Claims That FBI Chief Not Consulted Are Disputed

WASHINGTON — While awaiting Atty. Gen. Janet Reno’s decision on a campaign finance independent counsel, Justice Department officials disputed reports Monday suggesting that FBI Director Louis J. Freeh had not been fully consulted.

Reno did not make any final decisions on recommendations by her campaign finance task force, senior officials said. Justice prosecutors have recommended she decline to seek an independent counsel to investigate telephone fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, officials said over the weekend.

Justice prosecutors also have recommended she reject an independent counsel for allegations that former Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary solicited a charitable contribution in return for meeting with Chinese businessmen.

The O’Leary case was considered the simplest and was closest to a decision, followed by Clinton’s case, a senior official said, requesting anonymity. The more complex Gore case trailed the others.

Republicans have been pressing Reno for months to apply to a special three-judge court for appointment of an independent counsel to look into all the allegations.

They are sure to criticize her if she follows her aides’ advice. But even Republican Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who chaired Senate hearings on the subject, has predicted that no one will be prosecuted for soliciting contributions by telephone.

Meantime, Justice officials were privately furious over reports in Monday’s Washington Post and New York Times quoting unidentified government officials as complaining that Freeh has not been consulted on Reno’s decision.

Freeh declined to discuss the matter, but an official familiar with his thinking said Freeh was content to let Reno’s decision-making process run its course and, if he is upset at the conclusion, to make that fact public.