Reno won't include Clinton in Indian casino probe at this time Story-Date: 07:36 p.m. PST Monday , December 15, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Reno won't include Clinton in Indian casino probe at this time By Michael J. Sniffen Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Janet Reno rejected Republican requests Monday to expand her investigation of an Indian casino ruling to include President Clinton. She said they failed to cite evidence of any crime by him. Reno noted that lobbyists had raised the casino issue with Clinton at a political and social event and the Justice Department had found other evidence he had inquired about its status. "Your letter does not identify any alleged conduct by the president ... that would warrant an inference that the president's unsolicited receipt of information from lobbyists and his subsequent expression of interest in the matter was potentially criminal, or part of any criminal conspiracy," Reno wrote Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The department's defense in a civil lawsuit of the Interior Department's decision to reject the casino does not pose a conflict with its preliminary criminal inquiry into whether contributions to Democrats by tribes opposed to the casino influenced the decision, she wrote. Reno said the department frequently has civil and criminal teams working on the same case. Potential conflicts are regularly resolved "by appropriate stays in proceedings, by establishing different teams of attorneys with responsibility for the two aspects of the matter, or in extreme situations by retaining outside counsel to handle a portion of the matter," she said. On the issue of Clinton's role, Reno said, "Information that the president was aware of a regulatory matter under review by an executive branch agency does not ... in and of itself, indicate criminal wrongdoing by the president. "There is no legitimate basis for a preliminary investigation of the president pursuant to the independent counsel act," Reno concluded in a five-page letter. "No conflict of interest exists within the meaning of the independent counsel act that would warrant" her to use discretionary authority "to trigger the act with respect to noncovered persons allegedly involved in the Interior Department's denial of the casino application." Reno already is conducting a 90-day preliminary inquiry to see if an independent counsel is needed to investigate Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's role in the 1995 decision. In July of that year, the Interior Department denied three Wisconsin Chippewa tribes a casino license, which had been recommended by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an arm of Interior. Republicans charged the turnaround was engineered by Clinton and his aides because tribes opposing the casino donated $300,000 to the Democratic National Committee and other Democrats. Reno must decide by Feb. 11 whether to request appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the Babbitt case. Justice Department officials have said Babbitt's case is the most difficult to resolve in the entire campaign-finance investigation. Justice officials have said that, based on evidence available now, they would have to recommend an independent counsel at least to determine if Babbitt perjured himself in Senate testimony about the casino. Babbitt's sworn testimony to the Senate is directly contradicted by a lawyer, who was a close friend. Republicans are already angry over Reno's rejection earlier this month of an outside prosecutor to investigate telephone fund raising by Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. But Reno has stressed that a task force composed of more than 120 lawyers and FBI agents continues to investigate a wide range of campaign finance allegations. On Nov. 13, the same day Reno opened the inquiry on Babbitt, Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee requested she seek an independent counsel to investigate the role of Clinton, Babbitt, White House aide Bruce Lindsey and former deputy White House chief of staff Harold Ickes in the casino ruling. Reno conducted a 30-day initial inquiry to see if there was a credible allegation Clinton may have committed a specific felony in the casino case. According to the Republicans, Clinton's role occurred April 24, 1995, at a Minneapolis fund-raiser. Patrick O'Conner, lobbyist for the opposing tribes, has said he approached Clinton there and that Clinton called Lindsey over and told him, "Bruce, talk to O'Conner about his concerns about tribes that he represents." From then on, O'Conner began getting high-level help, Republicans contend. Officials said this action alone was not evidence of any crime. But these officials say investigators are finding it difficult to resolve the allegations that Babbitt lied about the affair under oath in Senate testimony without using subpoenas or immunity grants. They don't have that authority during a preliminary inquiry. The investigators have not found enough evidence to support the bribery allegation thus far. But if they cannot resolve the perjury issue, it must be referred to an independent counsel, who is allowed to use subpoenas and immunity. Republicans noted that Paul Eckstein, an old friend of Babbitt and a lobbyist for the Chippewas, has testified Babbitt told him Ickes had contacted him pressing for a quick decision. Babbitt first denied being contacted directly by Ickes and said later he had made up the Ickes story to get Eckstein out of his office. ------------------------------------------------------------