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 For Immediate Release
Aug 11, 2000 Contact: Press Office
202-646-5172
JUDICIAL WATCH FILES COMPLAINTS AGAINST INS COMMISSIONER DORIS MEISSNER ON GROUNDS OF MISUSE OF TAXPAYER RESOURCES AND WITNESS TAMPERING OVER INS AWARDS

Complaints Allege Attempts To Bribe INS Agents To Influence Testimony In Civil Lawsuit


(Washington, D.C.) Today, Judicial Watch, the public-interest law firm which investigates and prosecutes government corruption, and which has filed a $100-million civil rights case on behalf of Little Havana residents concerning the illegal raid of their neighborhood on April 22, 2000 against INS Commissioner Doris Meissner, Attorney General Janet Reno, and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, filed complaints with the following government authorities:
  1. The Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice;
  2. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia;
  3. The Office of Professional Responsibility of the U.S. Department of Justice;
  4. The Inspector General of the Immigration and Naturalization Services; and
  5. The General Services Administration
The complaints allege the misuse of taxpayer resources to influence and bribe INS agents who are material witnesses. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1512 (Tampering With a Witness, Victim or Informant), it is illegal to offer or provide anything of value to a witness in court litigation. Awards and benefits were recently announced by INS Commissioner Meissner for the INS agents who participated in the illegal raid on the home and neighborhood of the Gonzalez family in Little Havana, in an obvious attempt to influence their testimony in the Judicial Watch case against Ms. Meissner, Attorney General Janet Reno and Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder.

"Let the word go out to all public officials that Judicial Watch will not turn a blind eye to this kind of criminal conduct," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. "If these government agencies fail to act, we have other legal ways to hold Ms. Meissner accountable for this attempted and actual obstruction of justice," added Klayman.

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