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Commentary

7-1

March 10, 1997: In a 7 page "Strange Bedfellows", Newsweek recounted the growing Clinton fund raising scandal, with emphasis on how the White House fund raising operation worked. Newsweek noted the DNC "methodically listed the amount 'projected' to be raised from each event, and the cash each eventually took in." Former White House counsel Abner Mikva was quoted as saying, had he known about the coffees: "we would have put a stop to it. Any Philadelphia lawyer knows you don't raise money in a government building. And if they were budgeting money for them, that's raising money." [40] In a 2 page "On the Trail of a 'China Connection''', Newsweek's Asian Web of Feb. 24 had now become "the Asian — Clintonite Axis". Newsweek reported: "The Democrats have now returned $3 million in suspect foreign contributions." This included "$253,000 contributed by [Washington lobbyist Pauline] Kanchanalak", whose office was raided by the FBI based on reports of documents being destroyed. Newsweek also reported: "Two years ago a top Commerce official watched in some amazement as Kanchanalak came into the office of Ron Brown, kissed him on the cheek and then sat in on a discussion of the sale of U.S. warplanes to the Thai government." [41] In a sarcastic 4 page "Step Right Up", Time also gave an extensive summary of abuses in the White House fundraising operation, and reported that Democratic Senators Moynihan, Feingold and Wellstone wanted a special counsel to investigate. Time also reported the Republicans were trying to avoid an investigation of Congressional fund raising, and any attempt to condition a more vigorous investigation on Republican willingness to take up campaign finance reform in Congress. [42]

On March 17, 1997, US News gave the Clinton Scandals a kind of permanent, institutional status. In a short article titled "Introducing the Scandometer", they offered this description of a semispherical object that looked a little like a parking meter, with a needle and a scale from one to ten (ten = worst): "The flood of scandal stories has made it hard to judge each development’s relative importance. Newspapers and TV shows don’t help when, in the name of fairness, they heap equal amounts of opprobrium in all directions. The Scandometer attempts to render a concise, dispassionate judgement about the latest twist and place it in context." [43]

On April 14, 1997, US News reported: "Each week brings fresh evidence that the White House traded access for campaign donations. And each week the public seems to respond with an irritable resignation". [44]

Extensive reporting on the Clinton Scandals continued throughout 1997. On July 14, 1997, Time, Newsweek and US News all ran significant articles building up to the long-awaited Senate hearings on campaign finance abuse. On July 21, 1997, Time reported of the first week: "It was such a false start, it almost looked as if it had been planned that way. And in a way it was. Thompson may yet dream of using the hearings to drive reform, but there aren't many elected officials in either party who want him to tear apart the system that has fed them so well." [45]

On August 31, 1997, US News reported "hand-written notations by David Strauss, a former Gore staffer... 65% soft/35% hard — could threaten Gore's claim that he never raised hard money." [46] Attorney General Reno's reasoning in not requesting an independent counsel was based on the assumption Gore had not been involved in telephoning to raise any hard money. The death of Princess Diana effectively pre-empted reporting in early September. On September 15, Time ran a 2 page "Gore's Turn to Squirm" on page 86, reporting on the testimony of Buddhist nuns, who recounted to a Senate Committee "how they were badgered into laundering campaign money when the Vice President visited their temple." [47]

On September 29, 1997, US News ran "Can anyone sort this out?", a kind of recap of what had gone wrong to date with various efforts to investigate the Clinton Scandals. US News reported: "When the many parts of the scandal-discovery machine ground into action long months ago, a thorough explanation of the abuses seemed a near certainty. If the House messed up, Thompson’s Senate panel would find a way to carry on. If his committee proved unfair, the Justice Department’s professional investigators would be there. If even they weren’t up to the job, the attorney general could always request an independent counsel. Now, none of these options seems very good. In each case, some combination of political motives, legal restrictions, and human error has undermined the credibility of the investigation." Regarding the Justice Department's ability to conduct an effective preliminary investigation, US News noted: "They may not subpoena documents, they can't grant immunity from prosecution, and they can't launch a grand jury investigation. These powers are reserved for an independent counsel." [48]

As 1997 wound down, there were calls for Reno to appoint an independent counsel for several targets of investigation, including President Clinton, vice-President Gore, the White House, and former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary. Reno started 30 day or 90 day reviews on all of these cases, but as noted above, the ability of such reviews to be effective was severely limited. On October 20, 1997, Newsweek reported the White House had failed to tell Attorney General Reno about 44 videotapes of White House coffees, until shortly after Reno had "issued a letter essentially clearing the White House of wrongdoing." [49] Time had reported a week earlier "All materials related to the coffees... were subpoenaed earlier this year by the Justice Department and two congressional panels." [50]

On October 20, 1997, in "Sinister obstruction? Or just incompetence?" US News summarized various instances where it appeared the White House might be withholding evidence, including the withholding of the 44 White House coffee videotapes. Other instances were recounted, including: 1) "Gore phone calls": the discovery that money raised by Gore went into "hard money" accounts followed from a legal opinion forcing a DNC lawyer to discuss meetings with White House officials. 2) "The Buddhist Temple": The White House turned over relevant E-mails three hours after a deposition — the E-mails were needed to prepare for the deposition. 3) "DNC Documents": On August 4, 1997, 4,000 pages were turned over relating to DNC former financial director Richard Sullivan, they were due April 30, and were needed for Senate testimony given July 9. 4) "White House Visits": On July 29, 1997 the administration turned over documents, sought since May, needed in connection with testimony given earlier that day, regarding funneling foreign money to the DNC. [51]

Follow-up on the White House Coffee videotapes continued with a 1 page Time article on October 27, 1997, and a 1 page Newsweek article on November 3. The tapes indicated areas for follow-up questioning, in particular Time's report of a statement by Clinton: "The President thanks the assembled guests for giving generously to the D.N.C. 'issues' ad campaign that supports his budget policies. He goes on: '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' — instead of in increments of $1,000 per doner, the limit on contributions to specific candidates like, for instance, Bill Clinton." [52]

On December 15, 1997 US News reported Reno had decided based on a 90 day preliminary investigation that there would be no independent counsel investigation of Gore. [53]

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