FBI Director Plays Up China Probe

The FBI’s inquiry into alleged efforts by Chinese officials to influence last year’s U.S. elections has become “a very extensive investigation” focusing on “violations of criminal law [that] rise above routine, legitimate lobbying efforts,” Director Louis J. Freeh said Sunday.

Although he did not mention President Clinton by name, Freeh’s comments on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” seemed to rebut recent remarks by Clinton that tended to downplay the gravity of the case.

Clinton, speaking at a news conference, had recommended against jumping to dire judgments about reports of a bid by China to play a role in U.S. politics, and he observed that many countries, including Israel and Greece, spend money to legally lobby this country’s policies.

Sources close to the FBI investigation, however, have said there is evidence that China mounted a well-funded attempt to influence the U.S. political process, that the orders came from high Chinese officials, and that many of these efforts were illegal or improper.

Freeh, making a rare television appearance at a time when both the FBI and his leadership of the agency have come under attack, said 38 agents are looking into “potential criminal violations” of which Clinton may not be fully aware.

Because White House officials and people associated with Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign could figure in the probe, FBI officials who have briefed the president’s national security advisors have withheld some information from them, he said.

Freeh said these briefings have tried to “balance” the needs of the president for intelligence about China with protecting the integrity of the Justice Department investigation by withholding details of it from people who could be under scrutiny by the grand jury working on the case.

Freeh, answering a variety of questions, also discussed his plans for the future, the Atlanta Olympics bombing case and problems with the FBI crime laboratory.

Asked about news reports that he thought about quitting as he and his agency were buffeted by controversy, Freeh replied: “I’ve certainly thought about that, but my work in the FBI has been very satisfying. . . . I think my leadership is still effective.”

Freeh, appointed in 1993 to a 10-year term that a president could terminate only by citing “just cause,” declined to commit himself to serving the full 10 years.

When asked if he planned to complete his term, the father of five young boys smiled and said: “It’s hard to predict. If I have another couple of babies, I may not be able to.”

But he added: “I’m very happy where I am. I’ve got a lot of plans that the agency needs to complete. And I’m very proud to serve.”

Asked about the investigation of the pipe bomb that exploded during a concert at the Olympic Games in Atlanta last July and killed one person in the crowd, Freeh said the FBI has run “thousands of leads over many, many months” but that “we do not at this point have a suspect.”

He said he is convinced that there was no attempt to violate the constitutional rights of Richard Jewell, the security guard who once was considered a suspect in the case, even though FBI agents used a ruse to interview him about the bombing.

Freeh noted that Jewell terminated the interview after he was advised of his rights to remain silent. The ruse, however, may have been “an error of judgment [by some agents], and we’ll make a determination as to whether anybody should be held accountable,” he said.

Turning to an array of problems at the agency’s crime laboratory, which were outlined by the Justice Department’s inspector general last month, Freeh acknowledged that “whistle-blowing” by lab scientist Frederic Whitehurst--the first to raise charges of poor management and falsification of lab results--led the FBI “to some very important realizations” about the laboratory’s deficiencies. He added that “we want to encourage that kind of openness.”

Still, Freeh said many of the charges by Whitehurst, who has been suspended from duty, proved to be exaggerated. Whether Whitehurst ultimately will be fired “is in the hands of the Justice Department,” the director said.