W. PICKS IMPEACH LEADER TO HEAD DEA

President Bush has tapped Rep. Asa Hutchinson, who helped lead the
House impeachment of Bill Clinton, to head the Drug Enforcement
Administration, congressional sources said yesterday. Arkansas
Republican Hutchinson, 50, served on the House Judiciary Committee
that drew up and passed the impeachment articles against Clinton in
the fall of 1998.

Hutchinson, a former U.S. attorney, also was one of the "managers" who
argued in the Senate for Clinton's removal from office in early 1999,
although the Senate voted to leave him in office.

Hutchinson argued that Clinton "used whatever means available to evade
the truth, destroy evidence [and] tamper with witnesses" as he tried
to cover up his sexual fling with one-time intern Monica Lewinsky.

Hutchinson's voting record in the House has been that of a fiscal and
social conservative, and he graduated from a fundamentalist Christian
institution, Bob Jones University.

But he also favored an overhaul of campaign-finance laws, and that put
him at odds with House GOP leaders on a key issue.

The official announcement of his appointment is expected today. He
refused to comment. The position is subject to Senate
confirmation.

The DEA is a part of the Department of Justice, and is at the
forefront of U.S. drug-interdiction efforts.

Hutchinson's departure is unlikely to change the makeup of the House,
where Republicans have a 10-vote majority.