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 For Immediate Release
Apr 24, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172


MORE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANTICS

CAMPAIGN FINANCE TASK FORCE INTERVIEWS CLINTON AND GORE AND LEAKS STORY LATE GOOD FRIDAY

As Part Of Effort To Short-Circuit Court Action On E-Mail Scandal

(Washington, D.C.) Last Friday evening, the Clinton-Gore Justice Department leaked a story claiming that its Campaign Finance Task Force had interviewed Bill Clinton and Al Gore concerning matters related to its so-called investigation. The announcement was made at a time that the Clinton-Gore Justice Department knew would not get much attention, particularly given the planned raid the next morning on the home of the Miami family of Elian Gonzalez.

However, there is an interesting story behind these reported interviews of the President and Vice President which was lost in the media melee over Elian. The interviews would not have taken place – and indeed for the last four years, neither Bill Clinton nor Al Gore were ever questioned by the Justice Department – if Judicial Watch had not sparked the e-mail scandal through its whistleblower clients, Sheryl Hall and Betty Lambuth. The interviews are part of an effort to try to create the appearance that the Clinton-Gore Justice Department Campaign Finance Task Force is conducting an investigation of not just campaign finance matters, but also the e-mail scandal. It was obviously timed to take place before a Court hearing scheduled for later this week (10:00 a.m.,Thursday, April 27, 2000) before the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth in Judicial Watch's Filegate case, where the Clinton-Gore Justice Department is asking the Court to stay a request for proceedings concerning the e-mail scandal, and to defer to the Clinton-Gore Justice Department's so-called ongoing investigation.

Neither Sheryl Hall nor Betty Lambuth have been contacted by Robert Conrad, head of the Clinton-Gore Justice Department Campaign Finance Task Force. This underscores the lack of seriousness of the Clinton-Gore Justice Department's investigation, and shows that the interviews of Bill Clinton and Al Gore – while generated by Judicial Watch's actions – are only for public consumption.

"Since Judicial Watch first requested an evidentiary hearing on the e-mail issue, 69 days will have elapsed up to and including the Court hearing scheduled for April 27. The Clinton-Gore Justice Department said that it could complete its investigation in 60 to 90 days. Accordingly, Judicial Watch will be telling the Court that it is time to proceed on its own to undertake a mini-trial to get to the bottom of this obstruction of justice," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.

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