Mike Espy Testifies Before House Subcommittee On Faults Of Independent Counsel Statute

Jet, Oct 18, 1999

Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy was among four people who were put on trial by federal independent prosecutors to appear on Capitol Hill recently to testify about the law that gave these prosecutors almost unlimited power of pursuit.

The law, which expired June 30, was written after the Watergate scandal to establish a fully independent prosecutor outside the Justice Department to investigate high-level wrongdoing since the Justice Department itself is led by presidential appointees.

"I went from a Cabinet secretary to basically an unemployed person," said Mike Espy, who was the subject of a four-year, $17 million investigation. In the end, Espy was acquitted of all of the 30 corruption charges brought against him.

Espy said that after just nine hours of jury deliberation, he was called in by the jurors who told him that he was as innocent "as anyone they had ever seen." He said one juror told him, "Don't feel bad that we took nine hours. We're frequent smokers."

Others who testified at the House subcommittee hearing, which was long-sought by Democrats, were Whitewater probe figure Susan McDougal, Clinton investigation figure Julie Hiatt Steele and ex-Reagan White House political director Lyn Nofziger whose conviction on ethics violations in lobbying was overturned on appeal.

Mrs. McDougal said the statute "can be effective ... but only if operated as envisioned and not as a political hammer. Redefine the selection criteria and the oversight process."