Politics

No Special Prosecutor For Torricelli

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 5, 2001 / 4:16 PM EDT / CBS

The Justice Department has rejected New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli's request that a special counsel be appointed to investigate his finances.

The department said the senator's concerns about leaks to the media and political motives do not rise to the "most extraordinary circumstances" that would warrant such an appointment.

In a letter obtained Friday by The Associated Press, acting Attorney General Larry D. Thompson told Torricelli lawyer Ted Wells that the Justice Department has a long history of impartially investigating congressional members of both parties.

"Any charge that the traditional work of the department's career prosecutors might be colored by which political party is in the majority in the Senate is simply wrong," Thompson said in the letter, dated Monday.

The Democratic senator had asked the Justice Department on June 5 to separate the criminal investigation of his finances from the department and Attorney General John Ashcroft, complaining of "rampant" leaks and possible political motives because of the delicate balance of power in the Senate.

The Democrats obtained a one-vote majority in the Senate on June 6 after Vermont Republican James Jeffords declared himself an independent.

Ashcroft, one of five Republican senators ousted last year when Torricelli was in charge of the Democratic Party's Senate campaign effort, has removed himself from the investigation. Overseeing the case now is Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan.

Wells said Friday that any decision to bring charges in the Torricelli matter will still have to be handled by high-ranking members of the Justice Department and Bush administration.

"Given the delicate balance of power in the Senate, we believe it would have been in the public interest" to appoint an outside counsel, Wells said.

Julian Epstein, chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, said Friday the Justice Department's position "doesn't even pass the laugh test."

"We have what appears to be orchestrated leaks by the Department of Justice, an inability to say whether or not there has been White House or other political contacts," Epstein said. "And the department is saying there's nothing special about this case which requires an outside counsel to ensure fairness?"

U.S. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to Ashcroft on Friday expressing concern "about the integrity of any possible investigation under way" and about Ashcroft's inability to recall at a recent House Judiciary Committee hearing whether he had spoken with the White House about the investigation.

Justice Department spokeswoman Susan Dryden declined comment Friday on the letter.

CBS News Correspondent Phil Jones reports that federal prosecutors have been examining the financing of Torricelli's 1996 Senate campaign and his relationship with businessman David Chang, who has pleaded guilty to making $53,000 in illegal campaign dnations to Torricelli.

Chang says he gave the senator valuable gifts — including suits, antiques, a Rolex watch and cash — in exchange for favors. He is now cooperating with the government.

Torricelli has denied any wrongdoing. He and his lawyers have complained that federal investigators are illegally sharing their suspicions and allegations with the media.

Thompson said he would refer Torricelli's concerns about leaks to the department's Office of Professional Responsibility.

"Leaks about an investigation by Department of Justice officials are intolerable, and in some cases potentially criminal. If we are able to identify the source of any improper disclosures, steps will be taken to address that misconduct," he said.