RENO - Defends Elian and Waco actions, says shows she can make tough decisions (O frabjous day, it's starting--whoopee!)

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Reno Defends Waco, Elian Actions

Saturday, June 23, 2001

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JUPITER, Fla. — Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, considering a run for Florida governor, on Friday said her actions involving Elian Gonzalez and Waco show she can make tough decisions as a leader.

Speaking to about 100 newspaper editors, Reno said she had not yet decided whether to become a Democratic gubernatorial candidate. But, sounding much like a politician, she called for more money for early childhood development programs and a stronger juvenile justice system to keep teens from becoming adult criminals.

Reno said she realizes some Miami residents would not vote for her because she authorized the return of Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba over the objections of the boy's Florida relatives and many in the Cuban-American community.

But she said others would appreciate that she took a stand on difficult decisions, including the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, that left about 80 people dead.

"I think the issue would be, who has had the most experience in making the hard decisions that we face in the executive branch," she told the annual gathering of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors and the Florida Press Association.

Reno said that while crime dropped each of her eight years as attorney general to a 30-year low, it is still too high. She said communities must provide jobs, restore voting rights and provide opportunities to the half-million criminals who will be leaving prison in the next five years.

"Let's stop the cycle of crime," she said.

Others considering a bid to unseat Republican Gov. Jeb Bush are Tampa attorney Bill McBride, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa, Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne, and former U.S. Rep. Pete Peterson, who is leaving his job next month as ambassador to Vietnam.

Earlier this week, state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami became the first Democratic candidate to announce he will run for governor. House Minority Leader Lois Frankel, of West Palm Beach, has said she plans to announce her candidacy Saturday.

Reno began the question and answer session by telling the editors, "No, I have not made up my mind."

Later, she said she is giving a potential gubernatorial bid "every consideration."

"I'd like to do it as soon as possible consistent with a thorough process," she said.

Reno also thanked reporters for their work during her tenure as attorney general.

"Never have I appreciated so much as I have in these eight years what the First Amendment means," she said. "I had Thursday morning press availabilities every Thursday morning. ... To try to listen to those questions that pointed to an issue that might we might not have given sufficient attention to and we were not familiar with is so important."

Reno was scheduled to speak later Friday to the Florida Bar Association in Orlando. Saturday, she will be among five potential Democratic candidates speaking at the party's annual Jefferson-Jackson fund-raiser in Miami Beach.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001

Answers

Fox

The Panel: Can Janet Reno Win the Florida Governor's Seat?

This partial transcript of Special Report with Brit Hume panel discussion, May 30, 2001, was provided by the Federal Document Clearing House. Click here to order the complete transcript.

BRIT HUME, HOST: Down in Florida, there's a woman who used to wrestle alligators. She then became the U.S. attorney general, a controversial one at that. And now Janet Reno is thinking about a run for governor, which would presumably pit her, should she get the nomination, against Jeb Bush. What about that candidacy?

Let's take a look at a poll that gives us some sense of where Floridians see the race now. Jeb Bush under 50 percent. That's always classically thought not to be a good for an incumbent. Janet Reno, 43 percent in a Miami Herald poll, despite the raging controversy in Florida about, among other things, the -- the Elian Gonzalez case. That poll might give her encouragement, one would think.

BILL SAMMON, THE WASHINGTON TIMES: I think it...

HUME: Mort?

SAMMON: Oh, I'm sorry.

HUME: Go ahead, Bill.

SAMMON: I think it gives Republicans encouragement.

HUME: Why?

SAMMON: Because Jeb Bush is in -- has been in some trouble in Florida. He's -- the Democrats are gunning for him. They have not forgiven him and won't forgive him for what they perceive as having stole Florida for his brother. I mean, there's just so much bad blood that they were going to gun for him in this election.

Now I think Jeb Bush has now been given a great gift if indeed -- and when I say they're happy that she's doing well in the polls -- because I don't think anyone expected her to do well in the polls, but now if she actually becomes a realistic candidate, this election won't be so much about whether Jeb Bush stole Florida for his brother, but it will become much more about Janet Reno.

She has much more baggage than Jeb does. Eight years as the head of the Justice Department under the Clinton White House. I think every scandal -- the Elian Gonzalez -- every controversy she's been involved in will come out and will be fodder for this campaign.

HUME: So you think she would be the issue.

MORT KONDRACKE, ROLL CALL: Well...

SAMMON: I do.

KONDRACKE: First, before got the nomination, she would have to fight her -- she has to fight her way through seven other wannabes, you know, the state House of Representatives minority leader, the state senator -- black state senator who wants it. The attorney general wants it.

HUME: Butterworth.

KONDRACKE: Right. You know, all of the -- and, you know, you don't know how nasty a Democratic primary could be and what they could bring up and -- and all the Clinton stuff and Elian Gonzalez and -- and so on. She could be pretty...

HUME: Well, that's...

KONDRACKE: ... pretty badly...

HUME: The Democratic primary would be a place where...

KONDRACKE: ... beat up.

HUME: ... her baggage would be -- would likely be advertised, would it not?

JEFF BIRNBAUM, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Yeah. And it could bring her down, no matter what. When you have that many people, she won't stand out head and shoulders above all the others, even though she probably stands head and shoulders above the others. She's a very tall woman.

She -- but we -- what we forget is before Janet Reno was the U.S. attorney general, she was the state's attorney in Miami and -- Miami County -- Dade County for a very long time and was very well liked down there, though occasionally controversial. She's extremely well known in Florida. She is a native Miamian. There are not many of those, truth be told.

And it -- and I'm not sure whether I agree with Bill that it would be to Bush's advantage because, if she does get the nomination, it could well be a replay of the 2000 election, and there might be some comeuppance against Bush, and Reno could benefit by the anger that's still latent there among Democrats...

SAMMON: Well, there -- there will be...

BIRNBAUM: ... and Independents.

SAMMON: There will be some comeuppance against Bush. I just think it will be greater against Reno. And let me throw one other thing into the mix. Her health. That is going to be a legitimate campaign issue. We saw how Dick Cheney's health was an issue.

HUME: She has...

SAMMON: She has Parkinson's disease, and I don't think -- obviously, no one wishes that on anyone, but it will be a fair-game political issue to ask whether she is up physically for the job.

HUME: Yeah.

KONDRACKE: Well, I think she -- you know, I know a lot about Parkinson's disease, and she probably is up physically for the job because she's -- she's had it, I believe, about four years, and it's still...

(CROSSTALK)

KONDRACKE: Yeah, she's got -- she's got...

HUME: But not even all the time.

KONDRACKE: Right, right.

HUME: Not all the time.

KONDRACKE: Right. And she -- you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will -- will control the symptoms. I mean, it -- it undoubtedly will be raised. You know, I think it's going to be hammers and tongs. The one factor is she's not a great campaigner. She's not a great speaker, you know. She tends to have a very flat delivery, and in a debate, she might not be as good as Jeb Bush.

HUME: All right. Mort, last word. Jeff, thank you. Bill, thank you. Mort, thank you, too.

Click here to order the complete transcript.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2001


I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I want to laugh, but if for some stupid reason she wins, I'll cry.

I guess I'll have to see how she stands on certain issues that pertain to me and mine, if you know what I mean.

If she wins, will she be the first she/male governor?

And how well does she know Condit? LOL

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2001


NatlReview

She’s Baaaaack! Florida, beware.

By Tim Lynch, director of the Cato Institute's Project on Criminal Justice September 5, 2001 8:40 a.m. anet Reno is back. Yesterday, she announced her intention to unseat Jeb Bush and become Florida's next governor. Like Bill and Hillary Clinton, this woman is nothing if not audacious.

To succeed in her quest for the governor's office, Reno must spin her disastrous tenure as Attorney General into something that was innocuous. But we must never forget that Reno presided over the worst disaster in the history of American law enforcement — Waco. More than 70 men, women, and children lost their lives when Reno approved an FBI assault on the Branch Davidian residence in 1993. Reno was hailed for "taking responsibility," but she launched a cover-up, telling reporters that the FBI assault was necessary because she had received reports that "babies were being beaten." One week later, Reno admitted in congressional testimony that she had no evidence of child abuse. She subsequently appointed her crony, Richard Scruggs, to conduct an investigation into the incident. No one was very surprised when Scruggs's report exonerated Reno and the FBI.

When Congress held extensive hearings on the incident in 1995, Reno tried to place all of the blame on the Branch Davidian leader, David Koresh. When asked about the propriety of using tanks to smash into a building containing children, Reno managed to keep a straight face while comparing the tanks to good "rent-a-cars." The House Committee subsequently issued a finding that Reno's decision to approve the FBI tank assault was "premature, wrong, and highly irresponsible." That finding was lost in the partisan din — as the Democrats shouted about the National Rifle Association, the proliferation of right-wing militias, and the Oklahoma City bombing.

Seven years later, Reno approved an outrageous paramilitary raid on the home of Lazaro Gonzales in order to snatch Elian Gonzales. Regardless of where you come down on question of returning Elian to his father and Cuba, the manner in which this raid was conducted ought to shock the conscience. First, in the warrant application, Justice Department officials claimed that Lazaro Gonzalez was "concealing" Elian in his home. Please. Anyone with a television set knew Elian's whereabouts; it was on the evening news night after night for weeks.

Second, government agents sprayed tear gas into the faces of the anti-Castro protesters outside the home. Attacking someone for no reason is a criminal offense — at least for those of us who do not hold posts in the government. Castro probably got a hearty laugh.

Third, the paramilitary raid made little sense from the standpoint of police tactics. As Florida Senator Connie Mack noted, if Reno truly believed there might be a violent shootout, why did she put Elian's life in jeopardy by forcing a confrontation? What harm could possibly result from allowing Lazaro Gonzales to pursue his rights peacefully in the court system? On the other hand, if violent resistance was not expected, why send a commando team with submachine guns into a family home?

When a furor arose over the photo of the agent in military garb pointing his gun at a frightened Elian, Reno spun the photo as best she could. A careful look at the picture, she said, showed that the agent's finger was not on the trigger. In other words, the silly boy really didn't have a valid reason to be afraid.

To their credit, several of Harvard's liberal legal academics condemned the raid in Little Havana. In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Alan Dershowitz wrote that the raid set a precedent that "endangered the rights of all Americans." In a New York Times op-ed, Laurence Tribe wrote that the raid "struck at the heart of constitutional government and shook the safeguards of liberty." In stark contrast, Reno said that she was very pleased with the operation. This is the woman who says she wants to continue her career of "public service."

Florida Republicans should not underestimate Reno. Despite her awful record, she has managed to stay above the fray by cultivating her image as an honest, if bumbling public servant. She has cleverly used that public persona to great effect. Yes, I broke an honorable tradition in the Attorney General's office by appearing on the campaign trail with the liberal governor of New Jersey, Jim Florio. Yes, my right hand man, Webster Hubbell turned out to be a felon. Yes, Richard Jewell's life was ruined by government agents who told anonymous lies to the press. Yes, my subordinates misled a federal judge about Wen Ho Lee. All of that happened, Reno allows, but why dwell on it?

To deflect attention away from her record, she's already been testing a pat soundbite: "This election is not about the past; it's about Florida's future!" Florida voters had better beware.

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2001


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