A congressional panel asked a special prosecutor Tuesday to broaden his probe of former Housing Secretary Samuel Pierce, saying it has evidence Pierce steered money to clients of his former law firm and may have committed perjury.
In urging independent counsel Arlin Adams to expand his investigation, the House Government Operations housing subcommittee said its 14-month-long probe uncovered "widespread abuses, influence peddling, blatant favoritism, monumental waste and gross mismanagement" at HUD.The subcommittee specifically asked Adams to widen his investigation into three areas of possible wrongdoing:
-Whether Pierce committed perjury during the only appearance before the subcommittee, on May 25, 1989, in which the former Cabinet officer gave detailed testimony. The congressional panel said many of Pierce's statements were contradicted by subsequent testimony. Pierce essentially maintained that he did not play a direct role in the awarding of housing projects.
-Whether Pierce conspired with others to steer HUD business to clients of Battle, Fowler, Jaffin and Kheel, the Wall Street law firm where Pierce formerly had been a partner. It also questions whether Pierce conspired with his former top aide, Lance Wilson, in connection with contract awards.
-Whether Pierce and other HUD officials "conspired to defraud" the government in the handling of the Department of Housing and Urban Develop-ment's coinsurance program, which provided backing for housing development projects from 1981-89.
The letter came as the eight-member panel neared an end to its investigation of the HUD scandal. A subcommittee source, discussing the panel's role on grounds of anonymity, said no more hearings are scheduled. The aide said the subcommittee hopes to complete a final report, with recommendations for reforms at HUD, sometime in late August.
The letter said documents found in HUD files show that Pierce's former law firm frequently sought Pierce's assistance in HUD-related matters. It said they included having Pierce meet with a client to discuss a development grant application and helping securing lucrative housing subsidies.
It cited a letter from a partner in the firm to Pierce's assistant, Deborah Gore Dean, in 1985 seeking her help in obtaining a subsidy for an Amherst, N.Y., proj-ect, and recounting assistance in another project there, Allenhurst Apartments.
"In light of Secretary Pierce's long and close relationship with his former law firm, Battle, Fowler, it defies logic and reason that Dean would have assisted Battle, Fowler in obtaining these scarce and much-in-demand (subsidy) units for the Allenhurst project on her own without the direct and intimate involvement of Secretary Pierce," the letter said.