Posted on 11/18/2001 4:23:42 PM PST by Jean S
With the resignation of a top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, senior Democrats have stepped up their calls for the end of investigations into two prominent Senate Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) said the resignation of U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White from the Southern District of New York should mean an end to the separate probes into Sens. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).
"It's time to move on," Daschle said Thursday, shortly after White's announcement. "It's time to bring it to a close, and perhaps this might serve as a catalyst to do just that."
Since early this year, White's office has been in charge of the investigations into Torricelli, accused of campaign irregularities and taking illegal gifts from a donor, and Clinton, regarding a last-minute Clinton administration pardon of four Hasidic men and the huge number of votes their hometown gave the Senator in her 2000 race.
In connection with pardons, White was also examining the controversial decision by former President Bill Clinton to pardon fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose ex-wife Denise became a large soft-money donor to Democrats in the months leading up to the pardon.
Announcing her decision last week, White didn't refer to the political cases still left on her plate, but said her resignation, effective Jan. 1, left enough time for "an orderly transition of pending matters."
But it's likely that it will be months before a replacement for White is selected, vetted, sent to the Senate and confirmed, particularly with Congress headed for adjournment at some point next month. The New York media have floated several potential successors to White, from a top aide to Gov. George Pataki (R) to a onetime aide to former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R) to former Whitewater prosecutor Robert Ray.
Any nominee will have to first get through the Democratic-controlled Judiciary Committee, where Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is a senior member.
Just as important, a Democratic aide noted that Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) has continued a "blue-slip" policy that requires both home-state Senators to sign off on nominees to the federal bench, U.S. Attorneys offices and the U.S. Marshals Service.
That policy effectively gives Clinton the ability to reject - by not returning a positive review of the nominee, on a blue slip of paper - any nominee to take over the office that is handling the investigation into her and her husband.
Neither Schumer's nor Clinton's offices would comment on speculation about who would succeed White or the roles they would play in making that selection.
In the Torricelli case, White was the third different lead prosecutor to handle the federal case, beginning with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, which recused itself several years ago when the state's top federal prosecutor was nominated to the federal bench.
The case was then handled by the Justice Department's Campaign Financing Task Force in Washington, which secured guilty pleas from six contributors who evaded contribution limits through "straw donors." The task force was disbanded last winter and the Torricelli matter was handed over to White, whose office specialized in white-collar crime cases.
By giving the Clinton and Torricelli cases to White, a Clinton administration appointee whose first major case was the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Justice Department also sought to avoid charges it was conducting partisan investigations into prominent Democrats.
White's departure will leave Justice without that veneer, leading some to believe that the probes are going to quietly end with no indictments - or at least should end now.
"It's time to wrap it up," said Sen. Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), a prominent defender of Torricelli who has contributed $10,000 to the Senator's defense fund. "It would be timely to have it wrapped up when you have a change in U.S. attorneys."
Torricelli's office declined to comment, but his lead lawyer, Theodore Wells, who for months declined to comment publicly, said in a brief interview Friday that the case is headed for its conclusion.
"Senator Torricelli is completely innocent, and Iam very optimistic that the investigation will soon be formally closed," said Wells, who has handled the gifts aspect of the case.
The campaign finance portion of the case appears to have withered away without any indictments. The five-year statute of limitations on the 1996 campaign has expired, and three former campaign aides who received official "target" letters exactly 10 months ago - Jan. 19, the last day of the Clinton administration - were never indicted.
There is some speculation, however, that the Torricelli case will end up back in Justice's Washington office, in the Office of Public Integrity, which oversees most corruption cases.
One senior Republican, Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), argued against bouncing the Torricelli or Clinton cases around to different federal prosecutors. Both probes have been handled, at least recently, in the Manhattan office, and the Bush administration should just make a very prudent choice in who succeeds White "because of the highly sensitive cases" she has handled, Specter said.
"Every [other] place you go, you're going to find Republican appointees," said Specter, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, who complimented White's work and said he was "sorry to see her go."
Some Democrats, however, have grown weary of her investigations, which have focused on Democratic targets such as the Clintons, Torricelli and the Teamsters. "She's a woman without a home," said one senior Democrat on the Hill, who accused her of lengthening the pardon and Torricelli probes to curry favor with the Bush administration "to simply prolong her term in office."
"She prolonged them for months for her own interests," the Democrat charged.
Justice Department officials did not return calls seeking comment for this story.
Even if White or her successor decides not to pursue an indictment of Torricelli or anyone in the pardon case, it's unclear whether there will ever be a public recognition of that decision.
Many federal investigations are concluded without any formal pronouncement that they are over, leaving the possibility that Torricelli will never get a formal clearance and could possibly have the investigation hanging over his entire re-election campaign in 2002.
Essentially, they have all of the things they need, except money, to make a serious difference in South Dakota politics if they would only decide to do it.
Let the Freepers know. You would have more support here than you would ever have expected.
Regards,
TS
(for the moment, off to the coal mine....)
EXACTLY my question!!! Could it be that there is too much pressure being applied by the CLINTONians? Or even possible implications of bodily harm, and threats?
This seems a little too "timely". /sarcasm
I LOVE your idea. Brilliant!
I second it!!!
What about placing the information as a gossip bit on her precious "hillary.org" site? Only trouble with that is that we wouldn't get the greater public to hear it, and we would miss the wonderful photographs. Although....I am sure there are a few "floating around somewhere" (wink) that might be appropriate! :;giggle::
Essentially, they have all of the things they need, except money, to make a serious difference in South Dakota politics if they would only decide to do it.
Let the Freepers know. You would have more support here than you would ever have expected.
TS, thanks! Ready to serve. Waiting for the Lord to move the financial mountain for us!! We can't let the babies go hungry. EternalVigilance is a good man for this!! (What do you mean I am biased?) May God move him from the "coal mine" back to the political realm! Lord hear my prayer!
I couldn't help myself! I am in this ornery mood, and the scheme would just make my month! It has been a hard one. Unfortunately, I don't have the know how to do that...so it will take one of our fellow FReepers to "bless the site". HINT, HINT!! Any takers???
Come to think of it, it would make more than my month! A great Christmas gift!! ::grin:: Just trying to share the holiday spirit! ::snicker::
Where was that e-mail address for the manager of that site? Maybe I should whisper something in her ear? Whatcha think?
Yeah,they know it. They just can't bring themselves to face it. The US Senate knew it too,and this is why they refused to get real worked-up about it. They KNEW they would lose,and there was nothing they could do to change it.
This seems a little too "timely". /sarcasm
See post #112 for further info but I'm with you on the timeliness and pressure from the clintons.
IMHO, for those of us here in SoDak, the priority MUST be the defeat of US Senator Tim Johnson...that is the first step to softening up the battlefield for the defeat of Daschle.
Regionally, it's Sen. Johnson in SD, Harkin in IA, and Wellstone in MN.
Can't let the US House seats slide, either---we need to win every one possible.
IMHO, we need to nationalize this race - Johnson in 2002 - and then use the vast Freeper network to rally behind you. Every single Freeper nationwide is adversely affected by Puff Daschle. So, if you have to beat Johnson to get RNC support for Daschle in 2004 you do it. If I were you I would pick the Senator campaign against Johnson and go for it.
Let me know what I may do to be of help!
Regards,
TS
TS
That is an excellent question. Perhaps she is leaving out of entirely innocent motives, but perhaps she is leaving because she knows that Torricelli and Clinton are both guilty, and prosecuting them would utterly destroy any future she had in the Democratic Party. The dems, you see, don't care if you're guilty of murder. If you're a Dem, you should always get off.
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