HOUSTON - The Resolution Trust Corp. recently asked employees in its Texas offices to turn over any information they had about Ross Perot and his business dealings, The Houston Post reported.
The newspaper quoted an RTC spokeswomen as saying the agency was responding to a routine media inquiry, but some employees contended that the action was unethical.
The revelation comes as President Bush and Mr. Perot have been exchanging barbs over the latter's alleged investigations of adversaries and business partners. Another report said that Mr. Perot, an undeclared candidate for president, used investigators to check into Mr. Bush's affairs.
Susan Brown, an RTC spokeswoman in Washington, told the Houston newspaper that the agency sent a computerized message to,its offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio requesting information about Mr. Perot.
"We had a press inquiry into whether Ross Perot had purchased any property through the RTC, so we followed the normal channels to try and get an answer," she said. She added that the query uncovered nothing out of the ordinary.
Last July, the RTC said several Perot partnerships bought hundreds of acres of residential and commercial property in Plano, Tex., for $60 million.
Perot spokesman James Squires told the Houston newspaper that the RTC query follows an overall routine search of government files to discover Perot contracts with government.
"I would guess the same thing has been going on all over the government," Mr. Squires said.
