John Kerry: “I want my colleagues to understand the facts here. This case began as an administrative inquiry, with no immediate…”

“I want my colleagues to understand the facts here. This case began as an administrative inquiry, with no immediate evidence of wrongdoing. The violations or potential violations of law were not discovered until the process of the administrative inquiry was underway. At that time, a prosecutive summary was appropriately sent to the Justice Department, and people were dismissed. In the case of Acting Secretary Eagleburger, he personally intervened and made it public because it occurred in the middle of the election. It was a front-page issue at the time, and there was sufficient pressure and visibility that he made a personal decision that it was important to clear the air in that context, and so he made it public without any administrative inquiry or criminal prosecution at the time. So that is the distinction. In the current case, there were clear violations of the law. So the assistant secretary for the administration did what is appropriate.”