Summary

The Campaign Finance Task Force was established by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate allegations of illegal fundraising during the 1996 presidential election. Following its creation, the Task Force faced several management challenges and operational problems. Notably, the working relationship between the Justice Department and the FBI was strained and hampered by mutual concerns of trust, with DOJ attorneys and FBI investigators disagreeing over which investigative approach to take. To get the investigation on track, in the fall of 1997, DOJ and the FBI changed the Task Force's leadership, streamlined the Task Force's oversight structure, and committed additional staff and information management resources. The Task Force has launched 121 investigations as of the end of 1999. It has begun 24 prosecutions, and 15 persons and one corporation have been convicted as of March 2000. Through fiscal year 1999, DOJ and the FBI estimated that they have spent $31.2 million on the Task Force.

GAO noted that: (1) following its creation, CFTF faced several management challenges and operational problems; (2) the working relationships between DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were strained and hampered by mutual concerns of trust, with DOJ attorneys and FBI investigators disagreeing over which investigative approach to take; (3) furthermore, efforts to manage and analyze documentation and evidence were hampered by the lack of: (a) an electronic data management system that could effectively process and manage the overwhelming amount of documents and other evidence collected; and (b) sufficient staff to input and analyze them; (4) to get the investigation on track, in the fall of 1997, DOJ and the FBI changed the Task Force's leadership, streamlined CFTF's oversight structure, and committed additional staff and information management resources; (5) the Task Force was removed from the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section's (PI) leadership and placed directly under a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in DOJ's Criminal Division; (6) PI, however, maintained its oversight of CFTF-related matters that had Independent Counsel statute implications; (7) up until its expiration in 1999, the statute and its applicability to CFTF's investigation had been a source of tension and disagreement between DOJ and the FBI and within DOJ; (8) as of December 31, 1999, CFTF had launched 121 investigations; (9) as of March 31, 2000, it had initiated 24 prosecutions and 15 individuals and 1 corporation had been convicted; and (10) from its inception through fiscal year 1999, DOJ and FBI estimated that they had spent $31.2 million on Task Force activities.