WASHINGTON-The lawyer for embattled Portals developer Franklin Haney told the House Commerce Committee his client will comply with any subpoena to defend a $1 million payment to lobbyist Peter Knight for helping to arrange a 20-year, $400 million contract to relocate the Federal Communications Commission to the new Portals office building this spring.
Congressional investigators, which threatened Haney with a subpoena after accusing him of not cooperating with the Portals probe, want to ascertain whether the $1 million check from Haney to Knight is a kickback. Kickbacks on federal contracts are illegal.
“Candidly, we view the threat of a public hearing, accompanied by an on-the-record transcript, and rules of procedure applicable to such hearings, as preferable to the campaign of unsubstantiated accusation and innuendo which we have experienced to date,” said Stanley Brand, a lawyer for Haney, in a feisty three-page letter to the Commerce Committee Dec. 22.
Drawing added attention to the controversy is the fact that Haney, Knight and former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, who some accuse of quietly acquiescing to the to the Portals move after initially opposing it, have ties to Vice President Gore.
Gore and Hundt deny any wrongdoing. Knight, manager of the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign, declined to return calls.
Brand blamed the committee for fostering a politically hostile environment, saying that unless the atmosphere changes, Haney will continue to refuse to be interviewed by congressional investigators in private.
Eric Wohlschlegel, a committee spokesman, said investigators will address Brand’s agreement to have Haney testify before the panel, after they return from the holiday break.
A 1994 court order gave the federal contract to the Portals.
In addition to the committee investigation, House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) has asked Attorney General Janet Reno to launch a criminal investigation into the Portals lease and wants new FCC Chairman Bill Kennard to sit tight at the FCC’s current 1919 M Street headquarters until the controversy is sorted out.
Meanwhile, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) wants the General Accounting Office-the investigative arm of Congress-to look into the planned Portals move and report back by Feb. 1.
