Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 1993 TAG: 9302100022
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
FLA. LAWYER EMERGES AS CABINET PROSPECT
Florida prosecutor Janet Reno joined the list of attorney general prospects Tuesday as President Clinton struggled to find a suitable female nominee.Reno, 54, met with top administration officials, said a White House official who asked not to be identified. It was not immediately known whether Reno met with President Clinton or his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Another White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, cautioned that not too much should be made of Reno's trip to Washington but said she "is getting another look."
Reno's name has circulated for several weeks at the White House for attorney general and other key administration posts. Her stock rose after federal Judge Kimba Wood withdrew from consideration Friday.
Wood hired an illegal alien while it was still legal to do so. White House officials said she did not fully explain the hiring when interviewed for the post, and should have known it was a politically volatile subject.
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown said Sunday he failed to pay Social Security taxes for a part-time maid until recently. That prompted women's groups to claim Clinton has a "double standard" on the issue. Wood had paid Social Security taxes.
The White House said men and women are being asked about their hiring practices.
Reno is single and has no children, making her less susceptible to what the White House now calls "the Zoe Baird problem."
She has been prosecutor for Dade County in the Miami area for 15 years, and has targeted police officers, judges and public officials in corruption cases. Baird and Wood had impressive resumes, but neither had lengthy criminal law experience.
White House officials say Clinton still is considering men for the top Justice Department post, but say he still hopes to appoint the nation's first female attorney general.
Others under consideration - or being pushed by administration officials - include: Nebraska Court of Appeals Judge Lindsey Miller-Lerman, a college classmate of Hillary Clinton's at Wellesley; Boston federal Judge Rya Zobel; former Virginia attorney general Mary Sue Terry; former transportation secretary and longtime Clinton friend William Coleman; former Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles; and Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.