Reprinted from The Washington Times , 5am -- May 7, 1998
Burton fires aide over tapes fiasco
By Jerry Seper and Mary Ann Akers
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Rep. Dan Burton's chief investigator was fired yesterday over his role in the bungled release of edited tapes of Webster L. Hubbell's jailhouse conversations, which President Clinton labeled a "violation" of Mr. Hubbell's privacy.
"I think it was clearly a violation of privacy of Mr. and Mrs. Hubbell for the tapes to be released," Mr. Clinton said at a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. "I think virtually everyone in America now recognizes it was wrong to release selected portions of the tapes, apparently to create a false impression."
Mr. Burton said David Bossie had "chosen to resign," although House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Mr. Burton "fired the one person he should have fired." GOP sources said the speaker, angry about the House inquiry, ordered the firing during a closed-door meeting.
In his resignation letter, Mr. Bossie wrote: "I hope that the Republican leadership will have the courage to stand up under the weight of the coordinated attacks by the White House and the Democrat minority and support your efforts to uncover the truth."
The firing came at the direct request of GOP leaders, who, according to Republican sources, wanted to expel the chief investigator as long ago as September. But while the dismissal brought sighs of relief from Republicans, Mr. Gingrich reprimanded Mr. Burton in front of the entire House Republican Conference yesterday morning.
The admonishment would not have been so harsh, perhaps, had Mr. Burton not spoken up to defend himself.
"I know Dan is embarrassed," Mr. Gingrich said, according to two sources at the meeting. "I'm not embarrassed," Mr. Burton said. "Well, you should be," Mr. Gingrich told him, adding, as he looked around the room, "Just ask your colleagues who are embarrassed for you."
In a letter of apology sent late Tuesday to GOP lawmakers, Mr. Burton claimed responsibility for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee's mishandling of the tapes but said he was "sickened" anyone believed he would "release anything less than completely accurate information."
"I want to apologize to you if this matter has caused you any embarrassment," he said. "A mistake was made in not including in the 30 pages of transcripts a couple of comments made by Mr. Hubbell about himself and the first lady. They were relevant, and they should not have been left out."
Members who attended the session, some of whom said they were still concerned about Mr. Burton's control of the House probe, said the speaker's tone was "stern" and he was "clearly exasperated" with Mr. Burton, who has weathered criticism not just from Democrats, but from within his own party for mishaps as chairman.
For the time being, Mr. Burton will continue to control the campaign fund-raising investigation, but Republican leaders are giving serious consideration to moving control of parts of the inquiry over to the House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Bill Thomas, California Republican.
Mr. Thomas, in an interview with reporters yesterday, declined to discuss his role, if any, in the probe but confirmed he had talked with the speaker about assuming a role. He said his committee always has had jurisdiction over the campaign-finance matter, but the question, he said, was whether he wanted to exercise it.
Mr. Gingrich also said the tapes show that Suzanna Hubbell, an Interior Department employee, was pressured by White House aide Marsha Scott to take hush money for her husband or else lose her job. He said Mr. Hubbell received $720,000 from 18 different organizations, including more than $100,000 from the Lippo group.
"Does anybody seriously believe this is not about a serious violation of the law? A serious effort to collude and pay what in effect is a bribe?" he said. "Isn't it in fact a felony to threaten a woman with losing her job?"
Democrats, led by Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, have been sharply critical of the tapes' release, accusing Mr. Burton of selective editing to portray Mr. Hubbell in a bad light and embarrass the Clintons. Mr. Waxman, the committee's ranking Democrat, said exculpatory material was edited out.
Mr. Clinton did not mention Mr. Burton's name during the news conference, but House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt said Mr. Bossie "should not be made the scapegoat for Chairman Burton's mistakes, missteps and misdeeds."
"In throwing David Bossie to the wolves, Speaker Gingrich is trying to evade any responsibility for the Burton tapes travesty," Mr. Gephardt said. "It wasn't a staff member who said he was 'out to get' the president. It wasn't a staff member who made the decision to release the edited tapes. The buck should stop with Chairman Burton, not his fall guy."
Mr. Gephardt called on Mr. Gingrich to remove Mr. Burton as chairman.
"I will bring up this issue on the floor of the House tomorrow, and I hope we will overwhelmingly vote to remove Chairman Burton from this investigation," he said.
The handling of the release was widely viewed as a fiasco, and Mr. Bossie took the brunt of the blame. Mr. Burton insisted the tapes be edited to protect Mr. Hubbell's privacy, but the criticism intensified and he then decided to release the unedited tapes.
Mr. Waxman and other Democrats who criticized the committee for releasing edited versions of the tapes then complained that Mr. Burton would violate Mr. Hubbell's privacy by releasing the full tapes. Mr. Bossie then told reporters the tapes would not be distributed but reporters would be allowed to listen to them and make their own recordings.
That way, he said, the onus would be on individual reporters to decide whether to use material that might violate Mr. Hubbell's privacy. Reporters who showed up to listen to the tapes were then told that copies would be distributed after all, and committee spokesman Will Dwyer found himself reaching into a cardboard box and tossing the tapes to a gaggle of grumbling journalists.
Most reporters ended up with fewer than all seven cassettes and had to wait while more copies were made. Some returned to Mr. Burton's office, complaining that some tapes were blank.
Mr. Bossie is no stranger to controversy. In July 1997, he was the reason the committee's chief counsel quit just as hearings on campaign-finance abuses were about to begin. James P. Rowley III, a former federal prosecutor, submitted his resignation after Mr. Burton rescinded an order by Mr. Rowley firing Mr. Bossie.
Mr. Rowley cited Mr. Bossie's "unrelenting self-promoting actions" and said he had, because of Mr. Bossie, been "unable to implement the standards of professional conduct I have been accustomed to at the United States Attorney's Office."
Republicans said yesterday that they also blamed Mr. Bossie for the notorious melon-shooting, staged re-enactment of the death of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr. -- which Mr. Burton tried to prove was a murder, not a suicide.
- Bill Sammon contributed to this story.
Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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