Reprinted from The Washington Times, March 2, 1998
Congressional officials cagy about mentioning Lewinsky scandal
By Sean Scully
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Members of Congress have been reluctant to speak the name of Monica Lewinsky or mention the presidential scandal she spawned.
But the affair hovers over Capitol Hill, a subtle but constant thread running through conversations in the halls and hearings rooms of Congress.
On Wednesday, for example, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde, Illinois Republican, began a seemingly innocent series of questions for Bill Lann Lee, the Justice Department's new civil rights chief.
He asked whether the Justice Department sends out "testers" --agents posing as people interested in buying or renting property -- to see whether real estate agents treat white and minority applicants the same.
"Isn't that kind of a sting operation?" Mr. Hyde asked sweetly.
Mr. Lee, sensing trouble, shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
No, he concluded, "it's kind of a testing operation."
Mr. Hyde persisted, finally forcing Mr. Lee to concede that the practice is a "sting" and "not all stings are bad."
Mr. Hyde leaned forward and knitted his brows. Without naming a name, he conjured up the spirit of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's use of a hidden recording device to obtain evidence against the president from Miss Lewinsky.
"Stings on the left are not bad," Mr. Hyde concluded, setting off nervous laughter from the audience, "but God forbid you should use a sting on the right."
Republicans aren't the only ones playing the game.
On Tuesday, during a routine Justice Department appropriations hearing, Sen. Dale Bumpers, Arkansas Democrat, unexpectedly began to reminisce about a 1984 case where Charles Z. Wick, then head of the U.S. Information Agency, was discovered recording telephone conversations with famous people, including journalists, members of Congress and former President Jimmy Carter.
It wasn't immediately obvious where the veteran lawmaker was headed -- at least until he leaned across the desk and fixed Attorney General Janet Reno with a hard stare.
"It is a good idea that something like that be legal," he asked.
A light dawned across the faces of those in the room -- he was talking about Linda Tripp's penchant for taping private telephone conversations with Miss Lewinsky, tapes that tipped Mr. Starr to the possible scandal.
Miss Reno cleared her throat nervously.
"I would have to look at it in the federal context," she said, before noting that the Florida law prohibiting such taping worked well for her while she was a prosecutor in that state.
But Republicans were quick to join the debate that dare not speak its name.
"My sense is that in the federal law enforcement community, they are just overburdened with federal laws," Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, mused innocently. "... Shouldn't we be a little more sensitive to the pressure we're putting on federal law enforcement, the judiciary and the prosecutorial community" by passing too many laws?
Too many criminal laws, he said, are designed to make "a political statement."
Sometimes the subject of the presidential scandal pops up by accident.
During a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday, Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told the committee that he could stay around as long as necessary to answer members' questions.
Rep. Charles B. Rangel, New York Democrat, attempted to have a little fun with the comment, noting that both congressional Republicans and the White House seem to lack a clear agenda for the year.
It's good that Mr. Summers has plenty of time, he said, since Republicans seem determined to take a long time to get anything done.
And, he added to the unintended amusement of the audience, "We don't know how long the president has."
- Staff writer John Godfrey contributed to this story.
Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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