Reno Says No

WASHINGTON: Janet Reno made her final announcement with typical stoicism: There would be no independent counsel investigation into campaign fundraising by Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Hazel O'Leary, or anyone else whose name rates bold type in the morning papers. But Reno made it clear that "these decisions do not end our work."

"Indictments will be handed down by Christmas on lower-level officials who broke the rules," predicts TIME Washington correspondent Elaine Shannon. But the big names will probably stay out of it. "They're not expected to uncover any connection with Clinton or Gore. But it will show that Reno's task force is doing something."

That won't be enough for Republicans, who say Reno, with all her fierce independence, is missing the big picture. And there is another Clinton appointee who agrees with them: FBI Chief Louis Freeh. Though Freeh has studiously avoided public comment on the feud between him and the Attorney General, Dan Burton, Fred Thompson's counterpart in the House, is determined to drag both Freeh and Reno up on the Hill to state their cases all over again, this time under the lights.

"That's going to be the next big thing," says Shannon. "Everyone knows how Freeh feels; Reno certainly does. It's a professional disagreement. But when the long lenses come out, and the cameras roll, it could turn into a real political spectacle." And isn't that what it's all about?