Corpus Christi Caller: Call a Halt to Pursuit of Cisneros

This exercise in prosecutorial overkill should have run its course long since; by now, it has become a study in senseless persecution.

October 4, 2005

In August 1994, Kenneth W. Starr began his work as the independent counsel investigating suspicions that would become the Whitewater investigation, which then morphed into a probe into the death of Vincent W. Foster Jr., which then begat the firings in the White House travel office, and then into the Lewinsky scandal and impeachment.

Just one year after Starr began his work, another independent counsel, David M. Barrett, was appointed to look into another allegation: that Henry Cisneros, the former San Antonio mayor who was appointed housing secretary, had lied to the FBI in the vetting process. A year ago, Starr closed his office. The Cisneros investigation continues on, now 10 years running. Why?

Cisneros, now in private business, has long since paid his debt. Six years ago Cisneros pleaded guilty and paid a $10,000 fine. Though he was pardoned by Clinton, Cisneros paid a heavy political price. Once the darling of Texas and even the national Democratic Party, his fortunes plummeted after he admitted he had lied about how much money he had paid an ex-mistress.

So what is Barrett's office still investigating? In some quarters, the belief persists that there are more shenanigans still to uncover and more conspiracies to reveal. But there is a simpler explanation. The continuation of the Cisneros probe is nothing less than a travesty and an abuse of prosecutorial power. And this charade of justice is being done at the expense of the taxpayers who are shelling out $2 million a year for Barrett's office, according to the latest report from the Government Accountability Office.

Last year both Democrats and Republicans expressed outrage when they found out that Barrett's office was still in business and tried to kill it. But the measure was snuffed out by House Republicans, who believe that if someone stole a loaf of bread, then justice should be meted out, no matter how many millions it takes.

Barrett is the last independent counsel still grinding on. Each day that office continues takes it further from justice and closer to persecution of its target.