If you choose to block or allow a website or category, this also takes priority over the Grown up browsing time setting (if it’s switched on). Republican posters have focused on that perceived weakness, showing the two men locked in a warm embrace.You can block or allow individual websites or categories, overriding the age rating setting. Mr Gore has been on a nationwide "prosperity tour" aimed at capitalising on the healthy state of the economy and presenting his ideas on bolstering social security and government-sponsored health care programmes.īut even before news emerged of a possible special counsel investigation, he was still trailing several points behind Mr Bush, especially among men and married couples, for whom the vice- president appears to carry the moral taint of his close friendship with Bill Clinton. He is expected to win the Green party nomination, and although his support remains in single-digit figures, he appeals to core Democrats, particularly environmentalists and union members who are unhappy with Mr Clinton's trade deal with China. Meanwhile, Mr Gore's aides are concerned about the emergence of Ralph Nader as a serious election concern on the left. Ms Reno could once more turn down the call for an independent inquiry, but such a decision would provoke damaging Republican claims of a cover-up. His aides claimed that the information had been leaked for political purposes and insisted that Mr Gore had fully cooperated with the fundraising inquiry. Mr Gore was campaigning in Minnesota when news of the justice department recommendation emerged, and appeared to have been taken by surprise.
Another official said the FBI "are really pushing the perjury stuff, because they are convinced he lied to them". One source quoted in the New York Times said that investigators were "punching holes in the iced tea defence". He had claimed in a 1998 interview with FBI agents that he drank a lot of iced tea at staff meetings and might therefore have gone to the toilet when the matter was discussed. Justice department investigators are reportedly dissatisfied with Mr Gore's claims that he was unaware of the distinctions between the sort of fundraising that was permissible from White House telephones. It was real confrontational and put him on the spot," said one unnamed official quoted in the New York Times. "It was sure as hell a different approach. The interview appears to have provoked angry reactions from Mr Gore. A 19th century civil service law prevents the use of government offices to raise federally-regulated campaign funds.Īccording to reports yesterday, Mr Conrad's decision was influenced by interviews with Mr Gore, including a four-hour interrogation at the vice-presidential residence on April 18. He had also been investigated for 45 fundraising telephone calls made from his office, and for about 100 coffee meetings at the White House arranged for top campaign contributors. Mr Gore has claimed he did not know the event was a fundraiser. Mr Gore had long been under scrutiny for a visit he made to a Buddhist monastery where campaign contributions were solicited in contravention of federal rules banning fundraising at religious sites. The recommendation to appoint a special counsel came from Robert Conrad, the head of a justice department task force which has been looking into the 1996 fundraising. She has overruled two previous recommendations for an investigation of Mr Gore.Īt a press conference yesterday, Ms Reno, who was reported to be furious at the leak of news about a potential fresh inquiry, insisted that she would not be rushed into making a decision. The decision about whether to appoint an independent investigator, a "special counsel", is now on the desk of the attorney-general, Janet Reno. It would lend substantial weight to Mr Bush's strategy of portraying his opponent as fatally tainted by the scandals which have enveloped the Clinton White House. An investigation into whether Mr Gore broke electoral rules while fundraising for the 1996 election would be a heavy burden to carry into the last few months of the presidential campaign.
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