DEA AGENT GRILLED IN RAP-A-LOT CASE

House Panel Eyes Perjury Charges Against Houston Task-Force Leader

WASHINGTON -- A House committee threatened a federal official in Houston
with possible prosecution Wednesday over inconsistencies between his
testimony and evidence that political pressure halted an investigation of a
rap music promoter.

Ernest Howard, special agent-in-charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Houston, received the brunt of the ire of the Committee
on Government Reform, which also questioned two other DEA agents and three
Houston police officers.

The investigation involved James A. Prince, founder and president of the
Rap-A-Lot recording company, and his associates concerning allegations of
drug trafficking and police corruption.

"I want you to be very clear about this," committee chairman Dan Burton,
R-Ind., sternly told Howard. "We will send charges to the new Justice
Department after Jan. 1, and prosecution can take place" if any perjury is
found.

Howard replied, "I am not trying to mislead you," explaining that he had
only temporarily suspended a drug investigation to protect a task force
from allegations of racial profiling.

The task force of DEA agents and Houston Police Department narcotics
officers was formed in 1998 to investigate alleged drug activity involving
Houston-based Rap-A-Lot Records and Prince.

Prince complained to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., of racial profiling
and harassment after task-force members arrested several of his associates,
netting 20 convictions, including at least two executive-level employees of
Rap-A-Lot, according to testimony.

In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno in August 1999, Waters said
Prince could be a victim of DEA harassment.

Within days, Howard told the task force to disband, according to the
testimony of the former lead investigator on the case, DEA agent Jack
Schumacher.

"It was a multistep process," Schumacher said. "The letter came in. We were
told about it. A DEA OPR (Office of Professional Responsibility)
investigation was launched (against the task force), and Mrs. Waters was
actively pursuing and advocating these allegations."

Howard sent several e-mails to DEA officials in Washington complaining that
the agency was "bowing down" to political pressure.

Howard wrote in an e-mail March 14 that "we are closing our case on
Prince," but he told the committee Wednesday he was only "venting" his
frustration to his superiors in hopes of getting a quick response of support.

Committee members also questioned the timing of a March 12 visit to Houston
by Vice President Al Gore.

Gore made a campaign stop at a church where Prince is a contributing
member, and Schumacher claimed "third-hand" information was that Prince
donated more than $200,000 to Gore's presidential campaign.

Schumacher was transferred to a desk job within three days of Gore's visit.
Gore's office has insisted he has had no connection with the investigation.

A spokesman for Prince who wished to remain anonymous said Prince has never
met or communicated with Gore or made any contribution to him.

"Prince is more community-conscious than politically conscious," the
spokesman said, describing a Christmas party Prince will sponsor for 500
children in the Fifth Ward, a low-income, inner-city neighborhood that
Prince is from.

Regarding the Gore allegation, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., cautioned
Schumacher to "separate facts from speculation."

"There is no evidence that Vice President Gore has discussed this case with
anybody," Waxman said. "There is no evidence that he received a
contribution from anyone involved in this."

Waxman also defended Waters' questioning the investigation, saying her
commitment against racial profiling by law enforcement is well-known
nationally.

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., retorted, "This investigation is not about
Vice President Gore but about why this investigation stopped, why these
officers and agents risked their lives every day to have the case taken
away from them. It's an outrage."

HPD narcotics officers Bill Stephens, Ralph Chaison and Larry Allen also
testified that Howard told them the investigation was being stopped
"because of political pressure."

They said the probe was entering a second phase that went past drug
trafficking and into police corruption and murder cases.

"We started to break the stranglehold Rap-A-Lot had on the Fifth Ward,"
Stephens said.

"We were starting to infiltrate his (Prince's) organization," Chaison
testified. "The pressure was on.

"I'm black. I'm just as black as any black person, and I would not allow
any racial profiling done in my presence."

Prince, Waters, Howard and two of the officers in the investigation are
also black.

Chaison and Allen said they read in Jet magazine on the flight to
Washington that a rap recording, produced by Prince's company and that
cursed and threatened DEA agents and police, had risen from No. 16 to No. 7
on the charts in a week.

"One of his artists composed songs that bragged about getting DEA agents
replaced and taking officers off the streets" and specified DEA agents
Schumacher and Chad Scott by name, Chaison said.

Rapper Brad "Scarface" Jordan, in his CD Last of a Dying Breed, raps about
killing anyone who gives information to police and claims DEA agents
probing "the Rap-A-Lot mafia" were trying to set up Prince and his associates.

Prince has said he is innocent of any illegal behavior and has been
subjected to "Gestapo-type" behavior by investigators.

Committee members, curious about the CD recording, had staff purchase a
copy, and part of the profanity-laced song Look into My Eyes was played.

The angry lyrics rang out in the wood-paneled, high-ceiling hearing room,
"Do you think I'm crazy? ... Schumacher's been chasing me. F--- DEA!"

Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, said, "Kids in Houston, teen-agers and
children across the country are listening to it saying it's all right to
dis the DEA and threaten lives."

The committee will resume its hearing today, recalling Howard and other
witnesses. DEA Administrator Donnie Marshall is to testify this afternoon.