Editor's Note: Information about innocent women being strip searched
for drugs by Customs agents is buried at the end of this story.

INNOCENT WOMEN BEING STRIP-SEARCHED BY U.S. CUSTOMS

WASHINGTON -- Calling herself "probably the most investigated United
States senator in history," U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.)
Tuesday defended her 1992 campaign's use of its funds, responding to
reports the Internal Revenue Service had sought criminal proceedings
against her.

The U.S. Justice Department acknowledged this week it twice turned
down requests made by the IRS in 1995 to begin a criminal grand jury
probe of Moseley-Braun focused on allegations she diverted campaign
funds to personal use.

But a spokesman for the Justice Department said the cases built by IRS
investigators lacked sufficient credible evidence against the senator.

And, Tuesday, Moseley-Braun, who has been dogged for years by
allegations that she misused 1992 campaign funds, sought to take the
focus away from the IRS probe and put it on the Justice Department's
finding.

"I hope this puts a stake in that Dracula's heart," Moseley-Braun
said. "Our campaign funds were prudently handled, were legally
handled, were properly handled."

Fellow Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin also stepped up to
Moseley-Braun's defense, citing a Federal Election Commission probe of
the same allegations that eventually was dropped as a five-year
statute of limitations neared.

"The fact is that for four years the FEC combed through these records
and didn't even fine the campaign as a result, let alone announce
wrongdoing," Durbin said.

Durbin asserted it was "a thin reed" to suggest the Justice Department
would have made its decision based on political considerations rather
than the merits of the case.

It is unusual but not unprecedented for the Justice Department to turn
down IRS requests to begin prosecutions. In 1995, the Justice
Department rejected 10 percent of the IRS' criminal referrals,
department spokesman Bert Brandenburg said.

The senators called a Capitol Hill press conference to release data
demonstrating that women--and especially black women--are
disproportionately picked out for strip searches by customs officers
at O'Hare International Airport.

In 1997, nearly three-quarters of travelers strip-searched at O'Hare
were women, and black women were twice as likely to be forced to
undress as white women. Of 104 travelers searched, 77 were women,
including 47 black women.

However, the searches of women were far less likely to yield drugs or
other contraband, and searches of black women even less likely to do
so. Of those searched, 12 men (44 percent), 6 white women (24 percent)
and 8 black women (17 percent) were carrying contraband.

"That certainly raises the suspicion, at least in my mind" that
customs agents are unfairly targeting black women, said Durbin.

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"