CHARGES PENDING WHEN CLINTON LEAVES OFFICE

The chief Republican congressional investigator of political fund raising in 1996 said he is likely to refer President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Attorney General Janet Reno for prosecution after a new president takes office next year. The investigator, U.S. Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, said it appears Reno obstructed justice by refusing several times to request special prosecutors to investigate Clinton and Gore for money-raising irregularities during their campaign four years ago. Burton chairs the House Government Reform Committee.

"After this election, assuming we get a new attorney general, I think I will be sending criminal referrals," Burton said. "And the reason I'm waiting is that I don't think this Justice Department is going to do anything. I think Janet Reno has blocked for the president, as have her top officials over at the Justice Department. I think they've made a mockery of justice."

This will indeed be the verdict of history. There is already abundant evidence on the historical record to support chairman Burton's claim. Under Reno, the Justice Department has thrown over long-standing procedures in favor of the most blatantly political administration of justice ever. It has long been clear that discovering the truth and following hot investigative leads wherever they lead has decidedly taken a back seat to protecting top officials in the administration who had to know that they were pushing the limits of the law.

Reno's own hand-picked investigator recommended appointment of a special prosecutor. So did Federal Bureau of Investigation director Louis Freeh. Both indicated that the investigation would likely lead directly to both Clinton and Gore themselves. Nor is this all. Now, thanks to their testimony before the Burton committee, we know that two FBI agents were pressured by a top Reno lieutenant he was under pressure not to appoint a special prosecutor because Reno's job was on the line.

None of this mattered to Reno. For her, the only consideration was protecting both men, her own job and their thoroughly corrupt administration. What a disgrace.

This fall's election will in significant part be a referendum on such corruption. For the Clinton-Gore crowd, the stakes are even higher than normal. A real Justice Department headed by a real attorney general might just decide to do the right thing.