Burton Vows FBI Probe *
Cites Case Involving Wrongfully Imprisoned Man *
Says He Will Press On Despite Bush's Denial of Documents *
Claims Hoover Knew Of Miscarriage of Justice
Jan. 25, 2002 (CBS) A Boston case in which the FBI knowingly participated
in a conspiracy to send an innocent man to prison for 32 years has so
incensed the chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform that
he has vowed to keep investigating the FBI for more such injustices.
The chairman, Dan Burton, R-Ind., tells Mike Wallace in a 60 Minutes
interview that he will press on with his campaign despite being denied
access to subpoenaed FBI documents by an executive order imposed by President
Bush. The interview with Burton will air Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Burton will convene more committee hearings during the first week of
February.
The case that enraged Burton involves Joseph Salvati, whom the FBI knowingly
allowed to be wrongly convicted for murder to protect Mafia murderers
who were FBI informants. Burton says this case destroyed his image of
one of his childhood heroes.
"I always thought J. Edgar Hoover walked on water when I was a kid,"
he tells Wallace. "But when I found out Mr. Salvati had been put in prison
for a crime he didn't commit and they knew it - the FBI for 32 years -
and there was no remorse because of it, I said, Something has to be done."
James Wilson, chief legal counsel for Burton's committee, received FBI
documents showing that the FBI's knowledge of Salvati's innocence led
up the chain of command, right to Hoover. "That's what the evidence shows
[Hoover] was kept informed of [Salvati's case] on an almost daily basis,"
Burton says. "It's a shocking thing." Burton has subpoenaed
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