Senate votes to finally end Cisneros probe

The eleven-year odyssey of Independent Counsel David Barrett and his dogged pursuit of Henry Cisneros (see here for more) may finally be wrapping up.

The Senate decided today that it was time to close to a decade-old, $20 million investigation of former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros — years after Cisneros received a presidential pardon.

The amendment to a spending bill, approved by voice vote, would require that the report of Independent Counsel David Barrett be made public within 60 days, and that the independent counsel close his office within 90 days after the report is published.

"The American taxpayers have spent a lot of money on this report and they deserve the right to see it," said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, author of the measure.

The circumstances surrounding the Cisneros investigation are "all gone but the independent counsel is still working 11 years later," said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who earlier this year was unsuccessful in trying to cut off spending for the probe.

[...]

The Cisneros provision would become law only if the House, which passed a different version of the spending bill, agrees.

So will Tom DeLay let the House pass this version of the spending bill and thus demonstrate that he's above pursuing the kind of petty, vindictive, partisan with hunt of which he claims to be a victim, or will he come up with some excuse to let this modern day Javert stay attached to the gravy train? Stay tuned and find out. Link via Houtopia.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 23, 2005 to Scandalized! | TrackBack