    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 6, 1993]
    [Page 249]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 249]]

    Letter to Representative Robert H. Michel on Justice Department Action
    on the Trial of Representative Harold Ford
    March 6, 1993

    Dear Mr. Leader:
        This is in response to the March 2 letter from you and four of your
    colleagues. In that letter you express concern about the process which
    led the Department of Justice to object to the impaneling of a virtually
    all-white jury brought in from Jackson, Tennessee to try Congressman
    Harold Ford in Memphis, Tennessee.
        Please be informed that when the White House received inquiries
    concerning this jury issue, they were referred, at the direction of my
    Counsel, to the Department of Justice for whatever action the Department
    deemed proper. I have been informed by Counsel that the White House made
    no recommendation to anyone at the Department of Justice as to how this
    issue should be resolved.
        The Acting Attorney General, Stuart Gerson (who, as you know, was a
    senior member of the prior Administration and will be leaving office
    when a new Attorney General is confirmed), has informed us that he
    personally made the decision to object to the impaneling of the jury and
    that he did so strictly on the merits. When he made his decision, Mr.
    Gerson wrote that he was motivated by ``a desire to achieve a principle
    of fairness and uniformity that reflects on far more than this case''
    and his decision was based on an ``[un]willing[ness] to say on behalf of
    the United States, that justice cannot be obtained from a Memphis jury
    or, indeed, from the jury in any city.'' I am attaching a copy of his
    written statement.
        I have no reason to question this statement by Mr. Gerson or his
    explicit assurance that political considerations played no role in his
    decision.
        Sincerely,

                                                                Bill Clinton

    Note: This letter was made available by the Office of the Press
    Secretary but was not issued as a White House press release.