Espy’s Attitude Toward Ethics
Rules Cited In Bribery Trial

WASHINGTON — Former Clinton administration agriculture secretary Mike Espy had little regard for the ethics rules that apply to Cabinet officers, according to a fellow Cabinet member.

Testifying last week at Espy’s corruption trial, EPA administrator Carol Browner conceded that Espy in her presence once dismissed the rules governing Cabinet conduct as "a bunch of junk," or some similar term.

Browner said Espy made the comment, "something like ... ‘it’s a bunch of junk. I’m going to do like I did in Congress,’" during a government flight in April 1993.

She said she didn’t recall the specific term Espy used, adding that "‘junk’ is my word."

The conversation during which that comment occurred included herself, Espy, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, Browner said.

Of the four, Espy, Babbitt and Brown have all been the subjects of ethics investigations. Espy’s probe so far has included convictions and multi-million dollar fines for several individuals and companies as well as a 39-count indictment of Espy himself; Brown was killed in a plane crash before his investigation was completed; and the Babbitt case is still underway.

Charges against Espy range from accepting more than $35,000 in illegal gifts to misusing government funds, mail and wire fraud, tampering with witnesses, and lying to federal investigators. The 44 year-old Espy would face a minimum of three years in prison if convicted on all counts.

His attorneys claim the illegal actions, all of which are documented and thus cannot plausibly be denied, were simple "mistakes" on Espy’s part. In opening statements, Espy’s defense resorted to the "race card," implying that Espy is being unfairly targeted because he is black.

Defense counsel attempted to salvage something from Browner’s damaging admissions about Espy’s attitude toward ethics rules. To do so, they once again played the race card, having Browner testify about a portion of the conversation in which Ron Brown allegedly asked the other Cabinet members whether they were required to submit urine samples for drug testing as part of the "vetting process" of potential Clinton nominees. Only Espy replied that he had been asked for a sample, she said.

Brown, like Espy, was black; Browner and Babbitt are white.

"We noticed it right away," Browner said. "I mean, you had the two African-Americans being tested and the two whites not."

But Smaltz didn’t take the bait. "We're not interested in that," he said. "We want to get to the issue of ethics."

In its second week, the focus of the trial was on a California agricultural cooperative already convicted of supplying Espy with gifts, sports tickets, travel and other favors.

Sun-Diamond Growers saw nothing wrong with its lobbyist squiring to dinners, paying for limousine rides or giving him gifts such as a Waterford crystal bowl, former company president Larry Busboom testified at Espy's trial last Friday.

"I didn't find that unusual," and did not know such perks could be illegal under federal rules about gifts to public employees, Busboom testified. He said the lobbyist, Richard Douglas, won points with his bosses for having close ties to Espy.

Sun-Diamond, based in Pleasanton, Calif., is the nation's largest grower of raisins, prunes and other dried fruits and nuts.

When Espy was nominated as President Clinton's first agriculture secretary, Douglas talked up his long friendship with Espy, which dated to their college years at Howard University, Busboom said.

At the time, the company was worried about increased restrictions or an outright ban on a widely used pesticide. Douglas was promoting the industry's viewpoint on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies.

Douglas' frequent contact with Espy and other officials was noted on his annual job review.

Although Busboom routinely signed off on Douglas' entertainment expenses, he said he did not approve an $8400 check for tickets to the U.S. Open tennis tournament for Douglas and Espy.

Douglas, who pleaded guilty this year in a related case, apparently went around his boss to put in for that unusually large expense.

"You would have questioned it?" asked Espy lawyer Ted Wells.

"You've got to believe that, yes," Busboom replied to laughter.

Defense lawyers contend Espy thought presents from his old friend were not covered by the strict ban on gifts to federal employees. Espy's lawyers also argue that Douglas lied to Espy about who was paying for some of their outings.

Busboom, like several prosecution witnesses, testified under a grant of immunity. Other planned witnesses, including Douglas, have already gone through separate trials covering the same issues.

Espy, a former Democratic congressman from Mississippi, resigned at the end of 1994 after Smaltz was appointed to investigate him.

The trial in U.S. District Court is the culmination of Smaltz's four-year, $17 million investigation. Much of the cost of that investigation has already been recovered in fines.

Earlier in the week, former White House counsel Jack Quinn testified that the White House knew Espy supported granting a waiver to a Georgia utility under a federal loan program.

The utility wanted to refinance some $3 billion in loans administered by the Agriculture Department to save money on interest, but the Treasury Department objected.

Oglethorpe Power Corp. never won the waiver, but prosecutors linked Espy's support for the company's plan to Super Bowl tickets he received after a meeting with utility executives in January 1994, and the fact that a consultant to the utility had hired Espy's girlfriend.