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Editorials
Saturday, August 19, 2000Probe of Clinton could
influence the electionThe issue: A grand jury investigation of President Clinton for perjury and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinsky scandal could affect the presidential election.
THURSDAY'S disclosure that a new grand jury has been empaneled to hear evidence against President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal was obviously timed to embarrass Vice President Al Gore as he prepared to accept the Democratic presidential nomination.
Independent Counsel Robert Ray, the successor to Kenneth Starr, had said he would consider whether Clinton should be indicted after he leaves office Jan. 20. The grand jury is consistent with that pledge. The jury was convened July 11, according to unidentified sources.
The Associated Press, which reported the disclosure, said it came from sources who are not attached to the independent counsel's office. All that can be said with confidence is that the timing of the disclosure indicates that the sources did not have the success of the Democratic nominee at heart.
Representatives of the George W. Bush campaign deplored the timing of the leak as unfair to Gore, but such statements should be regarded skeptically. It's true that the Republicans' performance in the impeachment battle didn't improve their popularity ratings, but reminding people of the scandal is more likely to hurt Gore -- who defended Clinton --than Bush.
Most Americans thought they had heard the last of the scandal when the battle ended with the Senate refusing to remove Clinton from office -- essentially an acquittal. But that trial had to do with Clinton's fitness to remain in office under the constitutional standard of "high crimes and misdemeanors."
Whether he committed perjury or obstructed justice when he denied the affair with Lewinsky in sworn testimony in the Paula Jones case is still a question that could serve as the basis of an indictment.
The fact that most people may think the issue should be dropped hasn't deterred the independent counsel from pursuing the matter, and it probably shouldn't. The independent counsel has a mandate to see this through to its conclusion.
However, an indictment of Clinton between now and the election would be widely seen as politically motivated. There is a precedent.
In 1992 counsel Lawrence Walsh re-indicted former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in the Iran-contra case the Friday before the presidential election.
Walsh thought President Bush had been stonewalling his investigation, and this evidently was his way to retaliate. Bush lost the election to Clinton but pardoned Weinberger and five other Reagan-Bush officials who had been charged or convicted in the case.
Such blatant abuse of power must not be repeated.
Fiji’s ousted leader
seeks help abroad
FOR 56 days Mahendra Chaudhry, the duly elected prime minister of Fiji, was a prisoner of rebels along with members of his cabinet. Shortly after his election and inauguration as the head of a multiracial government, Chaudhry, Fiji's first prime minister of Indian ancestry, was toppled in a coup last May by a rebel band of indigenous Fijians led by businessman George Speight.
Their positions have changed dramatically since. Chaudhry was released and is now on an international tour to muster support for a campaign to restore the elected government. Speight has been arrested and is being held in an island prison.
Chaudhry has visited New Zealand and Australia and is now in India, where crowds welcomed him to the village of his ancestors. His grandfather emigrated to Fiji in 1912, one of thousands of Indians brought to Fiji to work on the sugar plantations.
The people of the village, in Haryana state, west of New Delhi, held nightlong vigils and offered prayers when Chaudhry was held as a prisoner. They welcomed him as a hero.
Later Chaudhry was to meet in New Delhi with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh. The Indian government still regards him as Fiji's prime minister.
Despite the reversal of fortune, Chaudhry is far from content. He and other government officials were released only after Speight succeeded in having the constitution guaranteeing Indians equal rights nullified. A new government has been appointed by the Fijian chiefs, excluding Indians.
The nullification of the rights of the Indian community was a grave setback for democracy in Fiji. The standoff for nearly two months also brought the economy to a halt. Although order has been restored by the army, the damage, both political and economic, is considerable.
Chaudhry has shown courage by conducting this pro-democracy campaign after his ordeal. However, resentment of Indians by the majority native Fijians, which led to the coup, makes it unlikely that Indian political rights will be restored for several years at least despite international protests.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
