Washington - A federal appeals court has turned down a request by the independent counsel investigating former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy to expand his nearly 4-year-old probe.
The court ruling , which did not identify the target of the request, upheld Attorney General Janet Reno's refusal to expand the investigation of Espy to include other criminal allegations.
"We do not think it proper to set forth in this published opinion the full details of heretofore untested allegations of criminal activity on the part of Espy and others," the court wrote.
The facts alleged by independent counsel Donald Smaltz "do not involve any alleged misuse of the office of Secretary of Agriculture by Espy, any acceptance of payments or gifts by persons having business with that department, or any similar pattern of conduct," the ruling added.
The Justice Department said its public integrity unit would investigation the allegations, but a spokesman declined to elaborate.
Espy is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 1 for allegedly accepting some $35,000 in sports tickets, travel and other favors from poultry companies he regulated. Espy, a former congressman and the nation's first black Agriculture Secretary, has said he is innocent of any wrongdoing.
Jury selection has begun for the trial of two lobbyists for Tyson Foods Inc.
The two men, Archie Schaffer, a Tyson vice president, and Jack Williams, the company's Washington-based lobbyist, are accused of giving $12,000 worth of gifts to Espy to try and influence USDA regulations. They also face charges of lying to federal enforcement officers.
The gifts are the same ones that Tyson Foods admitted to giving Espy when he was President Clinton's first agriculture secretary. The company pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $6 million fine.
Although the Smaltz investigation has been criticized as lengthy and expensive, the independent counsel has won convictions against seven individuals, five corporations and one law firm, and recovered some $10 million in fines and penalties.
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