FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 28, 1999
BUCHANAN TO RENO: EXPLAIN OR GO
COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan today called on
Atty. Gen. Janet Reno either to take responsibility for the Justice
Department's astonishing failure to wiretap suspected Chinese spy Wen Ho
Lee or identify and dismiss the subordinates she blames for not fully
briefing her.
"By Ms. Reno's own admission, when the FBI sought to wiretap Lee in 1997,
the Justice Department refused, and even after the FBI revised the
application twice, it was still not approved," Mr. Buchanan said. "Some
400 other wiretap warrants were rubber-stamped, but the request to
investigate what has since become the greatest security breach in history
was inexplicably rejected. Why?"
"Ms. Reno's assertion that she was not briefed is an inadequate defense for
her department's incompetence, and claiming that the FBI did not make a
compelling case is unacceptable," Mr. Buchanan said. " The Attorney General
must either take responsibility for her feckless stewardship or remove
those derelict in their duty."
"This latest round of the Clinton/Gore blame game is conclusive proof that
the days of 'the buck stops here' will not return until this Administration
packs its bags."
-------- 30 --------
| 
