State : Cranston Too Ill for Questioning
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WASHINGTON — The Senate Ethics Committee today agreed not to require Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) to undergo public questioning in the so-called Keating Five case after his lawyer said he is too ill from cancer therapy to appear.
The panel voted unanimously that it will not compel Cranston’s appearance, either in person or by televised hookup.
William Taylor III, Cranston’s defense attorney in the case, said Cranston is not strong enough to undergo even a videotaped questioning and that the senator has waived his rights to be examined in public. He said the senator’s earlier statements to the panel in private sessions will have to stand as Cranston’s defense against ethics allegations.
Cranston is one of five senators under investigation by the ethics panel for allegations they improperly intervened with federal regulators on behalf of a major financial contributor, failed savings and loan owner Charles H. Keating Jr.
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