The Barrett Report, Investigations, and Consequences

The Barrett Report is scheduled to be released on January 19, and that has some interesting consequences. The Barrett Report is the culmination of a multi-year investigation into potential misdeeds by former Clinton Cabinet Member Henry Cisneros and grew into an investigation into whether the Clinton Administration broke the law by interfering with the initial investigation at the IRS and other agencies.

The Barrett report is said to show that Ms. Reno hampered Mr. Barrett's efforts at demonstrating tax violations on the part of Mr. Cisneros by limiting his investigation to one year of tax records. Successful tax evasion prosecution typically requires establishing a pattern of behavior over several years.

Mr. Barrett's report also is said to show that a former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louis Freeh, recommended the appointment of an independent counsel against a draft recommendation by Mr. Radek.

In one key passage, the report is said to relate a conversation among Justice Department officials in which Mr. Radek expresses concerns about putting Ms. Reno in a politically difficult situation if he were to recommend that she seek appointment of another independent counsel when two others were already at work.

According to the Sun, the report doesn't include the bombshells that right wingers were hoping for - namely that the Clintons themselves would be named in interfering with the investigations.

The critical question at this point is whether the full report should be released and why 120 pages of the report have been redacted. Who is being protected by the redaction? And why?

As reported earlier, approximately 120 pages of the report have been redacted by the three-judge panel. Persons named in the report are now in a position to block prosecution since the statute of limitations has expired for any offenses that were committed. They have reviewed the report, and their responses are said to be added on to the report as an appendix, along with the memo by Mr. Filan.

Sources familiar with the report said several of the responses accuse Mr. Barrett of impugning them to divert attention from the time and expense of his inquiry. Attorneys for individuals mentioned in the report filed more than 100 motions with the court panel involved, including some seeking to prevent publication of the entire report.

Among the most explosive allegations in the report, persons familiar with its contents say, are claims that the White House was aware of Mr. Cisneros's possible tax violations and his misstatements to FBI investigators vetting him about payments to Ms. Medlar before the appointment of an independent counsel. The report says Mr. Clinton ignored the concerns of his transition team about Mr. Cisneros's relationship with Ms. Medlar because he regarded them as minor and was determined to have him in his Cabinet because he is Latino.

Millions of dollars were spent on this investigation, and taxpayers deserve to get the unvarnished report, not a watered down version that not only doesn't taste great, but isn't intellectually filling.