WASHINGTON – Facing a blizzard of criticism, Attorney General Janet Reno will meet tomorrow with lawmakers who want more answers about the raid in which Elian Gonzalez was snatched from his Miami relatives.
An aide to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said the meeting, in Lott’s office, was the first step toward deciding whether full-blown hearings are needed.
“Mr. Lott has a lot of questions and he wants a lot of answers,” his spokesman, John Czwartacki, told The Post as Reno’s critics accused her Justice Department of an “unconstitutional act.”
While Reno aides defended the raid and brushed off complaints, Republicans and conservative leaders seized on the potent photo of a terrified Elian facing an armed federal agent to raise new questions about her leadership.
“You bet there will be congressional hearings,” said Rep. Tom DeLay, the No. 2 Republican in the House, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding that her raid was “unconstitutional.”
The Rev. Jerry Falwell told CNN: “I think of Ruby Ridge. I think of Waco … It makes you wonder when Mr. Clinton … is going to have federal officers learn to goose step.”
Other lawmakers, including Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.), who has spent time with Elian’s Miami relatives this weekend, also endorsed hearings.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee – which has already conducted hearings on the performance of Attorney General Janet Reno – said on Fox News Sunday that the Justice Department “violated it’s own guidelines.”
“It was bad judgment down at the White House,” Hatch said.
A team of armed federal agents seized the boy around 5:15 a.m. Saturday from the home of his Miami relatives after they refused Reno’s request to turn the boy over voluntarily.
The agents grabbed Elian and sped off, though not before an AP photographer captured the image of the armed agent facing the child.
“I was disturbed by the photo,” conceded Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Bronx), who nevertheless defended Reno, claiming she “clearly was dealing with fanatics.”
Nadler also dared Republicans to investigate: “Let ’em hold hearings.
“If Republicans say they are the party of family values, let them explain why a son should not be reunited with his father.
“If Republican leadership wants to hold hearings … let’s have the hearings,” agreed Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), who, like most Democrats, defended Reno.
“It was a very successful rescue mission,” Rev. Jesse Jackson told Fox.
But Eric Holder, Reno’s No. 2 assistant, said the strong show of force was unavoidable: “We were forced into the action … by the intransigence of that family in Miami.”
Meanwhile, Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group that’s sparred with the Clinton administration for years, asked for the release of confidential records concerning the raid.
Reno’s “Storm Troopers” posed the “the real possibility of another Waco-style massacre” at the Miami home, said Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman.