Who Is Bruce Hegyi?
York, Byron
RECOGNIZE THIS LAWYER? BRUCE HEGYI MAY NOT MAKE HEADLINES, BUT HE'S THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S MAIN MAN IN THE OTHER CAMPAIGN FINANCE SCANDAL THE INVESTIGATION OF RON BROWN'S TRADE...
...Klayman and others at Judicial Watch came to believe that the administration's strategy was at least in part designed to delay the suit past the 1996 presidential election...
...Given the Justice Department's stance in his case, it seemed reasonable to expect Reno might be a bit chilly, or at least not particularly approachable...
...Hegyi's objections prompted Klayman to once again complain to Lamberth...
...for example, in August 1996, more than four months after the Das deposition, the judge was still angry about Hegyi's tactics...
...Hegyi: No, sir, they're not They're objections as to the form of the questions...
...Hegyi: I'm not required to make them under Rule 34 until 30 days following the notice...
...As he read the menu, Klayman noticed attorney general Janet Reno sitting a few tables away...
...And these are being provided to you, though they're not required to be provided to you because you have not complied with the Rules of Civil Procedure...
...Hegyi: Mr...
...This deposition's over...
...Hegyi: Objection...
...Hegyi: I'm not going to be able to point to you in a Lamberth: I know you're not...
...Lack of foundation...
...BY BYRON YORK 2 1 a ne night in June, Lany Klayman, the conservative lawyer who has fought for three years to uncover the secrets of the late Ron Brown's trade missions, was having dinner at Cafe Atlantico, a trendy Washington eatery not far from the Justice Department...
...Lamberth: I authorized the deposition to go forward...
...Hegyi: Mr...
...Now, I am trying to help you out, even though the Rules are there for you to read and comply with, and you've chosen, apparently, not to do so...
...Maybe the attorney general didn't know much about Klayman and simply gave him the standard grip-and-grin Washington treatment On the other hand, maybe she knew quite a bit about the Judicial Watch case and was simply messing with her opponent's mind...
...After receiving no answer for three months, Klayman took action, filing suit against the department in January 1995...
...Hegyi: We don't need speeches, counsel...
...Hegyi: I have to tell you, in 4-some-odd years of practicing law, Ihave not had someone in a deposition accuse me of obstructing justice...
...Klayman is in no mood to accept–and now finds himself in the position of arguing that he not be declared the winner in his own lawsuit In early September, Klayman filed a motion urging Lam-berth to keep the original suit going...
...I don't mean to pull out the American flag," he says, "but one of the reasons I took this job was that your ultimate The American Spectator • October 1997 duty is to do the right thing...to do the right thing even when a federal judge thinks you're doing the wrong thing....The canons of ethics require you to do things that are unpopular...
...Lamberth: And she never answered it, and you sat there and said, 26 October 19 9 7 • The American Spectator "Asked and answered...
...Luzzato: No...
...Hegyi: Are you making a claim that I am not acting in good faith, Mr...
...I found that you didn't learn anything from my earlier sanctions in this case...
...Klayman: Did you seek advice from counsel as to where to search...
...Lamberth gave Klayman wider discretion in his requests for information—and ordered the government to pay Judicial Watch's legal fees...
...Virtually every time Klayman produced evidence that the Commerce Department acted improperly, Lam-berth gave him progressively greater leeway to request documents and interview present and former department officials...
...Klayman: Your attorney received a notice of deposition...
...BRUCE HEGYI MAY NOT MAKE HEADLINES, BUT HE'S THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S MAIN MAN IN THE OTHER CAMPAIGN FINANCE SCANDAL THE INVESTIGATION OF RON BROWN'S TRADE MISSIONS...
...Judicial Watch has uncovered overwhelming evidence that the Clinton Commerce Department's search was woefully inadequate and that key responsive documents were never produced, hidden, shredded, destroyed and removed from the Department's premises," Klayman wrote...
...Lack of foundation...
...Compound...
...Klayman wanted to know with whom Huang might have discussed trade missions while at Commerce...
...Lamberth seemed amazed...
...Klayman: Are these all the documents...
...Who was turned down...
...Klayman had sent Das a subpoena known in legal circles as a duces tecum — meaning a subpoena that requires the subject to provide documents...
...At first, the Commerce Department simply ignored the Judicial Watch request...
...But it is equally unlikely that Hegyi will give up his determined resistance (Hegyi told TAS he plans to stay on the case for as long as it lasts...
...Klayman...
...That's just silly," Hegyi said...
...Certainly there are significant grounds for their complaints...
...These are the documents that are responsive as regards Mr...
...This gentleman is not a party to this lawsuit In addition to that, you are required to comply with Rule 34...
...Despite that, Klayman has won a series of court victories —and now he wanted to meet his adversary face to face...
...Klayman: Have you ever heard of a Nancy Chen...
...Fredericks...
...The best thing to do, he wrote, was to close the case and start anew...
...Ambiguous...
...Hegyi: Your honor, that is true...
...EXHIBIT B: BRUCE-CLIENT PRIVILEGE On March zo, 1997, Klayman questioned Anne Luzzato, the Commerce Department's press secretary at the time of the Brown trips...
...Lam-berth ruled that in many cases Commerce had indeed improperly concealed documents, and he authorized Klayman to investigate not only the trade missions but the way Commerce had responded to the Judicial Watch request...
...Let me tell you a little about why I think it was, and then you explain to me what you were trying to do there...
...I am producing to you these documents...
...You're asking a specific question about whether or not she sought specific legal advice on this issue...
...Hegyi's proposal would essentially close the book on the first search and—more importantly—put an end to questions about whether Commerce Department officials lied and withheld documents in an effort to conceal information about Brown's trade missions...
...What criteria were used to select those chosen to travel with Brown...
...Lack of foundation...
...in recent years we have learned that Brown—the former Democratic National Committee chairman—not only used the junkets to reward major contributors but also apparently offered spots on the trips in return for new donations...
...We said the case was never against Brown, it was against the Clinton administration," Klayman recalls...
...When Das finally sat down to talk, Hegyi was in no mood to cooperate...
...attorney named Bruce Hegyi —are doing in the Commerce Department case, it is likely they would have plenty of questions to ask about that, too...
...Therefore, "the Department of Commerce moves the court to enter judgment against the Department of Commerce...
...But now, with the president safely re-elected, the case drags on and on—largely out of public view...
...And he denied Klayman's charge that his strategy was designed to muddy the waters in the Brown case...
...But the opposite was the case...
...Commerce would pledge to do a new search, and the case would start from scratch...
...I had already ordered it...
...Das: I haven't Other than the material that's right here...
...Have you provided any documentation today...
...Lamberth: You stopped the deposition of Das that I had authorized and you walked out...
...Hegyi: Objection, same objection...
...Hegyi asked the judge to order Commerce to begin a new search, to give Klayman a complete list of all responsive documents, and to pay all of Judicial Watch's legal fees...
...Klayman: Well, you're making a representation...
...Hegyi: No, I don't want to testify for her...
...Klayman: —if you are not responding to a court order — Hegyi: Mr...
...These days Reno's critics on Capitol Hill often focus on her stubborn resistance to calls for an independent counsel in the campaign finance scanBYRON YORK is an investigative writer for TAS...
...Hegyi: Okay...
...Nevertheless, subject to and without waiving the foregoing objections, I am producing to you these documents that are responsive...
...The plan was largely successful...
...Hegyi: They are not, Mr...
...I could take every page of this deposition," the judge said, "and I don't know how many things I've said you've done improper here so far, but there are plenty...
...Lamberth: Well, I guess maybe you have been more fortunate as a government lawyer than I ever was...
...so you had to produce the documents...
...Hegyi: Objection...
...Hegyi: Yes, your honor...
...And we requested documentation...
...The court held that you were required to produce the documentation....I would ask you, Mr...
...Hegyi: Excuse me, counsel, same objection, same instruction, in addition to asked and answered...
...He walked over to her table...
...Hegyi: That's attorney-client privilege...
...In an interview with TAS, he defended his practice of interrupting the depositions...
...As required in such cases, it gave Judicial Watch a list of papers it contended were exempt from the Freedom of Information Act...
...Hegyi: Mr...
...And as Klayman kept up the pressure, the Commerce Department kept up its resistance...
...When the judge is sending signals," he says, "do you end up going on and on and on for many more years and then end up having the judge rule and then appealing...
...She said, "There wouldn't be anything on my computer, and the other files in the office were searched by Elise Packard [a lawyer in Fredericks' office] or someone else...
...The notice is defective for several reasons, but not the least of which is that under the Rules 3o(b)(5), I believe, you're only permitted to send a duces tecum to a party...
...Klayman: I ask you simply whether or not you have produced the responsive documents...
...You didn't have any right to object at that point...
...Klayman: Did Mr...
...Hegyi: Objection, lack of foundation...
...Hegyi is leaving this deposition...
...Rothkopf [a former deputy undersecretary] about trade missions...
...Lamberth: She never said that You want to testify for her now...
...Klayman: Yes...
...But in April 1996, as both sides prepared for the deposition, Brown was killed in a plane crash during a trip to Croatia...
...She grabs my hands in a very warm gesture," Klayman remembers, "and says, 'Of course I've heard of you, Larry, and you're doing a great job...
...Klayman, I'm not being deposed here, okay...
...22 October 1997 • The American Spectator WHO IS BRUCE HEGYI...
...She just answered it" She never answered that question...
...Klayman, for his part, is plowing ahead...
...Lamberth: Mr...
...The American Spectator • October r 9 9 7 23 dal...
...Lack of foundation...
...While some major developments in the lawsuit have received coverage in the press, the actual tactics that Hegyi has used to frustrate and delay the Judicial Watch investigation have attracted much less attention...
...Hegyi: Mr...
...Hegyi: Your honor, what she did say is that Elise Packard and her computer are all hooked up, they're on a network, so it was already searched by Elise Packard...
...Hegyi: Mr...
...I was accused of a lot worse than this and I sure never walked out of a deposition...
...Klayman: Mr...
...You moved, you had moved for a protective order — Hegyi: Yes, sir...
...And she never would answer that...
...She never gave an answer to that...
...Klayman, you have not complied with the Rules of Civil Procedure...
...Lamberth: Now, you allege in your papers that Mr...
...You're then sitting there at the deposition, saying "I don't have to produce anything because I'm objecting...
...Klayman: Did she call the office...
...Hegyi: Mr...
...All she would say was there wouldn't be anything on it...
...I just don't understand it...
...Hegyi: Yes, sir...
...Klayman: Did you search their files...
...Stewart: Yes...
...Klayman: This is not subject to attorney-client privilege...
...Hegyi dismisses the criticism...
...He's the fall guy for Janet Reno and the Clinton Justice Department," Klayman says, "to cover up the obstruction that's been occurring in the Clinton Commerce Department...
...Klayman sought information on five trips: the China and Russia missions, as well as visits to South Africa, South America, and India...
...I said, 'Miss Reno, perhaps you've heard of me, my name is Larry Klayman,'" he recalls...
...Hegyi responded by charging that Klayman had been the problem...
...In his interview with TAS, Hegyi attributed his action to a growing realization that he was getting nowhere with Lamberth...
...I found you engaging in all sorts of improper conduct in that deposition...
...Lamberth: And you gave me as a prime example the transcript from the deposition of Ms...
...What follows are scenes from the Justice Department's effort to stymie Klayman–and make sure the Clinton administration's secrets stay secret...
...Hegyi, meanwhile, continued to insist that Commerce had done a good job of providing material...
...Klayman: I do understand it, and25 Hegyi: Let's move on...
...Later, Hegyi switched strategy to claim that Fredericks really had answered Klayman's question...
...Luzzato did not bring her own attorney, but several government lawyers, including Hegyi, were there to represent the Commerce Department Klayman wanted to know whether Luzzato had searched staffers' files in response to his request for documents...
...You had no way that you could object at that point, and I don't understand what your objection was anywayHegyi: Yes, sir...
...At that point, the lawsuit came to be as much about the department's search for documents as it was about the missions themselves...
...Klayman: Are these all the documents...
...But you choose not to...
...And after giving $1o9,014, officials from Occidental Petroleum made the trip —as well as another Brown trip to Russia...
...A short time later, Hegyi attempted to defend his decision to leave...
...Klayman: Did someone tell you not to do that...
...the only real damage to the Clinton campaign occurred when Lamberth allowed Klayman to depose former Commerce Department official John Huang, who in the weeks before the election had gone into hiding as news of his role in the campaign finance scandal began to surface...
...Hegyi: Objection...
...With the Clinton administration's unprecedented offer to enter judgment against itself, and to immediately pay attorneys' fees which now range in the millions of dollars, it is clear that the Clinton administration fears the continuation of this suit" Now it is up to Judge Lamberth to decide the future of Judicial Watch v. United States Department ofCommerce...
...He says he has never talked to Reno about the case...
...Klayman: These are frivolous objections...
...Klayman: (to the court reporter) Let the record reflect that Mr...
...These are ridiculous objections...
...District Court Judge Royce Lamberth to delay the case...
...The process could take many more years...
...Stewart: I don't know about frequently...
...Klayman: Nancy Chen —you've heard of her, haven't you...
...She grabbed my hand again," he continues, "and said, 'You're doing a great job, Larry...
...Hegyi, is relevant because there has been a continuing course of misconduct in this case...
...Either way, the little scene in Cafe Atlantico marked a minor milestone for Klayman: it was virtually the first time that a representative of the Justice Department has made a straightforward and accommodating statement about anything in the Brown case...
...I'm trying to keep the waters from being muddied...
...That is true...
...Your notice did not...
...Klayman: That's not attorney-client privilege...
...But the department withheld thousands more —for example, nowhere among the documents given to Klayman were any notes, correspondence, or other papers from the office of Secretary Brown...
...On several occasions, Lamberth seemed to share Klayman's frustration...
...And I read the entire transcript, and what I found was that you were abusive...
...Klayman: She called frequently, didn't she...
...Huang have dealings with Mr...
...Hegyi, to at least make a proffer for the court so it can review this as to whether you have produced all of the documents...
...Keep it up...
...But his arguments weren't working with the judge...
...After a judicial lashing like that, one might have expected Hegyi to be more careful...
...Hegyi: Your honor, he asked that question—I think the court can see for itself—he asked that question over and over again...
...Attorney's office under Republican Jay Stephens—says his motives are really quite simple...
...Do you understand that...
...Klayman: What I'm asking you is, was this your decision not to search The American Spectator • October 1997 these other offices, or did someone give you advice not to do so...
...Klayman starts asking a series of questions about whether [Fredericks] had searched her computer, and she didn't want to admit that she had never searched her computer, so she won't ever answer him directly...
...Fredericks played a major role in the department's response to the Judicial Watch lawsuit...
...Although Hegyi immediately filed motions to delay any interrogation of the secretary, it appeared that Brown would soon have to face Klayman's questions...
...We don't need speeches...
...Stewart: I don't know about a friend...
...You may not be being deposed here, but you may also be obstructing justice...
...Stewart: Yes...
...The case was still chugging along, deposition after deposition...
...The Justice Department represents the government in actions like the Judicial Watch matter...
...Your objections were totally scandalous...
...Still, Hegyi's behavior is baffling...
...Luzzato: No, I did not...
...The court is entitled to know that...
...Hegyi: Objection...
...Thank you...
...On February 3, 1997, the two appeared before the judge...
...A close look at deposition transcripts, records of court hearings, and written arguments in the case reveals an extraordinary pattern of continual objections, unsupported claims of attorney-client privilege, and even a dramatic attomey-client walk-out in response to Judicial Watch inquiries...
...In a motion filed with Lamberth, Hegyi conceded that the Commerce Department's search for documents had been inadequate...
...It turned out Klayman was on to something...
...However, in addition, you were required to comply with Rule 34 when you are sending a notice of deposition duces tecum...
...He says he discussed the case with Eric Holder—the former U.S...
...It seemed...that in front of this judge, the most prudent thing to do was to go ahead and do another search and no longer continue to defend in court the search that had been done...
...Suspecting the department was improperly withholding the material, Klayman asked the judge to review the list...
...Hegyi: Objection...
...As is routine in such cases, the suit was referred to the U.S...
...a friend of Huang's] She called the office from time to time...
...You have not done so...
...attorney, now second-in-command at the Justice Department—on just a few occasions, and never about strategy...
...Klayman has been abusive...
...Who was on each trip...
...What I've said is, and I'll repeat it, that your notice is defective in that under the Rules you are not permitted to simply send a duces tecum to a non-party...
...For example, Bernard Schwartz, chairman of the technology firm Loral Corporation, gave $ioo,oco to the Democratic National Committee just before being included in Brown's mission to China in September 199+ A top Atlantic Richfield executive also went along after his company contributed $201,5oo to the DNC...
...Klayman, that's a very strong term...
...His questions were fairly simple...
...If you intend to say this again on the record, this deposition will be over...
...JANET'S POINT MAN The Judicial Watch case began in the first months of the Clinton administration, when Klayman began to suspect that the new Commerce Secretary was using his much-publicized "trade missions" as a means to repay big donors to the Democratic Party—and shake them down for more money...
...It is appropriate to conduct a new search for agency records responsive to plaintiff's three [Freedom of Information Act] requests, rather than expending any further time or money defending the adequacy of its prior search," Hegyi argued...
...So why are you telling me I can't let him turn up any more rocks...
...I walked out, your honor...
...I didn't search anything...
...If you ask this witness if she knows, that would be helpful...
...Klayman: That's correct...
...Even if one takes as a given that the Commerce Department is concealing information in the case, Hegyi seems to have moved things a step further: at times it appears he has volunteered to throw his body in front of the case, no matter witat the cost The judge admonishes him for his behavior and tells Hegyi never to do it again—so Hegyi does it again...
...Hegyi is unapologetic about his role in the Brown case...
...Klayman, you sent over a notice of deposition duces tecum...
...Klayman: So is what you're saying is, you haven't produced all the responsive documents...
...This question may be moot if you have produced all the documents...
...Klayman, if you are going to repeat that again on this public record, this deposition will be over...
...Our job is to see that the right thing has been done," says Hegyi, who was assigned to represent the Commerce Department...
...Hegyi, it is exactly this type of gamesmanship...it is exactly this type of bad faith which has led to this situation...
...Judge Lamberth overruled Hegyi's objections and ordered the deposition to go forward...
...Hegyi, Klayman continues, is just "doing what he's told ....The overall goal is to obstruct the flow of information in our lawsuit...
...Klayman: This was a friend of John Huang's...
...You didn't want to let her admit that she had never searched her own computer even, and you kept interfering and interrupting so that he could never get an answer to that question...
...Hegyi: I instruct the witness not to answer...
...Hegyi: I'm not saying that at all...
...And that 30 days has not expired even as we sit here today...
...If the agency has made a mistake, then to get the right thing done and fix it...
...It appears that whatever Lamberth decides, it will be a long time before we learn the whole story of the political machine inside the Commerce Department 27...
...In light of his past statements, it seems unlikely the judge will let Commerce off the hook...
...He denied coaching any witnesses in what testimony they should give...
...Hegyi: Your honor, myLamberth: Point to me where she said that...
...Klayman — Klayman: —which has required you to produce the documents which you've previously objected to, and if you will not submit a simple question as to whether or not you have, in fact, produced all the documents that were requested, I do view that as obstruction of justice...
...Lamberth: —and I had denied that, and any objection you had to the production of documents you had an obligation to raise in that motion for protective order, and I ruled on the question...
...Klayman stood there perplexed for an awkward moment until Reno resumed speaking...
...THE LATEST TWIST After three years of legal wrangling, the case took a dramatic turn in mid-August when Hegyi and the Justice Department appeared to give up...
...In this case, Hegyi began an aggressive defense, immediately filing motions asking U.S...
...The Commerce Secretary's death actually had little effect on the suit...
...Rather, Hegyi —a former Arlington, Virginia police officer who practiced law for ten years before joining the U.S...
...Klayman: She called, didn't she...
...And then you start interjecting, 'Well, that's been answered...
...EXHIBIT C: I'M OUTTA HERE Nearly a year before the other depositions, on March 27, 1996, Klayman questioned Anthony Das, the former executive secretary of the Commerce Department...
...Every the [Klayman] turns up another rock, he finds something," Lamberth told Hegyi...
...Das is not a party...
...Do you understand that...
...And then again...
...Hegyi: It is subject to attorney-client privilege...
...But if members of Congress knew what Reno's lawyers—particularly an assistant U.S...
...WHY INDEED...
...Klayman: Yes, I am...
...All that would simply go away...
...Klayman: Did she ever call the office...
...Things appeared to be coming to a head in February 1996, when Klayman subpoenaed Ron Brown himself...
...But he continued his pattern of raising objection after objection, which angered the judge even more...
...Klayman: You raised these arguments with the court...
...Hegyi: Objection...
...therefore I'm objecting because there is no foundation that the witness knows...
...A few months later, Commerce turned over 28,coo pages of documents...
...Even though Stewart seemed inclined to answer the questions—and even though she had her own attorney at the deposition — Hegyi seemed intent on keeping her quiet...
...in a freedom of information case, its role is not necessarily to defend the agency that has been sued—in this case, the Commerce Department—but rather to make sure the agency has responded properly...
...The judge issues another admonition —and Hegyi just keeps on going...
...They were completely proper objections to be made;' Hegyi said...
...among other things, Klayman wanted to know if Fredericks had searched her computer files for documents relevant to the suit...
...Lamberth was particularly upset by Hegyi's conduct during the January 3,1997 deposition of Barbara Fredericks, the Commerce Department's former assistant general counsel...
...Klayman: This, Mr...
...he scheduled a deposition just days after Judicial Watch responded to Hegyi's proposal...
...Next question...
...Reno's lawyers have resisted Klayman's organization, Judicial Watch, at every step of the way in the Brown case...
...attorney's office in Washington...
...Lamberth: Well, she didn't say that...
...Commerce claimed it had a legal right to withhold the documents...
...Klayman...
...Hegyi: Okay...
...Undaunted, Hegyi continued to argue that the Judicial Watch suit was far too broad, again asking the judge to limit Klayman's freedom to subpoena people and documents...
...Before Das appeared, Hegyi objected, arguing on a technicality that Klayman's subpoena was invalid...
...At the end of the hearing, Lamberth labeled Hegyi's conduct "totally improper...
...THE JUDGE STEPS IN Incidents like those prompted Judicial Watch to complain repeatedly to Judge Lamberth...
...And then you continually repeated and interrupted him throughout...
...Klayman: Can you please stop interrupting...
...if the agency has acted properly, then to defend it...
...Are you making that claim on the record right now...
...24 October 1997 • The American Spectator EXHIBIT A: OBJECTION, OBJECTION, OBJECTION On March 19,1997, Klayman questioned Janice Stewart, who was John Huang's executive secretary at the Commerce Department...
...Klayman, I don't know how I can say this any clearer...
...Do you understand that...
...The judge denied most of the department's requests and ordered Commerce to conduct an immediate search for documents relevant to Klayman's suit...
...And he came back and kept asking her, "Well, did you search your computer...
...None of that was known in September 1994, when Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on how the Commerce Department selected the trade mission participants...
...The majority of the times that I objected, Klayman would change his question, acknowledging that there was a problem with the question...
Vol. 30 • October 1997 • No. 10
