Madame Ambassador? Yech! : The case of Carol Moseley-Braun

A former senator who left office under an ethical cloud is nominated for an ambassadorship. Some Republican senators question her nomination-and are promptly charged with racism.

A nominee for the federal bench is soft on crime. Republicans oppose his nomination-and they, too, are tarred as racists.

Democrats are playing the race card with unusual vigor these days, and it's easy to see why: They're desperate. "Neither Gore nor Bradley is cutting it with blacks and Hispanics-two groups absolutely essential for Democrats to win the presidential election," pollster John Zogby told the Washington Times, following a recent poll of 1,000 likely voters. The poll also indicated that the Republican frontrunner has an unusual level of support from minorities. Among blacks, Vice President Gore leads Gov. George W. Bush 59 percent to 31 percent. That 31 percent is alarmingly high, and is scaring Democrats into a fury of race-baiting.

The strategy is clear: Solidify the Democratic base by smearing Republicans as racist bogeymen. Months before the GOP convention, Democrats have selected a running mate for Bush: Sen. Jesse Helms. The Democrats had only limited success when they tried to put Helms's face on the defeat of the nuclear-test-ban treaty. But with their next attempt, they hit the jackpot: Helms walked into a well-prepared White House trap.

When the president nominated the highly objectionable Carol Moseley-Braun to be ambassador to New Zealand, Helms, predictably, objected. But instead of sticking to the allegations of illegality that have trailed Moseley- Braun like an oil slick since her 1992 Senate campaign, Helms demanded that she apologize for the fight she waged in 1993 against the United Daughters of the Confederacy over a patent involving the use of the Confederate flag.

The White House trap clanged shut. The Clintonites had the delicious spectacle of Jesse Helms arguing with a black woman (over the Confederate flag, no less!). Al Gore was clearly delighted, quickly declaring that he was "deeply angered and disappointed." He called on Bush and the other Republican candidates to join him "in rejecting Senator Helms's disgraceful tactic," in order to put an end to "divisiveness."

Helms dropped the demand he had made on behalf of "a wonderful group of little old ladies," but was still faced with the problem of the suitability of an ambassadorial nominee under serious suspicion of criminal behavior. Helms has noted an "ethical cloud" over Moseley-Braun, but a quick review of the unresolved allegations reveals far more serious problems than those gentle words suggest.

In 1995, the Justice Department twice turned down requests by the IRS criminal tax division seeking subpoena authority to pursue its investigation of Moseley-Braun. In its first request, the IRS told the Justice Department that it had evidence of bank fraud, bribery, and other crimes dating back to Moseley-Braun's stint as Cook County's recorder of deeds. In its second request, the IRS reported that Moseley-Braun and her 1992 Senate campaign manager (and ex-fiance) may have used more than $280,000 in political donations for personal expenses. The IRS found evidence that the pair had spent $70,000 on designer clothes, $64,000 on travel to Hawaii, Europe, and Africa, $18,000 on jewelry, $12,000 on stereo equipment, and $25,000 for two Jeeps.

When the IRS investigation became public during Moseley-Braun's reelection race in 1998, the tax agency quickly announced that the senator was no longer under investigation. Moseley-Braun credited the Justice Department with clearing her of wrongdoing.

Had the investigation been quashed by illicit political pressure? According to numerous former Justice Department and IRS officials, IRS requests for subpoena authority to pursue additional evidence are routinely granted. Why were the requests refused in this case? The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has requested documents from the Justice Department relating to this issue. The administration's response (surprise!) was to stonewall.

And that's not all. During her 1992 campaign, evidence surfaced that Moseley-Braun had committed Medicaid fraud. Three years earlier, she and her siblings had split a $28,750 inheritance owed to her mother, who, as a Medicaid patient in a nursing home, should have used the money to pay for her care. Moseley-Braun attributed the incident to a misunderstanding, and later paid $15,239 to reimburse the state. Illinois's Democratic attorney general declined to pursue the case, and although Republican governor Jim Edgar declared that "someone broke the law," he couldn't bring himself to say who exactly that might be. Perhaps he didn't have to. Despite her easy win against a weak Republican candidate in 1992, 56 percent of the voters doubted her honesty.

Moseley-Braun has escaped serious inquiry by boldly intimidating anyone who dares ask uncomfortable questions. She frequently complains about being held to a double standard owing to her race and sex. At one point during her reelection campaign, she flatly declared she wouldn't answer any questions about her use of campaign funds, or the activities of her former fiance.