with investigators, asserting the 5th amendment 
        right against self-incrimination;
Whereas the President knew that some of the attendees at his fundraising coffees 
        were individuals (foreigners) ineligible to contribute;
Whereas the President on at least 2 occasions thanked audiences for contributing 
        to his campaign at fundraisers he knew foreigners attended;
Whereas at a February 19, 1996, fundraising dinner at the Hay-Adams Hotel the 
        President said: ``It was quite a wonderful thing for me to come here on 
        what we in the United States now call President's Day... I thank you for 
        your financial contributions'', which is specific and credible evidence 
        that a Federal law barring raising campaign funds from foreign citizens 
        may have been violated;
Whereas at one fundraising event the President urged foreigners to ``go back 
        home, reach out to people who are not here'';
Whereas at a 1996 fundraiser President Clinton told an audience of fewer than 50 
        people, ``how much I appreciate your support,'' acknowledging ``those 
        who have come from other countries to be with us tonight'';
Whereas a videotape of a campaign fundraiser revealed that a participant, Arief 
        Wiriadinata--whose campaign contributions totaling $450,000 were 
        ultimately returned reportedly because of concerns the funds were 
        laundered--informed the President that ``James Riady sent me'' which may 
        have violated sections 437g(d)(1)(A) and 441f of title 2, United States 
        Code;
Whereas there appears to have been an administration-wide conspiracy to subvert 
        Federal campaign and bribery laws;
Whereas it is illegal for ``soft money'' contributions to directly assist the 
        campaign of a candidate for Federal office;
Whereas the President and his subordinates may have violated section 441a of 
        title 2, United States Code, prohibiting Presidential campaigns 
        receiving Federal money from raising private funds in excess of the 
        limit placed on Presidential campaigns that receive Federal money;
Whereas former Presidential advisor Dick Morris stated in his book, ``Beyond the 
        Oval Office'', that the President used advertisements paid for with soft 
        money to advance his reelection campaign, stating that: ``Every line of 
        every ad came under his informed, critical, and often meddlesome gaze. 
        Every ad was his ad.'';
Whereas Dick Morris, in a February 1996 memorandum to the President, stated 
        that, ``If Dole is nominated, we need no additional [hard] money for 
        media before May 28 since we can attack Dole with DNC soft money'';
Whereas the President noted on a May 21, 1996, tape that television 
        advertisements funded with soft money--money supposed to be used for 
        party building, not for individual candidates--boosted his chances for 
        reelection: ``The fact that we've been able to finance this long running 
        constant television campaign... where we're always able to frame the 
        issues... has been central to the position I now enjoy in the polls.'';
Whereas the President stated in a December 1995 tape that: ``We realized we 
        could run these ads through the Democratic Party, which means we could 
        raise money in $20,000, $50,000, and $100,000 blocks. We don't have to 
        do it all in $1,000 donations.'';
Whereas section 201 of title 18, United States Code, prohibits Federal officials 
        from receiving any benefit in return for any official action;
Whereas Democratic National Committee trustee Johnny Chung commented on the 
        solicitation in the White House by the First Lady's aides: ``I see the 
        White House is like a subway: You have to put in coins to open the 
        gates.'';
Whereas the former head of the Democratic National Committee, Donald Fowler, 
        placed a phone call to the Central Intelligence Agency at the request of 
        a major donor, international fugitive Roger Tamraz, which involved 
        constructing a $1,000,000,000 pipeline through the hostile state, Iran;
Whereas Paul Eckstein, a Democratic activist and long-time friend, colleague, 
        and campaign manager of the Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, 
        testified under oath that Babbitt told him that former Deputy White 
        House Chief of Staff Harold Ickes had pressured Babbitt to make a 
        decision on an application for a gaming operation in favor of tribes 
        that opposed the application, and that made large contributions to the 
        Clinton-Gore re-election campaign;
Whereas the application was rejected the same day Babbitt told Eckstein that Mr. 
        Ickes ordered the decision;
Whereas Eckstein also testified that ``[Babbitt] asked me, `Do you have any idea 
        how much money these people have given?' I said, `I have no idea.' He 
        said, `Well, a half a million dollars.''';
Whereas Federal District Court Judge Barbara Crabb, a Carter appointee, after 
        reviewing summaries of memos the White House has been withholding on 
        this matter concluded that ``there is considerable evidence that 
        suggests that improper political pressure may have influenced agency 
        decision making.'';
Whereas there are several other instances where evidence suggests administration 
        policy may have changed as a result of campaign contributions, 
        including: (1) permitting 100,000 Chinese assault weapons into the 
        country, despite the administration's public support for the assault 
        weapons ban law, after meeting with, and receiving contributions 
        allegedly associated with, a Chinese arms merchant; (2) the President 
        issuing a waiver allowing continued aid to Paraguay, after the State 
        Department recommended cutting off aid because of the country's failure 
        to stop drug smuggling, in close proximity to receiving contributions 
        from an individual with close ties to the Government of Paraguay; (3) a 
        reversal of the administration's position on labor and immigration 
        issues in Guam after receiving large contributions from Guam businessmen 
        supporting this change; (4) providing a former employee of the Lippo 
        Group (a multibillion dollar real estate and financial conglomerate 
        based in Indonesia), John Huang, with a position at the Department of 
        Commerce and a top secret security clearance without a full background 
        check--a security clearance Mr. Huang retained long after he severed 
        ties with the Department of Commerce--which permitted him, according to 
        the Commerce Department, 109 meetings at which classified information 
        might have been discussed; and (5) the President's decision to designate 
        1,700,000 million acres of Utah wilderness as a national monument, which 
        halted plans to mine the world's largest deposit of clean burning super 
        compliance coal when the second largest deposit of this type of coal 
        lies in Indonesia, raising concerns that the Lippo Group influenced the 
        President's decision;
Whereas on several occasions the administration has failed to turn over 
        documents or other materials subpoenaed by the Committees of the House 
        of Representatives and the Senate investigating the 1996 Federal 
        election, and may be violating chapter 73 of title 18, United States 
        Code, relating to the obstruction of justice;
Whereas videotapes of fundraisers requested by congressional committees were not 
        produced for months, and might be incomplete or altered;
Whereas every copy of the film of the Vice President's illegal fundraiser at a 
        Buddhist temple has disappeared;
Whereas chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, sets a low threshold in 
        favor of the Attorney General requesting an independent counsel in 
        matters involving White House or other ``covered'' officials in which 
        the Attorney General has requested a preliminary investigation under 
        chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code;
Whereas the standard for the Attorney General to appoint an independent counsel 
        after initiating a preliminary investigation is very low;
Whereas section 592 of title 28 United States Code, states that ``The Attorney 
        General shall apply'' for ``an appointment of an independent counsel 
        if--the Attorney General, upon completion of a preliminary investigation 
        under this chapter, determines that there are reasonable grounds to 
        believe that further investigation is warranted'' or the period of the 
        preliminary investigation as set forth in the chapter has elapsed and 
        the Attorney General has not notified the court that ``no reasonable 
        grounds'' exist to terminate the investigation;
Whereas there are several significant restrictions on the Attorney General in 
        conducting a preliminary investigation, which makes the low threshold in 
        favor of the Attorney General requesting an independent counsel 
        necessary;
Whereas the Attorney General is statutorily prohibited from convening grand 
        juries, entering into plea bargains, granting immunity, or issuing 
        subpoenas during a preliminary investigation begun under section 591(c) 
        of title 28, United States Code;
Whereas the Attorney General is limited to questioning witnesses who voluntarily 
        agree to interviews and reviewing documents voluntarily produced;
Whereas, pursuant to chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, the Attorney 
        General on October 3 opened a preliminary investigation into telephone 
        campaign solicitations made by Vice President Gore at the White House, 
        and on October 14 she opened a preliminary investigation into telephone 
        campaign solicitations made by President Clinton;
Whereas the Attorney General has ordered a preliminary investigation under 
        chapter 40 of title 28, United States Code, to investigate charges that 
        former Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary solicited a contribution for a 
        favored charity via a Democratic National Committee trustee, Johnny 
        Chung, in return for granting a meeting;
Whereas sufficient evidence exists for the Attorney General to request the 
        appointment of an independent counsel concerning the fundraising calls 
        of the President and the Vice President;
Whereas section 607 of title 18, United States Code, makes it unlawful for ``any 
        person to solicit... any contribution... in any room or building 
        occupied in the discharge of official duties.'';
Whereas former White House counsel Abner Mikva cautioned White House employees 
        in 1995--before many of the questionable calls may have been made by the 
        President and the Vice President from the White House--that ``no 
        fundraising phone calls or mail may emanate from the White House.'';
Whereas the Vice President has admitted making numerous fundraising calls from 
        the White House;
Whereas the President has not challenged documentary evidence that proves he 
        made fundraising calls from the White House, including the Oval Office; 
        and
Whereas Richard Jenrette, who contributed $50,000 to the Democratic National 
        Committee, reportedly wrote a letter after receiving a call from the 
        President stating: ``You [President Clinton] wanted to raise $2,000,000 
        from 40 friends--by my Wall Street math, this comes out to $50,000 that 
        you requested from each.'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) deplores the refusal of the Attorney General to seek 
        application for an independent counsel, pursuant to chapter 40 
        of title 28, United States Code, concerning the 1996 election 
        campaign of President William Jefferson Clinton and Vice 
        President Albert Gore;
            (2) condemns the continued control of the investigation by 
        the Attorney General, despite her actual conflict of interest 
        in investigating, among others, the President at whose pleasure 
        she serves, and the Vice President;
            (3) denounces the lackluster investigation run by the 
        Attorney General, which has allowed key witnesses and suspects 
        to flee the country and important documentary materials to 
        disappear or be withheld improperly and has given those 
        involved a year to coordinate their stories;
            (4) laments the loss of confidence of the American people 
        in their Department of Justice, engendered by this 
        investigation, which continues to undermine the notion of one 
        standard of justice for all Americans, regardless of position;
            (5) instructs the Attorney General to faithfully uphold and 
        execute the laws she has sworn to uphold, specifically by 
        seeking application for an independent counsel to investigate 
        the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, without further wrongful delay; 
        and
            (6) instructs the President to request that the Attorney 
        General seek application for an independent counsel to 
        investigate the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, without further 
        wrongful delay.
                                 <all>