Washington briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 5, 2001

Suspect may have told Soviets about tunnel

Accused spy Robert Hanssen might have alerted Moscow to a secret tunnel built under the Soviet Embassy in Washington, a published report says.

Hanssen, a 25-year FBI veteran and counterintelligence expert arrested last month and charged with spying for Moscow since 1985, "compromised an entire technical program of enormous value, expense and importance to the United States government," says an FBI affidavit filed in the Hanssen case.

That program referred to the tunnel, the New York Times reported Sunday, also citing sources as saying it was unclear whether the operation produced useful intelligence. The tunnel's existence had not been known publicly.

The tunnel operation was run by the FBI and the National Security Agency as part of a sophisticated eavesdropping operation to track Soviet Union -- and later Russian -- facilities and personnel in the United States, the Times reported.

Clinton considers talk with senators in private

Former President Clinton is considering an offer to be questioned in private by senators about his last-minute pardons, an aide said Sunday.

The Republican leading the Senate's pardons investigation said he thinks Clinton "may be inclined" to accept the offer, while the former president's spokeswoman said it was too early to say what might happen.

Senate leaders, treading gingerly over the prospect of trying to compel Clinton's testimony about his 176 last-minute pardons and commutations, have suggested a meeting with Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and a Democrat as a way of "getting to the basic facts," Specter said.

Clinton's spokeswoman, Julia Payne, responded: "With all due respect to Senator Specter, it is very premature to talk about what the president may or may not do."

Sen. Byrd apologizes for racist language

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., apologized for racially charged language he used during a videotaped interview broadcast Sunday.

Byrd, 83, stressing the importance of "good will" among people of different races, used an offensive term to argue that character is not defined by skin color.

"My old mom told me, 'Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white n------. I've seen a lot of white n------ in my time -- I'm going to use that word."

Byrd made the comments during an interview Friday that was broadcast on Fox News Sunday. Byrd's office quickly issued a statement of apology after the interview, which was read on the air Sunday by Fox host Tony Snow.

"I apologize for the characterization I used on this program," said Byrd's statement. "The phrase dates back to my boyhood and has no place in today's society. As for my language, I had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone of another race. In my attempt to articulate strongly held feelings, I may have offended people," he said.

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