What ever happened to the Henry Cisneros investigation? Following is a report from the Office of Independent Counsel:

OFFICE OF INDEPENDENT COUNSEL
David M. Barrett
IN RE HENRY G. CISNEROSThis is the website of the Office of Independent Counsel in the investigation and prosecutions involving matters relating to former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros.

In the latter half of 1994, accusations surfaced that then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros had made false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) in late 1992 and early 1993, when the agency was conducting a routine background investigation for his appointment and confirmation. The false statements concerned monetary payments he had made to Linda Medlar,1 with whom he had had an extramarital affair in the late 1980s. Cisneros allegedly had seriously misstated the amount and frequency of the payments he had made to her.

The controversy over Cisneros’s false statements came into the public eye in 1994 when Medlar filed a lawsuit against Cisneros and soon afterward revealed that she had secretly taped many of their telephone conversations. In some of the tapes she had made, she and Cisneros had discussed Cisneros’s statements to FBI agents and others, and related matters.

The false statement accusations prompted the Attorney General to initiate a preliminary investigation pursuant to the Independent Counsel Act, 28 U.S.C. � 591 et seq., to determine whether to ask for the appointment of an independent counsel. Following an extended investigation, the Attorney General applied to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Division for the Purpose of Appointing Independent Counsels (“Special Division”) for the appointment of an independent counsel.

The Special Division appointed David M. Barrett as Independent Counsel on May 24, 1995. It gave him the power and duty to investigate fully and, if necessary, to prosecute offenses arising from any false statements that Cisneros had made to the FBI during the background investigation leading to his appointment as HUD Secretary. The appointment order also gave the Independent Counsel jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute any person or entity for conspiracy to make such false statements, any related offenses, and any criminal interference with the Independent Counsel’s investigation.

The purpose of this website is to give the public access to public information that defines and explains the investigation. This information includes (1) the Attorney General’s request for the Appointment of an Independent Counsel, (2) the Court’s order appointing the Independent Counsel, (3) Independent Counsel David M. Barrett’s biography, (4) the indictments and criminal informations filed by this Office which set forth the charges against the defendants in these cases, as well as related plea agreements and sentencing documents, (5) selected pleadings and briefs, (6) selected court opinions, (7) President Clinton’s pardons of Cisneros and Medlar, and (8) comments made by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Sporkin concerning the quality of the advocacy during the Cisneros litigation.

On October 24, 2005, the Special Division granted the Independent Counsel’s motion to publish his Final Report to the extent of the material concerning the investigation of Secretary Cisneros and persons associated with him. The publication order and accompanying opinion denied the motion as to the publication of material relating to the Independent Counsel’s “investigations of alleged obstructions of justice and tax-related matters” found in Section V of the Report. The Court did order that sealed copies of Section V be provided to certain Member of Congress. That order was supplemented by a December 13, 2005 order, in which the Court stated that all materials released to Congress should also be released to the public.

On January 19, 2006, the Special Division authorized the public release of this office’s Final Report, with some redactions. On the same day, the Independent Counsel released a Press Release concerning the release.

We hope that you find this website useful. The website will be updated as more information concerning this Office becomes publicly available.

© 2006 – 2007, Kermit Buchanon. All rights reserved.