Reno fell into trouble with the White House early on by rejecting a reinvention of the government’s proposal that Gore’s team was pushing to merge the FBI and the DEA. She listened carefully to both sides and rejected the idea.
“This was one of the main tensions. They wanted to do great things, ”recalled Stern.
Reno’s independence proved irritating and beneficial to the Clinton White House. Although the amount of independent advice she sought has caused political heartburn, her distance from Clinton made it easier for her to resist criticism from the Republican Party when she repeatedly refused to nominate one to investigate Democratic fundraising violations during the presidential race. 1996.
This fight would have been particularly difficult for Garland to lose, both before and after he stepped down as Gorelick’s deputy.
In fact, on the same day that the Senate confirmed it to the DC Circuit in March 1997, the first order of business was a resolution requiring Reno to seek an independent lawyer to investigate reports of illegal fundraising from foreign sources.
The Senate debate came about a month after it was revealed that President Bill Clinton invited large Democratic donors to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom and that Clinton specifically approved these invitations for people who donated $ 100,000 or more.
The first federal prosecutor, Reno, in charge of investigating issues related to the elections, said that Garland’s role in managing Reno’s politically explosive tasks leaves him well positioned to deal with similar issues that now face the Department of Justice.
“It would be impossible for him not to learn from what he observed,” said Chuck LaBella, the former United States attorney in San Diego. “I think Reno was good as attorney general, don’t get me wrong, but I think he is much better placed.”
LaBella, who Reno hired to head the important campaign finance task force, said that Garland comes to work with much more knowledge of how things work in DC
“Garland has a support mechanism in Washington and in the country, because of the experience, which Reno did not have,” said LaBella.