Jewish World Review June 28, 2000 /25 Sivan, 5760
David Limbaugh
Some questions for you, Mr. Gore
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
YOU HAVE TO hand it to Clinton and Gore. They are simply experts at
diverting scandals and demonizing their accusers. They've become so
proficient at counterpunching that they're almost able to convert their
scandals into assets.
Late last week, reports emerged that yet another Justice Department
official had recommended that a special counsel investigate whether Gore had
lied under oath in an April 18 interview. Robert Conrad, head of the Justice
Department's campaign finance task force, recently became the third Justice
official to urge Janet Reno to pursue the matter against Gore. Conrad's
predecessor, Chuck LaBella, had made the initial recommendation.
But the Clinton-Gore machine is relentless in manipulating the news
cycles to its advantage. With the weekend talk-show blitz, Gore managed to
get equal time for his preposterous spin on the latest revelations about his
fund-raising chicanery. The sanitized version transforms Gore from villain
to victim.
On CNN's "Late Edition," Gore's adviser Ron Klain took the offensive,
"The real question is for the Bush campaign -- were they involved in this
leak? It's a serious question I think they need to answer."
Keep in mind that there is no evidence whatsoever that Bush was
responsible for the dissemination of this story. It is just a naked,
bad-faith charge, issued by Gore to divert attention from his misconduct by
demonizing Governor Bush.
LaBella, also appearing on the weekend shows, offered his opinion about
the source of the leaks. "Somebody, obviously in the Department of Justice
at a high level, for some reason decided that this wasn't being fairly
handled."
Dismissing LaBella, Gore's defenders tried to paint the leaks as the
product of a partisan witch-hunt. On "Face the Nation," Democrat Senator
Robert Torricelli said that last week's story about Conrad's recommendation
to appoint a special counsel was "a politically-motivated leak that was not
fair to the vice president and not right in our electoral system."
Just consider that statement. Who's being partisan here? If Torricelli
weren't so committed to protecting his party's presidential hopeful, he
would be joining in the call for a special counsel to investigate Gore.
Besides, isn't this precisely the right time for us to find out all of the
facts? That Gore is trying to be president makes it all the more imperative
that we get at the truth.
Instead of worrying about fairness to the vice president, Torricelli
ought to be demanding explanations from Gore for these anomalies:
- Gore insisted that the 103 White House coffees were not
"fund-raising tools," even though a Senate panel found in 1997 that
supporters who attended these events between November 1995 and October 1996
contributed $7.7 million within one month of having attended them. (Some
coincidence, huh?)
- Gore recalled that he had been to few of the coffees, and
specifically remembered "only one that I attended briefly." Yet, the Senate
panel found that he had been the host of 23 coffees and attended 8 with
President Clinton.
- Gore denied under oath that he knew that the 1995 campaign event he
attended at a Buddhist temple was a fund-raiser. Yet, the event raised more
than $65,000 in illegal donations for the Democratic Party.
- The Reno Justice Department had never questioned Gore directly about
the Buddhist temple incident until April 18, just two days before the
previously unreleased memos were to be delivered to Senator Specter's
subcommittee.
- When the Department finally interrogated Gore, investigators said his
responses were characterized by "overall contentious elusiveness" and
contained "misstatements."
- Gore claimed in his now famous "iced-tea defense" that he was
probably in the restroom when discussions occurred about his White House
phone solicitations for hard money. Yet, former White House Chief of Staff
Leon Panetta remembers Gore being quite attentive to these discussions.
- Two FBI agents said that Lee Radek, the head of the Justice
Department's public integrity section, told them in late 1996 that Reno was
facing job pressure not to seek an independent counsel.
It's time for Democrats to stop the shenanigans and come to the aid
of their country. The question, Mr. Klain, is not whether Bush was involved
in any leaks -- which he most assuredly was not. Just as during impeachment,
the question was not whether Ken Starr was involved in leaks of grand jury
information -- which he most assuredly was not. The question is whether Mr.
Gore has the requisite character to be
president.
JWR contributor
David Limbaugh
is an
attorney
practicing in
Cape Girardeau,
Missouri,
and a
political
analyst
and
commentator. Send your comments to him by clicking here.
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