Reprinted from The Washington Times , 5am -- May 13, 1998
TOP POLITICAL STORY
Boehner accuses Democrats of hypocrisy in flap over leaked tapes
By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A leading House Republican accused Democrats yesterday of hypocrisy for savaging Rep. Dan Burton's release of Webster L. Hubbell's legally recorded phone calls while remaining silent on a fellow Democrat's release of an illegally recorded conversation of Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The Democrats have argued that Mr. Burton, Indiana Republican, violated the privacy of Mr. Hubbell, whose phone calls were recorded while he was in prison for mail fraud and tax evasion.
"Last week, a host of Democrat members and other spinmeisters expressed considerable outrage about the alleged invasion of a convicted liar and thief's privacy," said Rep. John A. Boehner, chairman of the House Republican Conference.
"Yet none of these staunch defenders of privacy rights has spoken one word about the members and staff who violated the rules of the House and federal law in a plot to illegally release the contents of my illegally recorded cell-phone conversation," Mr. Boehner said.
Mr. Boehner, of Ohio, is one of the Republicans whose conference call with Mr. Gingrich was illegally intercepted and recorded. In a lawsuit, he accuses Rep. Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat, of giving a tape of the talk to the New York Times and two other newspapers.
Mr. Hubbell, a longtime friend of President Clinton's and a former associate attorney general, was recorded talking about his need "to roll over one more time" in order to protect first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton from accusations of overbilling clients at a law firm where she once worked with Mr. Hubbell.
The tapes also reveal that White House aide Marsha Scott actively sought to line up work for Mr. Hubbell while he was in prison. Independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr is investigating whether President Clinton and those close to him promised jobs to Mr. Hubbell in an attempt to head off potentially damaging testimony.
Mr. Burton's release of the Hubbell tapes was denounced on Thursday by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, the ranking Democrat on the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, which is chaired by Mr. Burton.
"Mr. Speaker, nothing alarms the American people more than an abuse of power and an invasion of people's privacy," said Mr. Waxman, of California. "The gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] has grossly abused the most unprecedented power that any congressman has ever had in the history of this institution in violating the privacy of an American citizen."
Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., New Jersey Democrat, went even further. "The gentleman from Indiana claims immunity from prosecution because he is a congressman," he said. "If an ordinary person had released or changed the tapes, it would be a crime -- obstruction of justice -- and they would go to jail."
On May 5, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, said Mr. Burton's release of the Hubbell tapes "violated the spirit and, I believe, the letter of the Privacy Act."
Responding to the Boehner suit, Mr. McDermott's attorney has argued that privacy concerns are "not enough to justify punishment for a citizen who lawfully obtained and disclosed to the news media an audiotape."
A Florida couple who recorded the Gingrich call has pleaded guilty in the case, which is under investigation by the Justice Department.Copyright 1998 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission of
The Washington Times.
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