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Republicans Turn Up Heat On Reno

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Sep. 14) -- Republicans dished up some tough talk for Attorney General Janet Reno Sunday, insisting that she call for an independent counsel to investigate campaign fund-raising calls made from the White House by Vice President Al Gore.

CNN has also learned that sworn testimony from Harold Ickes, a former top aide to President Bill Clinton, could fuel calls for an independent counsel to focus on Clinton as well.

Speaking on ABC's "This Week," House Speaker Newt Gingrich said, "I see no excuse for avoiding the appointment of an independent counsel because the assertions of potential violation of law are so clear and decisive."

The top Republican in the Senate, Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., also called Sunday for Reno to bring in an outside investigator.

"I mean, the appearance of conflict of interest is overwhelming, not only with Vice President Gore but also with ... the administration, the president himself," Lott said on CBS's "Face The Nation."

Republican sources tell CNN that Ickes has told Senate investigators that he repeatedly pressed Clinton to make fund-raising calls from the White House.

However, these sources say they have not found any evidence that the president actually placed those calls.

Federal laws restrict raising political contributions from federal facilities, but whether those laws were broken by the activities of Clinton and Gore remains open to dispute.

The White House says its lawyers gave the OK for the calls and that the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign was only perfecting loopholes discovered by previous GOP presidents.

"What it tells us to date is what we knew before any of these hearings began, which is that this system is subject to abuse," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on CNN's "Late Edition."

Republicans see things differently, and some are even suggesting that Reno could be impeached if she doesn't relent and call for an independent counsel.

"No president of the United States in the history of this country turned the White House into a place to raise money, where the Lincoln Bedroom was rented out and all of the other things," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on "Late Edition." "The 'everybody does it' defense will not wash."

The spotlight on campaign finance irregularities is expected to intensify this week when a House committee begins holding its own public hearings, joining a Senate committee whose hearings are already under way.

Reno must decide by early October whether to take the next step toward appointing an independent counsel -- a decision that could place a giant cloud over the second Clinton term and Gore's 2000 presidential aspirations.

CNN White House Correspondent John King contributed to this report.

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