U.S.

Cisneros Pleads Guilty

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

September 7, 1999 / 1:23 PM EDT / CBS

Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros pled guilty Tuesday to a single misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI, ending a four-year investigation by an independent counsel.

Cisneros appeared before U.S. District Stanley Sporkin to acknowledge that during his background checks for a post in the Clinton administration, he falsely told FBI investigators that he had paid his former lover no more than $2,500 monthly.

Cisneros will pay a $10,000 fine but will face no jail time and no probation. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deal with prosecutors also called for Cisneros to make a statement to the court taking responsibility for his acts.

Cisneros, the former San Antonio, Texas mayor, faced 18 felony counts of lying to federal investigators about how much money he gave former mistress Linda Jones and then asking two of his assistants to cover it up, reports CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan.

"I accept responsibility for the conduct as outlined," Cisneros told the court, adding that future aspirants to public office should learn that "truth and candor are important."

In accepting the plea agreement, which Sporkin initially said he thought was too lenient, the judge said: "I know there will be some second-guessing about this plea."

"I don't think the office of independent counsel had much choice in this matter," Sporkin said, defending the work of prosecutor David Barrett. But, the judge added: "We cannot permit an individual to lie his way into public office," reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Bagnato.


Cisneros' former paramour Linda Jones.

Jones, who herself ran afoul of the independent counsel prosecuting Cisneros, was to be the government's star witness. But her credibility had come under attack from Cisneros' high-dollar legal team. She had agreed to testify against her ex-lover in a bid to gain a reduction in her 3 1/2-year prison sentence.

Eighty-eight tape recordings that Jones secretly made of her phone conversations with Cisneros as their relationship soured were at the heart of Barrett's case. Cisneros' lawyers labored mightily during a 13-day pretrial hearing in July to prohibit their use, saying many tapes bore signs of heavy editing.

But Sporkin rejected the defense's argument and will allow prosecutors to use all or parts of the 26 tapes they want to play for jurors.

Cisneros "has presented no direct evidence that the voice on the tapes is not his, nor that the statements attributed to him are inaccurate," Sporkin said of the tapes, recorded between April 1990 and December 1993.

Jones' recordings, some of which the government acknowledges were edited, capture conversations in which she and Cisneros discussed their financial dealings. The tapes also reflect Cisneros' characterizations of his discussions about the money with the Clinton transition team and the FBI agents conducting his Cabinet background check.

During that check, Cisneros admitted giving Jones financial support after their affair burst into public view in 1988 while he was mayor of San Antonio. But prosecutors contend he falsely told the FBI he never paid her more than $10,000 annually.

The indictment had alleged that Cisneros paid her more than $264,000 between 1990 and 1993.

Cisneros, who served as Housing and Urban Development secretary from 1993 through 1996, has said he offered financial support because he felt sorry for Jones after their affair became public.

His legal troubles were triggered when Jones filed a breach-of-contract suit against him in her hometown of Lubbock, Texas, in 1994, charging he had reneged on his promise to support her.