Atty. Gen. Janet Reno on Thursday vigorously defended her decision against seeking appointment of an independent counsel to investigate Democratic campaign fund-raising, saying “everyone is committed to seeing that justice ultimately is done.” But at her weekly news conference, Reno declared anew that an investigation by career Justice Department lawyers and FBI authorities had not yet turned up sufficient “specific and credible evidence” to warrant an outside counsel. She said she wasn’t withering under heavy criticism by Capitol Hill Republicans, who have said she should be called to explain under oath why she hadn’t acted to get an independent counsel named. “I keep in mind what I have on my wall,” she said. “It’s what Lincoln said. `If you were to believe all the bad things that were said about you, you might as well close up shop and go out of business.”
