THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 24, 1996 TAG: 9608260310
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Kerry Dougherty
LENGTH: 71 lines
At first I thought I was reading it wrong. A newspaper story this week reported that the Federal Election Commission had found that Pat Robertson illegally used a CBN plane during his 1988 bid for the presidency.
That was eight years ago.
What in the world has this crack government watchdog been doing for the past eight years, investigating Adlai Stevenson's campaign?
After dumping untold taxpayers' dollars into this in-depth investigation (which would have taken a second-rate newspaper hack with a substance-abuse problem less than a week to complete), the FEC announced that, alas, Pat Robertson did indeed rack up $1.7 million in illegal contributions, but it was too late to seek civil fines against the religious broadcaster.
Pardon me, but am I out of line to ask our friends at the FEC what exactly was the point? Were they investigating this for practice? For fun? Was this busy work for bureaucrats with nothing better to do?
And how hard is it to investigate the misuse of a plane? The paper trail left by air travel is written in ink and in English, for heaven's sake.
The same year that Pat Robertson allegedly misused a plane another jet - Pan Am Flight 103 - crashed over Lockerbie Scotland.
Investigators there sifted through the bodies and rubble to deduce who blew up the plane and how in far less time than the FEC took to see if Robertson was within his rights to use his plane.
In the time it took the FEC to investigate Robertson, Oliver North was indicted, convicted and exonerated on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud. North also had time to run for and lose a bid for the U.S. Senate and take up a new career as a radio talk-show host.
Apparently if there was any funny business with North's campaign financing we won't find out about it until North's in the old soldiers home and his flannel shirt is in the Smithsonian.
If all investigations progressed at this pace, the Scopes Monkey Trial would still be going on and Sacco and Vanzetti would just now be making their way to the electric chair.
Other government agencies work a bit faster. If I made a $1.7 million mistake on my income tax return the IRS would be on my doorstep in a New York minute. So what's ailing the FEC?
After pondering these imponderables for a few days, I decided to call the FEC to ask why they always seem to be running one or two presidential campaigns behind in their investigations. I expected to hear something about underfunding or a manpower shortage.
Instead, the FEC spokesman I talked with said the Robertson investigation was extremely complex. It contained an ``incredible'' number of respondents. I asked him how many and he had to put me on hold while he counted.
I braced myself for an incredible number with many zeroes.
The answer: 52. Fifty-two people had to respond to the FEC queries and that took eight years.
Incredible.
That means the FEC had to conduct about 6.5 interviews a year on the Robertson matter. Holy smokes, that's one interview every two months.
In last year's budget the FEC got $26.5 million. There are 300 people working for the commission, and they field between 300 and 400 complaints a year.
That's a little more than one complaint per FEC employee each year. I know, I know. Some of those FEC types are not investigators. Some are probably lawyers, secretaries or support staff. Maybe if the FEC tried switching people around they could make more headway. For instance, if they let the janitorial staff investigate cases, and let the lawyers polish the floors, perhaps investigations would go more smoothly.
As I said, the FEC is one amazing watchdog. I don't know about you, but I certainly sleep better at night knowing the FEC is on the job.
Woof, woof, we were robbed. Eight years ago. MEMO: Ms. Dougherty is an editorial writer for The Virginian-Pilot. by CNB