WASHINGTON – Attorney General Janet Reno got a big pat on the back yesterday from her boss, President Clinton, for her handling of the Elian affair – but she was blasted from other corners.
“She made the decision. She managed this, but I fully support what she did,” Clinton said at the White House, before heading to his weekend retreat at Camp David.
“She had a special feeling – because she was from Miami – she wanted to resolve this in the most patient way possible. She felt strongly – and I felt strongly – that the law had to be upheld,” Clinton said.
Justice officials said the handling of the Elian affair was vintage Reno: hands-on control, overemphasis on details and drawn-out delay.
She pulled an all-nighter Friday to try to reach a peaceful deal with the Miami relatives, and stayed on the phone negotiating right up until the agents raided the house.
Some analysts said she waited too long.
“Reno insisted on evoking the law rather than enforcing the law, right up until the very last moment. By the time she acted, the boy had bonded with the family, and the Miami community was entrenched,” said George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley.
Republicans blasted Reno for sending in agents with helmets, goggles and automatic rifles.
“The use of this type of force clearly was not justified,” said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).
“This has nothing to do with the rule of law. This has everything to do with the rule of Reno,” said House Republican Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas).
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-S.I.) called the raid “despicable” and said: “I find it hard to believe this could not have been done in a more appropriate way.”
Robert Luskin, former deputy in the Justice Department’s organized-crime section, said the raid probably would boost Reno’s reputation as a forceful attorney general – although he said “she sort of got stuck with a no-win situation.”
“She probably ends up getting some grudging praise from some people,” said former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova. “She kept her word. Ultimately, she did what she needed to do.”
Reno’s reputation already has taken a pounding – especially from Republicans – for giving the go-ahead orders for the deadly 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas.
Reno also has been criticized for failing to aggressively pursue alleged campaign-finance irregularities by the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1996.