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Barrett, originally assigned to examine the Cisneros/Medlar payoffs, twice received permission from the panel to expand his investigation. By March 1997, Barrett was conducting -- in the words of one of the judges overseeing independent counsels -- "an apparently wide-ranging probe of government officials who might, in [Barrett's] view, have sought to shield Mr. Cisneros."
At issue, apparently, was the Internal Revenue Service and Cisneros's tax records. In October 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported that, as early as 1997, Barrett "had wanted to look into allegations that Mr. Cisneros failed to report income from speeches. Investigators suspected that Mr. Cisneros had signed over checks from speaking engagements to his mistress." But the Clinton Justice Department moved in to limit Barrett's access to Cisneros's tax records.
A legal fight ensued.
And that's about all that has been reported. Nevertheless, from discussions with people who have some knowledge of the situation, a bit more can be said. It is true that Barrett's expanded investigation involved a look at the IRS and the Justice Department. Apparently, the office of independent counsel felt it had a serious and credible whistleblower with information about alleged efforts to protect Cisneros and other political figures -- and to stymie the Barrett probe. What followed was essentially hand-to-hand combat between Barrett's office and the Clinton Justice Department, as Barrett sought more information and the department fought to keep it from him. That situation continued beyond the 2000 election, with Republicans in control of the Justice Department, until Barrett finally gave up.
According to papers made public in March, Barrett told the court that his office had "ceased all investigative and prosecutorial activities and does not intend to initiate any others." (He evidently made that decision sometime between last September and March, but exactly when is not clear.) Barrett further told the court that his primary remaining responsibility was writing the final report of his investigation.
That report could be quite controversial. Some people familiar with the situation believe the Justice Department barred Barrett from investigating things that, in the words of one source, "cried out to be investigated." This would include actions by the Justice Department itself -- and the report may say so. "The Department of Justice is incapable of investigating itself, and you can carve that in granite," says the source. (A current official at Justice insists, "Nobody here was attempting to protect the Clinton administration from an investigation.")
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In court papers filed in June 2001, Judge Richard Cudahy wrote that "whether a cost-benefit analysis at this point would support Mr. Barrett's efforts is a question to which I have no answer." But Cudahy added that the judges could do almost nothing to stop Barrett. "The [independent counsel] law literally construed may be that Mr. Barrett can go on forever," Cudahy wrote, "so long as he claims or shows active grand jury activity, no matter how unpromising. Who is to contradict his evaluation that what he is doing is full of promise?"
It should be noted that Cudahy is a Carter appointee who sometimes made trouble for independent counsels investigating the Clinton administration. In 1999, he voted (unsuccessfully) to shut down the Kenneth Starr investigation, and in 2000 he leaked information that then-independent counsel Robert Ray had started a new grand-jury probe into whether Bill Clinton could be indicted after he left office. (Cudahy later apologized for "inadvertently" releasing the information.)
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If there was ever a case in which the public had a right to know how its money has been spent and how its prosecutors have exercised their power, this is it. Maybe the investigation was a wild goose chase. If so, the public should know about it. But if the Justice Department obstructed a legitimate inquiry, the public should know that, too. Reputations are at stake -- maybe more than just David Barrett's.