-Caveat Lector-
Group Seeks Probe of Clinton Book Deal
Associated Press
Tuesday, December 19, 2000; Page A14
(AP) A watchdog group asked Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday to
submit her $8 million book deal to the scrutiny of the Senate
ethics committee.
The Congressional Accountability Project said the lucrative
contract with Simon & Schuster could represent a conflict of
interest for the New York senator-elect. The publisher is owned
by media giant Viacom Inc., which has interests before Congress
and federal regulatory agencies.
The group began raising questions about the first lady's White
House memoir even before a deal was finalized Friday, and its
written request that she submit the deal for ethics review comes
before she is sworn in as a senator.
"You can show your commitment to adhering strictly to Senate
rules and other Senate standards of conduct," the group's
executive director Gary Ruskin said in a seven-page letter.
The letter also was sent to ethics committee Chairman Pat Roberts
(R-Kan.) and ranking Democrat Harry M. Reid of Nevada.
Committee Counsel Victor Baird had no comment on the matter.
"She's gotten advice from first-rate lawyers familiar with this
kind of thing, and they are comfortable with the fact that she's
fully in compliance with the rules and regulations," said
Clinton's spokeswoman Lissa Muscatine.
Landmark Legal Foundation, a conservative group, also sent a
letter to the ethics committee urging it to examine the deal. The
foundation has frequently criticized the Clintons, and it
recently lost a battle to persuade the Arkansas Supreme Court's
disciplinary arm to investigate Hillary Clinton's role in the
Whitewater scandal.
Both groups said they had concerns with Clinton receiving such a
huge sum of money from Viacom, whose holdings include CBS,
Paramount Pictures, MTV and Showtime as well as Simon & Schuster.
Viacom gave $533,595 in campaign contributions during the 2000
election cycle, the Center for Responsive Politics said.
Critics have compared Clinton's arrangement to the $4.5 million
book deal signed by then-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) in 1994 when
he was the incoming House speaker.
Controversy over the Gingrich deal with Rupert Murdoch's
HarperCollins prompted the House to change its ethics rules and
ban members from accepting book advances, though they may receive
royalties on sales. In the Senate, book advances are not included
among restrictions on outside income as long as the arrangement
is "usual and customary."
Other senators have done book deals, but the size of Clinton's
sets it apart.
Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg said claims that Viacom
was purchasing the book to gain influence in Washington were
"absolutely preposterous."
"This was a book that Simon & Schuster was extremely eager to
publish," he said, noting that Clinton had a "great track record"
as an author.
Rothberg also denied published reports that Clinton would receive
all the cash up front, saying she had never asked for such a
deal.
"There will be multiple payments, from signing through
publication, over a long period of time," Rothberg said.
Rothberg declined to specify what the payment schedule would look
like or to say how much the first payment would be. The first
lady has not yet signed a contract with Simon & Schuster, which
has published her three other books, but was expected to receive
the papers at the end of the week, Rothberg said.
The book will be published in early 2003.
When President Clinton was asked yesterday what the first lady
would write about him, he laughed and told CBS's "60 Minutes II:"
"I don't know if there's $8 million worth to say. You all know it
already."
� 2000 The Washington Post Company
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