The 400-page Barrett report is capable of wiping out
Hillary Clinton's presidential prospects
ALL THE EX-PRESIDENT'S SCANDALS - Report implicating Clinton: Will it be hidden for good?
Bipartisan congressional negotiators squelch independent counsel's findings
Though it has had scant attention from the mainstream media, a bipartisan effort to
squelch an independent counsel's final report on Clinton-era abuse of the Internal
Revenue Service and Justice Department has gotten the attention of Web
activists and commentators, causing a growing call for the release of the
document that is said to including damning evidence against the 42nd president and his
administration.
Over 10 years ago, independent counsel David Barrett was charged with investigating former
Clinton Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros in relation to his lying
to the FBI about tax fraud he committed trying to cover up payments to a mistress. Though
Cisneros pleaded guilty in 1999, Barrett, in the course of his probe, found evidence of
wrongdoing within the IRS and Justice Department in relation to the Cisneros fraud.
Reportedly, Clinton team members tried to interfere with Barrett's investigation, which
has cost $21 million, including conducting surveillance of his office.
An IRS whistleblower told Barrett, a Republican, of a cover-up surrounding the Cisneros
matter.
Writes columnist Robert Novak: "The informant said a regional IRS official had
formulated a new rule enabling him to transfer an investigation of Cisneros to Washington
to be buried by the Justice Department. Barrett's investigators found Lee Radek, head of
Justice's public integrity office, determined to protect President Bill Clinton."
Columnist Emmett Tyrrell, who has called for the release of the entire Barrett report,
writes:
"When Barrett completed his report the Clintons' lawyers, led by that legendary
Clinton pettifogger, David Kendall, tried to kill off the report either by gutting it with
redactions or by getting it buried altogether. Kendall entered some 140 motions pursuant
to this goal. The report has been ready for publication since August 2004, but Kendall's
nuisance tactics have worked, and now what do we hear from the Clintonistas? They complain
that Barrett has cost too much and taken too long. As they are themselves are the reason
for much of the cost and delay, advocates of good government should be up in arms. This
stratagem has been used too frequently by the Clintonistas to smear an officer of the
court."
Tyrrell slams "several crafty Democrats" and "a few dubious
Republicans" in Congress for blocking release of the report.
While Barrett is said to want the entire report released with minor redactions – as
is typical for independent counsel reports –Democrats, led by Sen. Byron Dorgan of
North Dakota, have blocked it. Dorgan and fellow Democrats Sens. Richard Durbin and John
Kerry tried to include an amendment to kill the report in an Iraq-war appropriations bill,
but the move was blocked by Republicans. Later, Dorgan was successful in including an
amendment to block 120 pages of the report – those listing Clinton administration
transgressions – in another appropriations bill, which was signed into law last
month.
Explains Tyrrell: "Amazingly key Republicans in these negotiations agreed [to the
amendment], Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Joe Knollenberg. As things stand now, the expurgated
report will appear and the public will be none the wiser as to how the IRS and Justice
Department can be used to obstruct justice and harass private citizens."
Novak says Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will
still try to force the release of the report.
"Chuck Grassley is a stubborn Iowa farmer who often drives the White House and
Republican leaders to distraction," wrote Novak in a recent column. "He has said
that if the Barrett report finally emerges as a mutilated remnant in order to protect the
IRS, he will press for legislation to change that. It may be the last hope for the truth
to emerge."
Columnist and talk-show host Tony Snow sees the report figuring into Hillary Clinton's
likely run for the presidency.
"By all accounts, the 400-page Barrett report is a bombshell, capable possibly of
wiping out Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential prospects," writes Snow. "At
the very least, it would bring to public attention a scandal that would make the Valerie
Plame affair vanish into comical insignificance."
Some Web activists see an old-fashioned leak as the solution. Writes a participant on
FreeRepublic.com, where several comments recently have been posted: "They should just
leak [the report] to the public. It seems to work for the New York Times and they never
face any consequences."
Posted: December 26, 2005 © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com |
