http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0617-10.htm
Published on Tuesday, June 17, 2003 by the Houston Chronicle
Report Clears Worker in Dems Search
Lawmakers asking more questions of GOP as `Killer D' case is referred to FBI
by Karen Masterson and Armando Villafranca
WASHINGTON -- A Homeland Security Department investigation has cleared an agency worker of any wrongdoing in the effort last month to help Texas Republicans track down missing Democratic lawmakers and referred questionable actions by the state Department of Public Safety to the FBI.
The report, released late Monday by the department's inspector general, found an agency employee spent 40 minutes and was involved in eight phone calls trying to track down former state House Speaker Pete Laney's airplane during a partisan standoff over redistricting.
The inspector general's report said the behavior by the dispatcher at the Air and Marine Interdiction Coordination Center in California did not amount to fraud or abuse of federal resources.
Laney and 50 other Democrats fled to Ardmore, Okla., May 12 to prevent state House action on a congressional redistricting bill being pushed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican.
Monday's inspector general report did not address whether the Texas Department of Public Safety lied or violated state or federal law when it subsequently destroyed documents relating to state troopers' efforts to get the Homeland Security Department involved.
Those questions were referred to the FBI, the report said. However, an FBI spokesman in San Antonio said Monday that the agency does not have jurisdiction to investigate the DPS.
Brian Roehrkasse, spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, said his agency's part in determining any wrongdoing is over.
"The results of this investigation clearly indicate that the (air interdiction) officer believed he was searching for a missing aircraft," he said.
Democrats disagreed with the assessment. They argued Monday that the agency blacked out large sections of the transcript of communications between the air interdiction office and the Texas DPS, proving more needs to be revealed.
"This attempt to filter the truth raises as many unanswered questions as it offers gaps and omissions. It's really more of a `don't ask, don't tell' policy than a comprehensive investigation," said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin.
In its report, the inspector general's office stated that the Texas DPS had been uncooperative during the investigation.
"DPS officials interviewed by the (inspector general's office) declined to provide any information identifying the person or persons who requested surveillance assistance and claimed they destroyed all notes, memoranda, or other correspondence related to this incident," the report said.
Meanwhile, in a deposition released Monday, state Homeland Security Coordinator Jay Kimbrough denied suggesting to state officials that federal agencies be recruited to help search for the missing legislators.
Kimbrough said he called the FBI only after House Speaker Tom Craddick, a Republican, gave him the name and number of an agent in Oklahoma. He said Craddick wanted him to call the agent to determine whether the FBI had any jurisdiction in the case because the missing legislators had crossed state lines.
"The speaker of the House gave me a number and said, `Here, call this FBI agent to see if ... these guys have any jurisdiction since they (the Texas Democrats known to be in Oklahoma) have crossed state lines,' " Kimbrough said in the deposition taken in a civil lawsuit brought by state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. Burnam alleges that DPS illegally destroyed records.
That sworn testimony -- along with a deposition given by DPS Lt. Will Crais, portraying a similar account -- suggests Craddick played a much larger role in seeking federal help.
Bob Richter, Craddick's spokesman, said the speaker's involvement was minimal.
"Craddick was not directing the operation," Richter said.
The report closes one of many investigations into the conduct of GOP leaders during the four-day hunt for the missing Democrats.
"It's yet another authority confirming that the actions taken were appropriate and complying with the call of the speaker," said Kathy Walt, Gov. Rick Perry's spokeswoman.
Also unresolved is an inquiry opened by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta into whether the Federal Aviation Administration inappropriately gave DeLay information pinpointing Laney's flight information.
The information DeLay got from the FAA was relayed to the DPS, which used it to convince the air interdiction office to track Laney's plane. A spokesman for Mineta said Monday that the agency's inquiry continues.
Democrats have accused DeLay and Craddick of masterminding an elaborate effort to get federal authorities involved in what was a state partisan matter. And they believe Republicans at the state and federal level are trying to protect their party leaders.
"Why wouldn't the Texas Department of Public Safety tell DHS investigators who ordered them to involve homeland security officials in this political dispute?" asked Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas. "Who is the DPS trying to protect? And what does this have to do with the unprecedented order to destroy DPS documents?"
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat who is running for president, said Monday that he is not satisfied with the Homeland Security Department's report, nor has he received answers to questions he asked regarding White House involvement in the Texas redistricting battle.
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