Kendra S. Horn: “I think all of us have sat through the hours of testimony of Mr. Freeh and Mr. LaBella. We are really shocked by the…”

“I think all of us have sat through the hours of testimony of Mr. Freeh and Mr. LaBella. We are really shocked by the treatment of two great public servants who had the courage to put their words in writing to advise the Attorney General. They wanted to go over their memoranda with her, but the letters just sat there. Until recently, they never had an opportunity to go over their memoranda with her. One of our Members [Mr. Souder] asked Mr. LaBella how much new information he had in his memo. Since we could not see the memos, that was the whole issue--what information was still hidden--and that was why a majority voted for contempt, which was agreed in the committee. LaBella replied that the public and we probably only know 1 percent of what was in that memo. Now that is shocking. That means the American people, elected legislators, and the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight have been blocked from knowing 99 percent of what is behind the tremendous misuse of the law and of the basic campaign finance laws in the 1996 presidential campaign. Denying us information and truth had been the typical pattern within the administration but it was the first time I had seen the Attorney General engage in that behavior.”