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Freeh Memo To Get An Airing On Capitol Hill

By Bob Franken and Pierre Thomas/CNN freeh reno

WASHINGTON (Dec. 17) -- FBI agents will go to Capitol Hill soon to read to members of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee portions of a controversial memo from FBI Director Louis Freeh to Attorney General Janet Reno, CNN has learned. The memo will be read to senior members of the committee in closed session.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Committee Chairman Dan Burton said "Well, I think we're getting what we want, we're getting the information that's in it and getting the reasons why there's a big difference between the attorney general and the FBI director and that's the main thrust of our hearing and everything else to find out why there's this big difference and so the committee knows, the Congress knows and the American people know."

Sources familiar with the deliberations say senior FBI agents will read portions of the memo which lay out Freeh's legal analysis and interpretation of the investigation. Freeh disagreed with Reno's decision not to ask for an independent counsel to look into fund-raising phone calls made by the president and vice president. The memo has become a political hot potato, with congressional Republicans eager to see its contents.

Freeh's theories on the investigation will also be read, but not any specific evidence or names.

A senior Justice Department official confirmed the meeting will take place, but said Justice officials would only read "summaries of portions of the memo." Participating in the meeting will be Burton, chair of the committee; the ranking minority member; one staff each from the Republican and Democratic side of the aisle; Justice Department attorneys and senior FBI agents. The meeting will take place after the first of the year.

The compromise averts a legal showdown between Burton and the nation's two top law enforcement officers. Burton had threatened to hold Reno and Freeh in contempt if they did not provide him the memo. Reno and Freeh raised concerns about evidence and suggested providing the memo could weaken communication among senior Justice staff. Reno has said she wants her staff to speak and write their positions freely, without fear of being hauled before Congress.


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