No Charges of People Likely in Donor Probe
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WASHINGTON — The Senate committee investigating campaign fund-raising abuses will probably not recommend that specific charges be brought against any individuals, the panel chairman said Sunday.
“There will be some referrals made to [the Justice Department] when appropriate,” said Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.). “It will not be specific recommendations.”
Thompson, in an interview on CNN’s “Late Edition,” said any decision on whether to proceed with criminal charges would be made by the Justice Department.
The committee’s report “will be referring information over what we think is . . . testimony [that] is inconsistent with the facts, and let the Justice Department take it from there,” said Thompson, who on Friday suspended public hearings and said his inquiry would wrap up Dec. 31 as scheduled.
Thompson said that despite a public statement by Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) that some individuals will be cited for perjury, the committee has not decided what it will do and it is too early to discuss any individuals.
Thompson also said the decision by the Senate to set a time limit on the hearings was the biggest shortcoming of the investigation into the funding of the 1996 campaigns.
He said the time limit allowed potential witnesses and other people with possibly pertinent information to use delaying tactics.
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