| http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26757-2001May14.html
Hatch Rejects Probe of Nominee Democrats Doubt Testimony by Solicitor General Candidate By Thomas B. Edsall Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, May 15, 2001; Page A04 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) yesterday rejected a Democratic proposal for a bipartisan staff investigation into allegations that Theodore B. Olson, President Bush's nominee to be solicitor general, inaccurately played down his role in a controversial magazine inquiry into the activities of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Arkansas. "No, we've gone far enough on this," Hatch said, when asked by reporters whether he would support calling or interviewing witnesses who dispute Olson. Later, a top Hatch aide quoted him as saying that "any further investigation appears to be just a dilatory question." Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking committee Democrat, proposed in a letter to Hatch that the Republican and Democratic investigative staffs conduct a joint inquiry into Olson's testimony, including extensive interviewing and examination of documents. Hatch said that instead of interviewing witnesses, he has suggested to Democrats that they meet individually with Olson to discuss their concerns. Last week, Hatch put off action on the Olson nomination, saying there were "legitimate" questions about his testimony. The Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up the Olson nomination again on Thursday. The committee is evenly split, 9 to 9, between Republicans and Democrats. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said on "Fox News Sunday" that the allegations concerning Olson "warrant a look," adding that "being a member of the committee, I have a duty to take a close look at it." Specter said he expects Olson ultimately to win approval. The issue concerns whether Olson was misleading or evasive in his answers about his involvement in the "Arkansas Project," a $2.4 million investigative reporting effort conducted by the American Spectator magazine and funded by foundations under the control of conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. In his April testimony to the Judiciary Committee, Olson said, "I was not involved in the [Arkansas] project in its origin or its management." In written answers to additional questions about his involvement in either the Arkansas Project or the Spectator's reporting on the Clintons, Olson said he knew about the Spectator's stories and was at social events with reporters for the magazine, but, "I do not recall giving any advice concerning the conduct of the project or its origins or management." Douglas Cox, Olson's law partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a spokesman for Olson, said the dispute over Olson's testimony amounts to "just a word game." The senior Hatch aide repeated this view, quoting Hatch as saying, "It comes down to what the definition of the Arkansas Project is." The Spectator, Cox said, was involved throughout the 1990s in the sustained pursuit of stories alleging a variety of Clinton-related scandals, and Olson was fully aware of this general activity. Olson was not, however, aware of a specific project financed by Scaife until sometime in 1997, Cox said. Arkansas Project expense reports compiled by the Spectator show payments to Olson's law firm of $14,341.45 for the period of March through August 1994. Olson himself was hired in 1994 by the magazine specifically to determine the potential criminal exposure of the Clintons in light of the magazine's reporting, sources said. Olson said in his written answers that his legal services for the Spectator included "legal research," but "were not for the purpose of conducting or assisting in the conduct of investigations of the Clintons." Olson, who joined the magazine's board at the start of 1996, told the committee that he did not learn of the project until mid-1997, when questions were raised about the accounting of the money for the project. Peter Hannaford, who served on the board with Olson, said he recalled the board getting a routine briefing on the Arkansas Project and its financing sometime before a meeting held in May 1997. Staff writer Helen Dewar contributed to this report. |
