Reno: No special prosecutor for Gore

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Saying a perjury charge would be "impossible to prove," U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno announced Wednesday that she will not name a special prosecutor to investigate Vice President Al Gore for statements made to Justice Department officials concerning his 1996 fund-raising activities.

"Because further investigation is not likely to result in a criminal prosecutable case under applicable law," Reno told reporters Wednesday, "I have concluded there is no reasonable possibility that further investigation could develop evidence to support the filing of charges."

Reno rejected a call by Robert Conrad, head of the Justice Department Campaign Finance Task Force, for a special counsel. Instead, she sided with other senior department officials who contended further investigation was unwarranted.

Reno explained that after reviewing the transcript of Conrad's April interview with Gore over campaign finance matters, she concluded there was not enough evidence to prosecute the vice president.

"The transcript reflects neither false statements nor perjury, each of which requires proof of a willfully false statement about a material matter. Rather, the transcript reflects disagreements about labels," she said, referring to Gore's testimony that he did not believe he was attending events -- such as coffees with constituents or the well-publicized luncheon at the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple -- that were intended to raise money.

"I did not think, under federal rules of prosecution, that these statements could be construed as either false statements or perjury," Reno said. "You don't pursue a case where there is no basis for concluding that you can make a case."

Conrad had called for a special counsel after his four-hour interview with Gore, in which questions were raised about campaign finance issues. Sources said Conrad was apparently concerned about a number of issues, including the possibility that Gore may have lied about his role in fund-raising by saying that he did not know the events were fund-raisers.

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AUDIO Reno announces that she will not name a special prosecutor to investigate Vice President Gore 352K/27 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Senior Justice Department officials, however, said the interview produced no significant new information. The vice president has maintained he did not know the Buddhist temple event was a fund-raiser. Gore released a complete transcript of the interview to bolster his claim that the interview had produced no dramatic new information.

According to the transcript, Gore said of the events: "I did not see any money or checks change hands. I never heard it discussed, nor do I believe it took place, incidentally."

Reno appeared satisfied by the vice president's explanation. The event's were, he said, intended to "build relationships" with constituents and meant to "develop an understanding" so that at a later date the vice president or other Democratic Party operatives would be able to request donations.

"The transcript is at the heart of it," Reno said.

	RESOURCES
Transcript of Gore's interview with Justice Department officials

Justice Department officials have long expected that Reno would reject Conrad's recommendation. But a number of senior officials have been perplexed as to why Reno was taking so much time to complete her decision. Conrad's recommendation became public on June 23, after a Senate hearing was held on the matter.

Reno said she made her decision over the weekend -- and was not trying to play politics.

"I wanted to make it (the announcement) as soon as possible, I did not want to interrupt or interfere or influence in any way either (political) convention." The Democrats concluded their political convention -- where Gore vowed to sign a campaign finance law as one of his first acts as president -- just last week. The GOP event in Philadelphia was held in early August.

Reno also addressed the issue of the leak, saying that her "regard for Bob Conrad has only increased." She also said internal discussions among Justice officials "should not become public."

And, she added, the release of internal preliminary recommendations "is not fair to those involved," and undermines the investigatory process. As an example, she said, Conrad has been publicly pegged as the only person within the department who has recommended a special counsel. "I can tell you that is not correct," Reno said.

Questions about roles played by both President Clinton and Gore in 1996 fund-raising activities have caused bitter debate within the Justice Department for years. Reno has twice before rejected calls for an outside probe of Gore's 1996 fund-raising activities, including one by Charles Labella, the one-time head of the campaign task force.

Since Conrad's recommendation pertained to Gore's statements in the April interview -- not the 1996 events themselves, Reno noted that the inquiry into the 1996 fund-raising activities is ongoing.

CNN's Pierre Thomas contributed to this report.