Senator in a Drum

Senator in a Drum

Senator Don Nickles

Friday, August 1st 1997:

If it wasn't so pathetic you'd have laughed yesterday as the Senate campaign finance hearings revved up to a new low, pitting two creeps from what is billed as a "high-level" private investigating firm against Senator Don Nickles who was waiting to ambush them after listening to their pap about Charlie Trie, the Clinton legal defense trust and a host of other things that had nothing to do with campaign finance.

The two witnesses? --Terry Lenzner and Loren Berger would scare the hell out you if you woke up next to them. Their jobs? --To get dirt on people for corporations and politicians. Their firm? -- The Investigative Group International (IGI) -- a 92 person freak show devoted to ferreting out secrets and lies for the opposition -- whoever will pay them.

Never trust a company with the last word "International," it's always a pose.

IGI was retained by the Presidential Legal Trust to check on funds brought to the trust by Charlie Trie. It turned out that most of the money came from a Buddhist group "Suma Ching Hai," based now in Cambodia. It was the Republican plan to roast Lenzner and his side-kick for investigating the source of the checks but failing to investigate Trie -- supposedly because the Trust was instructed to lay off Trie by the White House. The silent allegation? That Harold Ickes was protecting Trie.

But none of this has to do with much except embarrassing the President.

The real story involves Senator Nickles, Big Oil, Indian tribes, bribes and broken promises.

It seems that a Cheyenne/Arapaho tribe in Nickle's home state of Oklahoma is staking claim to a big parcel of land which oil companies have interest in. The Indians claim the land under treaty, but Nickles opposes a transfer to them and has been instrumental in blocking the return.

IGI's Lenzner

IGI's Berger

Enter a couple of Democratic National Committee fundraisers who corner the tribal chieftains and suggest that for a small contribution -- say $100 thousand -- the tribe might get its land back. They also "suggest" that the tribe give unbelievably lucrative contracts to Nate Landau and Peter Knight to "help them along with the project. Landau and Knight are not what you'd call wet behind the ears in the field of political maneuvering. A simple check of Landau's FEC report will show you that.

Anyway the tribe bites, delivers a fat check to the DNC, parties at the White House and then... nothing. The DNC attempts to hit them up for another $25,000 but gets the cold shoulder from the tribe who realizes they've been had.

Democrats also brought the tribe to Lenzner who gave them a memo of points he would "investigate" regarding the Nickles "problem." Those "points" included investigating Nickles, his wife and his holdings among which is the "Don Nickles Professional Cleaning Service." Some comic relief here.

But it wasn't funny.

Senator Arlen Specter

Arlen Specter took up Nickles cause seeming to surprise even Thompson who seemed flustered at the turn of events and interrupted Specter reminding him his time was up. But Specter prevailed and continued his harangue on Lenzner. He asked whether the purpose of Lenzner's work was to "dig up dirt" on Senator Nickels and then accused Lenzner of investigating Nickles so the Indians could pressure Nickles to change his position. Coercion? -- "to put it mildly," said Specter.

Lenzner claimed that "the client" asserted that Senator Nickles was paid off by the oil and gas industry.Specter countered and asked why they were invesitgatiing NIckles' wife. Lenzner didn't respond well and then Senator Specter asked the jackpot question, "What would you have done with the information?"

"Give it to the client," responded Lenzner, who later claimed that if he found out a client was going to use IGI-obtained information for blackmail he would withhold it. Sure. And butterflies have lips.

Senator Nickles was red in the face as he opened with "I don't mind you messin' with me, but I do mind you messin' with my family."

It was downhill from there for Lenzner and IGI.

To add insult to injury it came out that a chief fundraiser for Vice President Gore came back for more, asking the tribe for $25,000 toward the inaugural. This time the Indians weren't so dumb. They turned him down flat. Landau asked them for 10% of the settlement prices on the land, if sold, and a lot more. Knight asked for a $10,000 retainer and $10,000 a month to represent them according to Republicans.

What a mess!

"Were you trying to intimidate me, coerce me, bribe me or blackmail me?" spat Nickles.

You're darn right they were.

They'll probably bill double next year.

I don't know if Senator Thompson will bring IGI and the rest of the DNC team involved back for more grilling. If he does he'll score big. But if he does he's exposing himself and everyone on the Committee to Lenzner and his henchmen.

What could IGI dig up on them?