Al Gore Speech: Unchecked Presidential Power

Al Gore Speech: Unchecked Presidential Power

Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool. -Paul Begala

Now all of the charges related to telephone calls were made to the Democratic National Committee. There were a few occasions which I made such calls. The first was in December of 1995. As we continue our review of this, we have found the first session in December of 1995. There were a few other sessions during which I made telephone calls in the spring of 1996.

My counsel -- Charles Burson is my counsel here. My counsel advises me that there is no controlling, legal authority or case that says that there was any violation of law whatsoever in the manner in which I asked people to contribute to our re-election campaign.

-snip-

GORE: I never asked for a campaign contribution from anyone who was in a government office. I never did anything that I thought was wrong.

If there had been a shred of doubt in my mind that anything I did was a violation of law, I assure you I would not have done that. And my counsel advises me, let me repeat, that there is no controlling legal authority that says that any of these activities violated any law.

-snip-

QUESTION: You sat in the White House. You called people and asked them for contributions.

GORE: Well, let me -- I stated the facts situation earlier.

And I described it in some detail. I never have asked a federal employee for a contribution, never would, never will. I have never asked anyone in the White House or on federal property for a campaign contribution.

Now -- and all calls that I made were charged to the Democratic National Committee. I was advised there was nothing wrong with that. My counsel tells me there is no controlling legal authority that says was any violation of any law. Yes?

-snip-

QUESTION: And as picayune as it may seem, there seems to be conflict over whether or not you're saying the law allows you, as vice president, to sit in your office and to use a federal phone credit card or not, to make a call to someone outside. You're saying that the law does allow you to be in, basically, federal property and use federal property, although it's being reimbursed to some degree, that that -- that is OK?

GORE: As a matter of policy, I decided that I'm not going to do that. As a matter of law, there is no -- according to my counsel - there is no controlling legal authority, no case ever brought, ever decided that says that is a violation of law.

=snip=

QUESTION: Vice President Gore, there has been a lot written about your impregnable reputation for a -- for being above the fray and for being ethically someone who really hasn't been questioned on these issues. Does this shatter that, and does it hurt you for the year 2000?

GORE: Well, on the second part of it, I'm -- I've told you before that I'm not focused on a political campaign in the future. I'm focused on doing everything I can to help this president be the best president he's capable of being and to move this country in the right direction. And he's doing a terrific job. I'm very proud to be a part of his team.

On the first part of the question, I'll say again, I never did anything that I felt was wrong, much less illegal. And again, I am advised that there is no controlling legal authority that says this was in violation of law.

-snip-

QUESTION: But the other part of the statute seems to set up federal buildings as a sanctuary from fundraising. Were you unaware of that part of the statute?

GORE: No, I was not. And let me repeat -- I never asked for a contribution from anyone who was in a federal building. And all of the calls that I made were charged to the DNC. I was advised that was proper. In reviewing the matter, my counsel advises me there's no case. There's no controlling legal authority that says that violate the law.

-snip-

QUESTION: Well, then the question -- is it possible that the absence of case law on this means that reasonable people could differ about what parts of the statute mean, applied to different activities in which you may have taken part at different times?

GORE: Well, that's not a question for me to determine. I'm advised that it is -- that there is no case or no controlling legal authority that says it is a violation of the law. And I never did anything that I felt was wrong, much less a violation of the law.

-snip-

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1997/03/03/gore.reaction/transcript.html

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