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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1997)
Reno will not pursue telephone fund-raising investigation Attorney General Janet Reno said Clinton and Gore did not violate campaign election laws By Michael J. Sniffen The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Attorney General Janet Reno declined Tuesday to seek an independent counsel investigation of tele phone fund raising by President Clinton and Vice President A1 Gore, concluding they did not vi olate election laws. Her long-ex pected decision drew jeers from Republicans. Under strong pressure for months from all sides, Reno told a news conference, “The deci sion was mine and it was based on the facts and the law, not pres sure, politics or any other factor.” She stressed that the investiga tion will continue and her deci sion Tuesday should not be viewed as an exoneration. Pointing out that FBI Director Louis J. Freeh dissented from her ruling, Republicans criticized Reno’s decision as too narrow and suggested she may have been affected by loyalty to the White House. Democrats called her cor rect and courageous. Reno also rejected a special prosecutor to investigate former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary, concluding that O’Leary was un aware that a contribution to one of her favorite charities may have been solicited in return for her meeting Chinese businessmen. Reno said the only fund-rais ing calls investigators found by Clinton came in October 1994 and were made from the White House private quarters, not the president’s offices. “This places the calls outside the scope ... of [federal election law] which ap plies only to solicitations for hard-money contributions occur ring within the federal work place,” she wrote. Reno told a news conference that her campaign finance task force continues to investigate De mocratic fund-raising practices that — without Gore’s knowledge (( Now that there 'sheen a full and independent review, we can put this issue of the phone calls behind us once and for all. Al Gore Vice President — diverted some of the money he raised into questionable ac counts. And she said the depart ment would continue investigat ing others involved in the O'Leary incident. “Any decision not to ask for an independent counsel does not mean that a person has been ex onerated or that the work of the campaign finance task force has ended,” Reno said. Reaction from the three offi cials was muted. In a single-sentence statement, Clinton said, “The attorney gen eral made her decision based on a careful review of the law and the facts and that’s as it should be." Gore, traveling in Connecticut, said, “Now that there’s been a full and independent review, we can put this issue of the phone calls behind us once and for all.” “I am relieved but not sur prised,” O’Leary said. But Sen. Fred Thompson, R Tenn., chairman of the Senate committee investigating cam paign finance, accused Reno of “misinterpreting the law” and said that her focus on telephone solicitations was too narrow. At the same time, he said, “I don’t think any of us are sur prised” by her conclusion. Thompson said Reno’s interpre tation of the law had “ham strung” the FBI in its investiga tion. Reno denied that: “I want to make clear to everyone I am not imposing any constraint on the task force.” She and Freeh ac knowledged their split, but trad ed compliments late in the day. Freeh pushed for an indepen dent counsel on grounds Reno has a conflict of interest investi gating top administration offi cials. Reno said, “I value highly” Freeh’s advice. “We may not al ways agree. ... However, the de cision to ask for an independent counsel is mine and I alone am responsible for that under the law." Freeh said he appreciated the opportunity to fully express the FBI’s views, noted that “lawyers and investigators can and often do disagree” and said he still has “a strong and amicable relation ship” with Reno. Indictments of at least two De mocratic fund-raisers for conceal ing the identities of real donors are expected later this month. And Reno must decide by Dec. 15 whether further investigation is needed into what role, if any, Clinton played in the Interior De partment’s denial of an Indian casino, which was opposed by other tribes who contributed to the Democrats. The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is pri vate property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. NEWSROOM Editor-in-chief: Sarah Kickler Managing Editor: Nicole Krueger Community: Eric Collins, editor. Michael Burnham, Jesse Sowa Entertainment: Evan Denbaum, editor. 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