Judges Probe Clinton Letter Release
May 18, 2000
Filed at 12:29 p.m. EDT
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court today sharply questioned a
judge's ruling that President Clinton committed a crime in releasing
friendly letters from a woman who accused him of groping her.
But the appeals court expressed strong doubts that it will intervene
now, as the White House wants, in the lawsuit that spawned the ruling
against Clinton.
With the Clinton administration urging the three-judge panel to step
into the case, Appeals Judge Harry Edwards said the Justice Department
and ``this White House and all White Houses'' for more than two decades
have said the type of action Clinton took is not a violation of law. The
Privacy Act does not cover the Executive Office of the President,
previous administrations have concluded.
``How could there be intent'' on the president's part to break the law
in view of the previous discussions? asked Edwards. Appeals Judge David
Tatel, a Clinton appointee, said ``the plain language'' of the law
suggests that the Privacy Act does not cover the president and his top
advisers.
However, Edwards, a Carter appointee, and Appeals Judge Douglas
Ginsburg, a Reagan appointee, suggested the issue could be dealt with on
appeal when the lawsuit ends.
``What is the harm'' to the White House with letting the lower court
decision stand for now? asked Ginsburg.
It might chill discussions between the president and his top advisers
because the March 29 ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a
Reagan appointee, pierces the attorney-client privilege between the
president and his White House lawyers, Justice Department lawyer William
Schultz told the appeals court.
Edwards was dismissive of Schultz's argument that there were broad
implications for Lamberth's ruling.
``Your concern has to be focused on this case,'' Edwards told the
Clinton administration lawyer.
Lamberth found that Clinton ``had the requisite intent for committing a
criminal violation of the Privacy Act'' when he authorized the release
of the letters in the midst of the 1998 criminal investigation that led
to his impeachment and acquittal.
In an emergency appeal, the Clinton administration is asking the appeals
court to set aside Lamberth's ruling. It is highly unusual for appeals
courts to involve themselves in cases before they are disposed of.
Lamberth's ruling came in pretrial proceedings in the lawsuit by Reagan
and Bush administration appointees over the Clinton White House's
gathering of hundreds of FBI background files on Republican officials.
The judge gave the conservative group Judicial Watch, which is
representing the former officials, wide latitude in exploring whether
the White House routinely gathered and released damaging information
about opponents.
Kathleen Willey's correspondence with the president was seen by White
House aides as undercutting her allegation that he made an unwanted
sexual advance. Much of her correspondence with Clinton came after the
alleged 1993 incident.
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Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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