EMERSON CLEARED OF CRIMINAL MISDEEDS; ABOUT 70 EXONERATED IN BAD CHECK SCANDAL

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson was among at least 70 lawmakers cleared Wednesday of criminal wrongdoing by the Justice Department in an investigation of the House bank.

The Justice Department promised more lawmakers would be exonerated in its investigation.

Emerson said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that he was "pleased to receive my letter of exoneration from the special counsel to the U.S. Attorney General.

"From day one of the House Bank situation, I have called for full disclosure and have made all of my records and documents public. Today, I release this letter as another step in that process," Emerson said.

In the letter signed by Malcolm R. Wilkey, special counsel to the attorney general House members were told there is "no basis for pursuing a further inquiry regarding possible criminal violations concerning your account."

In March, Emerson revealed that the House Ethics Committee advised him that he had written six bad checks on the House bank, totaling $26,345, between Jan. 31, 1989 and Sept. 30, 1991.

Emerson said he was never advised by the bank that his account was overdrawn, and said no tax dollars were involved in the House bank where he and his colleagues had their monthly pay checks automatically deposited.

Pete Jeffries, an aide to Emerson, said the letter was received late Wednesday afternoon. He acknowledged that the letter should close the book on the matter.

"We certainly expected to get a letter," Jeffries added. "We knew there was in no way any criminal wrongdoing. We are pleased about getting the letter in hand."

At least 67 House members said they had received the letter Wednesday. Among those cleared were Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., who had two overdrafts, and Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who had 22. House Minority Leader Robert Michel, R-Ill., had no overdrafts.

Missouri Reps. Ike Skelton, a Lexington Democrat; Joan Kelly Horn, a Ladue Democrat; and Harold Volkmer, a Hannibal Democrat, also received the letters. Skelton wrote nine bad checks and Horn and Volkmer each had one during a 39-month period ending last October.

Republican Reps. Tom Coleman and Mel Hancock had no bad checks.

The Justice Department would not say how many House members were being cleared in the initial batch of letters, expected to be delivered over the next few days, or how many will face a continuing review.

But a department statement said it was Wilkey's "firm expectation that the vast majority of members and former members under review will receive clearance letters."

Wilkey's letter to members said future notification letters will be sent "as soon as we have satisfied ourselves that the records do not disclose any conduct which would warrant further inquiry."

He wrote that the notifications received now "should not imply that members not yet notified will not in the future receive a letter similar to this."

Foley, in a statement on behalf of the House Democratic leadership, said it "has always been evident to us" that "no member has violated any law in this matter."

The speaker said he was informed that "delivery of letters from Judge Wilkey will continue into next week and beyond."

Rep. Fortney Pete Stark, D-Calif., who received an exoneration letter, nonetheless attacked Wilkey for sending the notifications.

"It's a dastardly political thing if some poor bastard gets no letter," he said. "I'm not a lawyer, but it doesn't seem to me it quite follows what ought to be ethics."

Rep. Alan Wheat, a Kansas City Democrat, and House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, a St. Louis Democrat, did not receive letters from Wilkey on Wednesday, according to their spokesmen.

Wheat had 86 overdrafts and Gephardt had 28.

Rep. William Clay, a St. Louis Democrat, had 328 overdrafts, according to the House Ethics Committee, which identified him as one of 22 current and former House members who were the top bad-check writers.

A telephone call by the Associated Press to Clay's office seeking information about Wilkey's letter was not returned on Wednesday.

The special counsel, who is a former federal judge, is conducting only a preliminary inquiry to determine whether a full-blown criminal investigation is needed against any lawmaker.

If such an investigation were launched, witnesses would be called before a grand jury and potential criminal evidence would be presented.

Wilkey prepared the clearance letter after reviewing thousands of bad checks drawn on 329 accounts by current and former members of Congress during the 39-month period ended last Oct. 3. Another 171 accounts had no overdrafts and have not been part of the probe.

Lawmakers wrote more than 24,000 overdrafts without financial penalty, at the House bank, which was closed a year ago. This amounted to interest-free loans.

The House ethics committee conducted its own study of the situation and identified 22 current and former House members as abusers of their checking accounts.

The check scandal, which erupted in the spring of 1991, already has led to the defeat of several members of Congress. Attorney General William Barr appointed Wilkey last March.

Legal experts said Wilkey would try to determine whether a variety of banking, fraud, theft and campaign finance laws may have been violated.

One focus of the investigation likely involves check kiting. This occurs when someone covers overdrafts on one bank account by writing overdrafts from a second account. The kiting is accomplished by taking advantage of the "float," the time it takes for checks to clear.

Such an action could violate federal mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud statutes.

The department said Wilkey has given the attorney general an interim report on the probe.

(Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press.)