Justice Probes Gore Money Man

WASHINGTON: Storm clouds are gathering for Al Gore. After the fundraiser in the temple and phone calls in the White House, the focus is on one of his top aides and money-raisers, Peter Knight. TIME reports that Knight is the target of a Justice Department investigation over his Clinton-Gore 96 campaign activities. Although Janet Reno is refusing to turn over the investigation to an independent counsel, Justice is probing Knight's connections to a Massachusetts manufacturer that won $33 million in contracts and breaks from the Clinton Administration while raising $132,000 for the President and his party. TIMEs Senior Washington Correspondent Michael Weisskopf reports Knight provided access to Gore while lobbying for Molten Metal Technology and took a fat commission for himself.

While Reno isn't budging on the independent counsel issue, the Attorney General is increasingly dissatisfied with the slow pace of her task force. Sources tell TIME Washington correspondent Elaine Shannon that while the task force targets the least significant players in the scandal, Reno sides with the FBI's push for a "more muscular" approach.