Interviews wtih U.S. Attorneys General Elliot Richardson, Richard Kleindienst, Dick Thornburgh, Edwin Meese, Whitewater Independent Counsel Joe diGenova and more...

RICHARD KLEINDIENST
(1923-2000)

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL
(1972-73)

DUTTON: Do you think President Nixon tried to impose his own will over the Rule of Law?

KLEINDIENST: Well, I don’t know if you ever read those tapes. There are a lot of funny little things going on in that White House at 5:00 in the afternoon that surprised a lot of us. The plumbers, doing this and breaking into a psychiatrist’s office, etc. I think some of those things were in violations of the law. I think the accumulation of that was revealed in those tapes led to President Nixon’s resignation because he was informed by Senator Goldwater, Congressman Rhodes and Senator Scott of Pennsylvania that the House would impeach him and that there were 75 votes in the Senate to convict him. That’s why he resigned. There was no use fighting city hall, you know. And he knew that he would be impeached.

ELLIOT RICHARDSON
(1920-1999)

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL
(1973)

DUTTON: Should there be a time limit on an Independent Counsel investigation? Is there too much opportunity to explore too many issues?

RICHARDSON: Well I think that it is a close question of whether there ought to be an independent counsel statute at all. It would not have occurred to me, had I been brought from the outside, into the mid initiative attorney general of the United States, at the time Watergate was being investigated. It would not have occurred to me then, in that case, to appoint independent counsel at all. Anymore than it would have occurred to me to appoint independent counsel for the Agnew investigation. So I therefore think that if we are to have an independent counsel statute, it ought to address only wrong doing occurring during the term of office of the person being investigated. I also think that it shouldn’t extend to what one might call routine or minor or petty offenses. I think that the wrong doing is judged by the appointment, by the independent counsel. It should be wrong doing which goes to the core of the duties of the Constitutional office. It ought to involve some abuse of power.

EDWIN MEESE, III

U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL
(1985-88)

DUTTON: You mentioned that all of the Attorneys General are in favor of changing the law or oppose the Independent Counsel Law. What would replace it?

MEESE: Well, we would go back to where we were before in the Nixon case in the White House in the Watergate situation where it's up to the Attorney General to carry his or her responsibilities under their oath. And in that case, what they did in Watergate and other similar situation in our history they bring in someone from the outside. But that someone cannot get out of control because they have to follow the rules of the Justice Department. And if they do get out of control, say if they were like Lawrence Walsh was, they could then be fired by the Attorney General so there is some control over them. The Attorney General would do so at his peril, he would have to convince the public; otherwise the public would take it out on the President.

LAWRENCE WALSH

INDEPENDENT COUNSEL (Iran-Contra) (1986-93)

DUTTON: Should the Independent Counsel Law be Renewed, reformed or what?

WALSH: It should be reformed. It should be limited to misconduct in exercising the power of office as happened in the case of President Reagan authorizing the Iran-Contra sales. But not include personal misconduct like sexual misbehavior or something that happened before a person is elected or appointed to office like Whitewater. Because those are very difficult investigations which don’t have the public significance the expense and time taken by an independent Counsel.

Second, the independent counsel law shouldn’t apply to so many officers. It should only be mandatory as to President, Vice President and Attorney General. After everybody else, the question should be does the Attorney General feel she has a conflict of interest if she tries it herself.

The third question should be who should appoint the independent counsel. Under the old law the attorney general did it, under the Independent Counsel Law it is a three judge special division under the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.......The appointment of Starr.........raises questions in my mind whether we shouldn’t go back to having the Attorney General appoint the independent counsel.

THE RULE OF LAW & SPECIAL PROSECUTOR PROCESS A SPECIAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES OF INTERVIEWS & FORUM
DATE	GUEST	LOCATION
1-29-99	Edwin Meese, III	Century Cable, Santa Monica, CA
2-19-99	Judge Lawrence Walsh	Fox Studio, Oklahoma City
4-19-99	Archibald Cox	Boston University
4-20-99	Richard Thornburgh	Natl. Press Bldg., Wash D.C
4-20-99	Elliot Richardson	Natl. Press Bldg., Wash D.C.
8-10-99	Richard Kleindienst	KUTP-TV, Phoenix AZ
8-23-99	Edwin Meese, III	Howard University Wash D.C.
8-23-99	Benjamin Civiletti	Howard University, Wash D.C.
8-23-99	Robert Fiske, Jr.	Howard University, Wash D.C.
11-1-99	Judge Robert Bork	Natl. Press Bldg. Wash D.C.
11-1-99	Judge Kenneth Starr	Natl. Press Bldg., Wash D.C.
4-12-00	Judge Shirley Hufstedler	World Television, Los Angeles
Forum: March 6, 2000 Atlantic Video, Washington D.C.
Bob Woodward, Journalist/Author; Chesterfield Smith, Pres. ABA 73-74; Judge Shirley Hufstedler, (Carter Administration); Hon. Edwin Meese, III, Hon. Richard Thornburgh (Iran-Contra); Judge Lawrence Walsh, Independent Counsel (Iran-Contra); Judge Kenneth Starr, Independent Counsel (Whitewater/Lewinsky); Robert B. Fiske, Independent Counsel (Whitewater); Joe DiGenova, Independent Prosecutor (Passportgate); Christopher Schroeder, Acting Asst. Attorney General (Clinton); Craig Gillen, Chief Deputy Prosecutor (Iran-Contra); on video tape: Judge Robert Bork, Hon. Elliot Richardson, Hon. Richard Kleindienst, and Professor Archibald Cox.

Our Full Disclosure Network® Forum "The Prosecutor and the Presidency" videotaped Washington D.C. March 3rd, 2000

Our Full Disclosure Network® Forum "The Prosecutor and the Presidency"
videotaped Washington D.C. March 3rd, 2000