Robert Ray Responds to Critics Sep 2, 2000 1:17 AM WASHINGTON (AP) - Independent Counsel Robert Ray says critics are misconstruing his plan to divulge conclusions of the Whitewater investigation just weeks before voters decide whether to elect Hillary Rodham Clinton to the Senate. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and several legal experts said the Independent Counsel statute under which Ray was appointed limits him to filing his soon-to-be-completed report with a federal appeals court, which wouldn't release it until well after Election Day. The criticism came after Ray told The New York Times he would issue a statement of his findings and conclusions in the Whitewater probe a few weeks before New York voters go to the polls. Ray ``is defying the law,'' Levin declared. ``Our plan to make a public statement is not shocking,'' Ray said in a statement. ``This office is not releasing a final report or a portion of a final report without court approval.'' Ray added that the U.S. Attorney's manual expressly authorizes public statements regarding matters that have ``already received substantial publicity.'' But Levin said Ray does not have the authority to release conclusions and that ``Congress was very clear about this precisely to avoid an independent counsel releasing or appearing to release a report for political purposes.'' Customarily, when other independent counsels filed final reports under seal with a special division of the U.S. Court of Appeals, they issued terse statements, devoid of criticism, announcing an end to their investigations. ``I'm surprised'' by what Ray is planning and ``I think Carl Levin is exactly right,'' said George Washington University law professor Stephen Saltzburg. He said it's the court that makes a judgment on what to release. Saltzburg is a former Iran-Contra prosecutor who was a deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's criminal division in the Reagan and Bush administrations. ``If you issue a statement at the same time that you file a report under seal, you are absolutely running roughshod over the spirit'' of the requirement that the report be kept confidential, said Larry Barcella, a former federal prosecutor who has represented Republicans and Democrats in Independent Counsel probes. Georgetown University law professor Paul Rothstein said, ``I think it is wise'' for an Independent Counsel ``to make some kind of statement if it is not accusatory in nature,'' but it's ``another kettle of fish if it's going to be accusatory in any sense. Sometimes these final reports say we're not prosecuting, but we think there's a lot of wrongdoing.'' Ray took Mrs. Clinton and the White House to task in a three-page news release in June announcing the end of his investigation into the firings of White House travel office employees. Ray accused the White House of ``substantial resistance'' to providing ``relevant evidence'' to his investigators and said there was ``substantial evidence'' Mrs. Clinton played a role in the travel office firings. That conflicted with the first lady's sworn statements that she ``had no role'' in the decision. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om