WITHOUT ROSTENKOWSKI FIGHT, TRUTH MAY NEVER OUT

Published reports over the weekend indicated that the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, has decided to reject prosecutors' offers of a plea bargain. If indicted, the reports say, Rostenkowski will fight in court to clear his name, forcing prosecutors to prove their charges. If these reports are true, let us be among the first to say we're glad the chairman has decided to stand and fight.

There are several reasons for saying this. First, let none among us forget the presumption of innocence, a time-honored principle of Anglo-American jurisprudence. As leaks and rumors filter out of a supposedly secret grand jury process, a rumored target, together with his or her family, is literally put through the trials of the damned. There is something wrong and fundamentally un-American about this, as the unlimited resources of the federal government are brought to bear for years on end, rummaging through the details of a life until something is found on which the feds believe they can earn a conviction.

If the feds believe they have the evidence, let them swiftly seek an indictment, and get to the speedy trial guaranteed all Americans by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. But the Hobson's choice Rosty faces -- plead guilty to felonies or risk bankruptcy in trying to match the government's resources in mounting a defense -- is bleak indeed.

That said, it's worth noting that the Rostenkowski investigation did not materialize in a vacuum. It's a portion of what the investigating U.S. attorney this week reminded us is the probe into the House Post Office scandal. Remember that? It seems ages ago now that the House Postmaster pleaded guilty to felonies involving conversion of stamps to cash and other illicit practices, investigators said, on behalf and at the behest of various congressmen. Rostenkowski was among those alleged to have been named, but at least three other unnamed congressmen were also implicated.

Who are they? Why has it taken investigators years to get this out in the open? For that matter, why have no public hearings been held? Are the very Washington types now predicting Rosty's demise secretly hoping that he will go quietly, in solitude, taking the rap for a much wider scandal that could ensnare many other members of Congress and staffers as well? All these questions deserve answers.

Recall that a couple of years ago, all Washington was abuzz when Heather Foley, wife and chief of staff to House Speaker Tom Foley, had to testify before the grand jury looking into the Post Office scandal. Wild charges of drug sales and other Post Office crimes abounded. Then -- nothing.

Frankly, this sort of official arrogance is what can be expected when a democratic body remains under one-party control for four decades, a record of one-party dominance unmatched anywhere in the world this side of North Korea.

The whole Rostenkowski affair has another troubling dimension. His attorney is the much-in-demand, highly skilled criminal defense specialist, Robert Bennett. President Bill Clinton has also hired Bennett, to defend him against charges by Paula Corbin Jones that he sexually harassed her. Potential conflicts here abound: Bennett is the President's lawyer; he is Rostenkowski's; and as such he has been negotiating with a Clinton Justice Department whose head, Janet Reno, owes her job -- and reports -- to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Somebody better call in the legal ethics experts to sift through that one. Meanwhile, we hope Rosty continues to fight, so that more of the truth will out. We will continue waiting -- without holding our breath -- for congressional hearings to lay before the public the seamy business of the House Post Office.