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Several federal attorneys and agents contend that they have been told by Justice Department officials that B.C.C.I. is a "political" case and that prosecutorial and investigative decisions must be made in Washington. "We are constantly flabbergasted that the Justice Department says we should go forward and yet we never get the permission from Washington," says a senior investigator. Others complain that applications to subpoena witnesses, suspects and records have backed up in Washington. Reporters on the B.C.C.I. story find as they interview former officers of the bank who possess critical knowledge that these people have never been contacted by law-enforcement officials. "None of us can figure out why the department has become a roadblock on B.C.C.I.," says another high-level investigator. "Why hasn't there been a departmental priority on B.C.C.I.?"
But according to the Justice Department official who heads the B.C.C.I. investigation, such bickering from the field is the result of Washington's efforts to centralize and coordinate the far-flung investigation. "The orders from the top are to aggressively pursue this investigation and not to spare resources," says Robert S. Mueller, head of the Justice Department's criminal division. "There may be people who are frustrated, but the investigation is not being held up, it's being coordinated. We've got some blemishes, but we have not covered up." Mueller, who revved up the investigation last July by adding more manpower, also says his department is trying its best to work with other probes, in particular with the New York grand jury investigation. "I've told Morgenthau that I'm only a phone call away," he says. "I've done everything to cooperate."
Whatever the reason, Justice's inaction is even more extraordinary in light of other recent revelations. According to officials close to the case, the Justice Department in 1989 abruptly suspended its inquiry into B.C.C.I.'s secret ownership of First American. In testimony in the Senate two weeks ago, acting CIA Director Richard Kerr added yet another piece to the puzzle by declaring under oath that between 1983 and 1985 the CIA had circulated "several hundred" reports to government agencies, including Justice, chronicling B.C.C.I.'s illegal activities.
The question that has not been answered is why the Justice Department has limited its inquiry and allowed the law-enforcement community to believe the B.C.C.I. case is too sensitive to be handled in a routine manner. Former ; B.C.C.I. officers have told investigators that they believe the bank's extensive U.S. intelligence connections -- which figured importantly in such undertakings as the Pakistan-based supply operation to the Afghan rebels, the bank's role in the covert resupply of the Nicaraguan contras, and the sale of arms to Iran -- help explain why the Justice Department is treating the inquiry so gingerly.
Some former B.C.C.I. employees also point to the allegations of political payoffs as the reason for the slow pace. Congress has remained uncharacteristically silent on the subject, with only a handful of legislators demanding action. It may be too early to consider a special prosecutor; indeed there are no allegations of specific criminal activity yet to pursue. But in view of Kamal Adham's blatant attempt to buy White House influence, perhaps the time has come to appoint an independent investigator.