Washington People: Leach Adds His 2 Cents Worth To GOP's Whitewater

Rep. Jim Leach didn't leave the gloating over the May 28 convictions of three Whitewater defendants to his Senate counterpart, Alfonse M. D'Amato, head of the Senate probe of President Clinton's Arkansas cronies.

In his inimitable prose, Rep. Leach lashed out at the former business associates of President Clinton. The crimes of James and Susan McDougal and Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker were "robberies committed by modern-day insiders wielding political influence rather than by old-fashioned bandits waving six shooters," Rep. Leach said.

Far from being a politically motivated investigation, the federal Whitewater prosecution the Iowa Republican said the federal Whitewater prosecution is a defense against conflicts of interest that "corrode the public trust and weaken the sinews of society."

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Konrad Alt, chief of staff at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, just became Eugene A. Ludwig's official relief pitcher.

The agency recently put together a new line-up of replacement comptrollers in case Mr. Ludwig can't perform the duties of his office due to "absence or disability," and Mr. Alt is at the top of the list.

The line-up had to be reshuffled due to the recent departure of Stephen R. Steinbrink, the agency's former senior deputy comptroller for bank supervision operations. The National Bank Act requires that the Comptroller's Office name a replacement comptroller and four backups.

In line behind Mr. Alt is Chief Counsel Julie L. Williams, followed by Susan F. Krause, senior deputy comptroller for bank supervision policy, and Leann G. Britton, who replaced Mr. Steinbrink.

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Rep. Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, is likely to be a key player in bankers' efforts to get new securities powers when the House Commerce panel splits its telecommunications and finance subcommittee next year.

Under a deal brokered by Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas J. Bliley Jr., Rep. Oxley will chair the finance subcommittee and Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., will head the telecommunications subcommittee.

The Commerce panel and its telecommunications and finance subcommittee have jurisdiction over securities issues.

Rep. Bliley's decision cools a simmering dispute between Reps. Oxley and Tauzin over control of the telecommunication and finance subcommittee.

Rep. Tauzin announced last fall that House Speaker Newt Gingrich had promised him the subcommittee's chairmanship when the Louisiana Republican switched parties. The pledge angered long-time Republicans, especially Rep. Oxley, who was next in line to replace current subcommittee head Rep. Jack Fields, R-Tex., who is retiring.

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Samuel P. Golden, ombudsman at the Office of the Comptroller, has joined the agency's policymaking committee.

The so-called executive committee will expand to seven members with the addition of Mr. Golden, who has been the agency's ombudsman since September 1993.

"As ombudsman, Sam interacts closely with OCC staff and bankers across the country," wrote Comptroller Eugene A. Ludwig in a computer message sent in May to agency employees. "That experience gives him a unique perspective on OCC operations and bank supervision issues."

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