FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1999
(202) 616-2777
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
STATEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General Janet Reno today notified the Special Division of the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that further investigation is warranted into whether Harold Ickes knowingly and willfully testified falsely before Congress in September 1997.
The Justice Department's Campaign Financing Task Force and Public Integrity Section began a preliminary investigation of Ickes after reviewing evidence contained in a report by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. The evidence suggested that Ickes may have perjured himself when he testified in a deposition that he "was not sure" and did not "know" if anything was done by the Administration regarding a strike at Diamond Walnut Growers, Inc. Ickes had asked U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor to telephone the head of the Diamond Walnut to see if the company was willing to try to negotiate a settlement, and Kantor made such a call.
The Attorney General issued the following statement:
"For several months, the Justice Department's Campaign Financing Task Force and Public Integrity Section have conducted a preliminary investigation, pursuant to the Independent Counsel Act, to determine whether there were reasonable grounds to warrant further investigation into whether Harold Ickes may have knowingly testified falsely to Congress. As our court filing demonstrates, I have found there are no reasonable grounds for further investigation. In particular, I have found by clear and convincing evidence that, regardless of whether Ickes's testimony was accurate, he lacked the intent to lie.
"I based this conclusion upon a careful review of all of the evidence in this matter. First, the questions asked of Ickes were ambiguous, and his answers were truthful under a reasonable interpretation of the question. Kantor, the head of the Teamsters, and the CEO of the company all agreed that no action was taken by the Administration in, or as a result of, Kantor's telephone call.
"Second, there was no credible evidence of a motive for Ickes to lie about this matter. There was nothing improper about Kantor's telephone call. During the course of the same deposition, Ickes volunteered information about his contacts with regard to this strike. And in many other depositions and testimony over the last few years, Ickes has shown that he is not hesitant to reveal information even if it might be viewed as embarrassing or controversial.
"Third, the Diamond Walnut matter had occurred two and a half years before Ickes's deposition and was just one of hundreds of labor matters handled by Ickes and his office. In fact, people who worked with Ickes agreed that the matter was not particularly significant. Further, Ickes had no prior knowledge that the Diamond Walnut matter would be a subject of the questioning and had had no reason to refresh his recollection on the topic.
"In summary, I concluded, applying the standard in the Independent Counsel Act, that there are no reasonable grounds for further investigation because there is clear and convincing evidence that Ickes lacked the intent to lie.
"Today's determination only ends our probe into whether Ickes lied before Congress. It does not end our vigorous investigation into allegation of illegal activity surrounding the 1996 elections. That investigation already has resulted in charges against 15 people."
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98-039