WASHINGTON -- Two powerful committee chairmen, both Democrats, put the heat on Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday to find out whether U.S. officials broke the law in handling the Banca Nazionale de Lavoro (BNL) case.
Sen. David Boren, D-Okla., head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in in a letter to Barr that he should 'promptly' appoint an independent counsel to investigate the billions in illicit loans from BNL's branch in Atlanta to arm Iraq's war machine.
The headquarters of BNL, almost totally owned by the Italian government, is located in Rome. Boren said there are allegations from 'many quarters' that the headqquarters knew of the loans made by an American, Christopher Drogoul.
In the letter to Barr and at a news conference in Tulsa, Okla., Boren said, 'there is now information sufficient to constitute grounds to investigate whether government officials broke the law and, accordingly, whether the federal court in Washington should be asked to appoint a special prosecutor.
'I urge that you act promptly in this regard,' Boren said.'
Rep. Henry Gonzales, D-Texas., the chairman of the House Banking Committee, charged Tuesday that Barr and others in the administration had delayed indictments, sought to prevent cooperation with several investigations, and refused to appoint an independent counsel.
In a letter to Barr, Gonzales said, 'The evidence is that high levels of the Justice Department were in regular contact with the Italian government concerning the BNL case, and that these same political levels of the Department were aware of the Italian government's desire for 'some kind of damage control.'
'This is consistent with the various decisions by the Justice Department, including accepting the 'rogue bank' theory which absolved BNL-Rome and its governnent owner of responsibility, as well as numerous actions to prevent, delay and frustrate the investigation of this committee.
'Likewise political considerations may well account for delays in the BNL indictment, and even for the infamous CIA report that intentionally misinterpreted what was known about possible involvement of BNL-Rome,' Gonzales said. 'Most certainly, your refusal to appoint an independent counsel was a political decision.'
Gonzales blamed Barr for putting the integrity of the Justice Department 'in question' and urged him to 'submit your resignation at once.'
Boren said although the Justice Department contends that the CIA failed to provide key documents, 'in fact the evidence shows that that FBI, which is part of the Justice Department, received or was knowledgeable of nearly all of the key classified reports at the time they were originally issued.
'Certain of these documents clearly should have given rise to intensive questioning of Italian officials, questioning of CIA officials regarding the reliability of their reporting and specific tasking by Justice to gather more information directly relevant to the trial,' Boren wrote. 'None of this appears to have occurred.'
Boren said that Judge Marvin Shoob, handling the Drogoul case, said in an Oct. 5 opinion that information may have been withheld from local prosecutors; prosecutors failed to investigate seriously whether BNL- Rome knew of Drogoul's activities; the government failed to produce and made no effort to produce a banking official from Rome; high level State Department officials met with the Italian ambassador and 'tried to steer this case;' the local prosecutor received highly unusual telephone calls from the White House Office of Legal Counsel; and that the CIA is uncooperative.
The Shoob opinion and other facts 'warrant immediate reconsideration of your previous refusal to appoint a special prosecutor. A truly independent investigation is required to determine whether federal crimes were committed in the government's handling of the BNL case,' Boren said.
