
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 2, 1993                   TAG: 9307020138
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

TRAVEL OFFICE FIRINGS WRONG, REPORT ADMITS

A White House internal review to be released today has found no evidence of corruption to justify the dismissals in May of the seven employees of its travel office and concluded there was a series of errors by White House aides handling the issue.

Also Thursday, officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said their own investigation had so far turned up no evidence of criminal behavior by the seven travel-office members.

White House spokesmen said the seven were dismissed for gross mismanagement and possible criminal behavior resulting from $18,000 in travel office money that could not be accounted for in a review of the office books.

The White House review was led by Mac McLarty, the chief of staff, and Leon Panetta, the budget director. A senior official said it would point out a variety of White House "management deficiencies" and would recommend guidelines to redress them.

Among the errors cited, the official said, would be the summary dismissals, without appeal, even though only two of the those dismissed had handled money in the office. The report will also chastise White House staff members for calling in the FBI, without going through the Justice Department hierarchy, to investigate the matter and for issuing an FBI statement in support of the White House's contention that possible criminal behavior had occurred.

The official, who spoke only on the condition that he not be identified, said that no one would be asked to resign or change jobs as a result of the review. "It points out the deficiencies in an honest and frank manner and lays out how we can correct them."

In May, the White House dismissed the staff of the travel office, which handles travel arrangements for both staff members and the press, and replaced them with a distant relative of President Clinton, Cathy Cornelius, who had been seeking the job.

by CNB