INDEPENDENT COUNSEL TO INVESTIGATE RON BROWN

Attorney General Janet Reno will name an independent counsel toinvestigate Commerce Secretary Ron Brown’s finances, including his failure to disclose details of payments to a former business partner. Reno’s request to a court panel, unsealed today, asks that a prosecutor determine whether Brown improperly accepted nearly $500,000 from the partner, Nolanda Hill, and whether he deliberately filed inaccurate disclosure statements and a misleading mortgage statement. Reno today said evidence suggested that Brown “lacked criminal intent” when he filed, but she called for the independent counsel nonetheless because the evidence was not “clear and convincing.” (Brown called Reno’s action “disappointing” and predicted that he would be exonerated.)The Commerce Departmentalso released thousands of records in response to questions about Brown’s foreign travel. TIME Washington correspondent Adam Zagorin says the records may show whether Brown’s deal-making trips abroad involved excessive spending and whether Democratic campaign contributors were improperly taken along.