RENO BEGINS CLINTON FUND-RAISING REVIEW.Byline: Elsa Arnett Knight-Ridder Tribune tribune, in ancient Rome, one of various officers. The history of the office of tribune is closely associated with the struggle of the plebs against the patrician class to achieve a more equitable position in the state. From c.508 B.C. News Wire The Justice Department on Saturday said it has begun a 30-day review into whether President Clinton made fund-raising fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political groups to acquire sufficient funds to support their activities. phone calls from the White House, stepping up scrutiny on an administration already struggling to quell quell tr.v. quelled, quell·ing, quells 1. To put down forcibly; suppress: Police quelled the riot. 2. accusations of improper
The latest inquiry ordered by Attorney General Janet Reno Janet Reno (born July 21, 1938) was the first and to date only female Attorney General of the United States (1993–2001). She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11. is the first step in a process that could lead to the appointment of a special prosecutor special prosecutor: see independent counsel. . It comes about two weeks after a similar review was launched into Vice President Al Gore's fund-raising phone calls for the 1996 campaign. It also comes days after Reno, embarrassed by her staffers' failure to discover important evidence, reorganized re·or·gan·ize v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es v.tr. To organize again or anew. v.intr. To undergo or effect changes in organization. and expanded the unit looking into campaign finance. The inquiry will focus on whether President Clinton made the phone calls, and whether he is covered by a 1971 law that prohibits federal officials from soliciting money on government property. Clinton has said that he doesn't recall making any fund-raising calls from the White House, but that he may have done so. On Sept. 10, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee released DNC DNC Democratic National Committee DNC Democratic National Convention DNC Do Not Call DNC Delaware North Companies DNC Domain Name Commissioner DNC Direct Numerical Control DNC Do Not Change DNC Does Not Compute DNC Digital Nautical Chart ``call sheets'' that were meant to prepare the president to solicit campaign contributions in 1995 and 1996 from some of the Democratic Party's biggest donors. The memos, prepared by DNC finance Chairman Marvin Rosen and others, included some background information on each donor and a recommended contribution. Lanny Davis Lanny J. Davis (b. ?1946) is a lawyer and former Special Counsel to the President for Bill Clinton. He served as special counsel from 1996 to 1998, during which time he also was the spokesman for Clinton in issues regarding campaign finance investigations and other legal issues. , special counsel to the president, said in a statement, ``We understand that the Department of Justice is in the process of determining whether a preliminary investigation is warranted. We are cooperating and will continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice to ensure it has all the information it needs.'' ``We are confident that no laws were broken,'' Davis added. The latest review renews attention on the ethics ethics, in philosophy, the study and evaluation of human conduct in the light of moral principles. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a of Clinton, even as he is enjoying his highest approval ratings in opinion polls. His popularity has not suffered from Special Counsel Kenneth Starr's long-running investigation into the Clintons' Whitewater land-development deal in Arkansas, or from the sexual-harassment lawsuit brought against him by former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones
Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin . Roy Schotland, a Georgetown Law Center professor who specializes in election law, said the likelihood Reno will eventually name a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton is ``not a remote possibility; it's got reasonably good odds.'' Schotland also said that Reno was under pressure to take this action because of a lack of confidence in her staff, which learned important facts about Gore's fund-raising only through press reports early this month. ``The fact that her own staff wasn't able to come up with information that any reasonably intelligent high school student would find - I don't think she had much choice but to do this,'' Schotland said. In addition, he said, the allegations regarding Gore's activities are so similar to those regarding Clinton's, it would have been impossible to launch a review of one and not the other as well. ``It doesn't seem like there was a dramatic difference between what they did,'' he said. Justice Department spokesman Myron Marlin said Saturday that the department ``is reviewing whether allegations that the president illegally solicited campaign contributions on federal property should warrant a preliminary investigation under the Independent Counsel Act.'' During the 30-day period, which began late last week, the department's Campaign Finance Task Force will consider whether the information it has received from the White House and other sources is specific and credible. It is the same task force that is looking into Gore's fund raising. If the task force decides the allegations are credible, or if it does not have enough information to make that determination, it could demand a 90-day preliminary investigation. If it decides the information is not credible, it will end the probe. If a 90-day investigation begins and finds a law may have been broken, Reno would ask a federal court to appoint an independent prosecutor prosecutor Government attorney who presents the state's case against the defendant in a criminal prosecution. In some countries (France, Japan), public prosecution is carried out by a single office. In the U.S., states and counties have their own prosecutors. . The Justice Department action was welcomed by some members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which has been holding hearings to investigate campaign-finance abuses in the 1996 election. Sen. Arlen Specter Arlen "Phil" Specter (born February 12 1930) is a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Republican Party, and was first elected in 1980. Biography Early life and career , R-Pa., a committee member who has openly criticized the Justice Department's handling of the matter, said Saturday, ``Coupled with the attorney general's prior action as to Vice President Gore, it certainly looks as if independent counsel will ultimately be appointed.'' Specter has said the Justice Department's investigation ``lacks a key ingredient - independence.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Janet Reno Takes first step |
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