Stanford Law Library 3 6105 062 492 306 COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE TOM BLILEY, Virginia, Chairman W.J. "BILLY" TAUZIN, Louisiana J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania HEATHER WILSON, New Mexico JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan RICK BOUCHER, Virginia THOMAS J. MANTON, New York EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York FRANK PALLONE, Jr., New Jersey SHERROD BROWN, Ohio BART GORDON, Tennessee ELIZABETH FURSE, Oregon PETER DEUTSCH, Florida BOBBY L. RUSH, Illinois ANNA G. ESHOO, California RON KLINK, Pennsylvania BART STUPAK, Michigan ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio ALBERT R. WYNN, Maryland GENE GREEN, Texas KAREN MCCARTHY, Missouri TED STRICKLAND, Ohio DIANA DEGETTE, Colorado JAMES E. DERDERIAN, Chief of Staff CHARLES L. INGEBRETSON, General Counsel REID P.F. STUNTZ, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS JOE BARTON, Texas, Chairman January 4, 1999 TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE: Dear Colleague: Attached for your information is a Committee staff report, accompanied by additional and dissenting views of the Members of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, setting forth evidence warranting further action by Federal law enforcement authorities with respect to the circumstances surrounding the planned relocation of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the Portals, a commercial office complex located in southwest Washington, DC. This report is the culmination of a year-long investigation that was prompted by serious public allegations that close associates of Vice President Gore may have used their influence with political officials at the FCC and the General Services Administration to exact favorable treatment on the Portals project. These associates include Mr. Franklin Haney, who was recently indicted by a Federal grand jury as part of the U.S. Justice Department's campaign finance investigation, Mr. Peter Knight, who was the campaign manager for the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign, and, as subsequently learned by the Committee, Mr. James Sasser, the current U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and a former U.S. Senator. As you may recall, Mr. Haney was held in contempt of Congress by the Committee in June of 1998 for failing to provide pertinent documents pursuant to lawful Committee subpoenas documents which he ultimately provided to the Committee and which undermined his previous public assertions about his Portals-related activities. The findings of this investigation, as extensively laid out in the accompanying staff report, reveal that Mr. Haney paid his representatives millions of dollars in fees upon the successful closing of the Portals transaction, in which the Federal government agreed to specific lease changes sought by Mr. Haney as a condition for his financing of the Portals building. The report sets forth specific and credible evidence warranting further investigation as to whether Mr. Haney and his representatives may have violated Federal laws in connection with these fee arrangements, and whether one or more of these same individuals may have made false statements under oath before the Subcommittee concerning the nature of these arrangements, the nature of their efforts to influence Federal agencies, and other material and related matters, such as the efforts of Mr. Haney and Mr. Sasser to secure the extension of certain leases with the Tennessee Valley Authority on Haney-owned properties. Due to the nature of the investigation's findings, Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton and I recently sent the enclosed report to the Justice Department and other relevant Federal investigative bodies for their review, and for such further action as is necessary and appropriate. Sincerely, TOM BLILEY, Chairman. |