Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
135839462
label
JGR/Standards of Conduct
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
135839462
contentType
document
title
JGR/Standards of Conduct
citationUrl
identifierLocal
485
collections
Records of the Office of Counsel to the President (Reagan Administration)
John Roberts' Subject Files
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
135839462
coverageEndDate
logicalDate
1986-12-31
year
1986
coverageStartDate
logicalDate
1982-01-01
year
1982
levelOfDescription
fileUnit
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
f3cea9d6995d66cf
ocrText
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Roberts, John G.: Files
Folder Title: JGR/Standards of Conduct
Box: 51
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
January 18, 1984
MEMORANDUM FOR WHITE HOUSE STAFF
FROM:
FRED F. FIELDING 1111
COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Standards of Conduct: Contact with Independent
Regulatory Agencies, Investigative and Intelli-
gence Departments and Agencies, and Procurement
Agencies
It is important that all members of the staff review periodi-
cally the standards of conduct governing contacts with
independent agencies and with Executive branch departments
and agencies having adjudicative, investigative, intelligence
and procurement responsibilities. Given the number of new
members of the staff over the past two years, and as a
reference for all staff members, I am recirculating prior
memoranda on the subject. You should give careful considera-
tion to the guidance contained in the attached memoranda, as
well as the other guidelines set forth in the White House
Office Staff Manual.
Your cooperation in observing these guidelines is most
strongly urged. If you have any questions regarding these
procedures, please contact the Counsel's Office.
Thank you.
Attachments
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 13, 1981
-MEMORANDUM FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF
FROM:
FRED F. FIELDING
Counsel to the President
SUBJECT:
Standards of Conduct: Contact with Independent
Regulatory Agencies, Investigative and Intelli-
gence Departments and Agencies, and Procurement
Agencies
It is important that you be familiar with the standards of conduct
governing the activities of the White House staff in its contacts
with the independent agencies and Executive Branch departments and
agencies with investigative, intelligence and procurement responsi-
bilities.
Regulatory Agencies: The cases that come before these agencies
are of two general types: rule-making and adjudicative. Both are
normally extremely complicated, extremely important to the parties
concerned, and involve large amounts of money. While there may be
exceptional occasions when White House staff contact with agency
personnel is justified in rule-making proceedings, there is no
justification for involvement in particular adjudicative proceedings.
As a general rule, no member of the staff should make an ex parte
contact with a regulatory agency in regard to any particular matter
pending before that agency, regardless of whether the proceedings
are deemed to be rule-making or adjudicative, when such a contact
may imply preferential treatment or the use of influence on the
decision-making process.
Should you receive inquiries with regard to such matters, you should
refer the inquiring party to the agency involved, and express no
opinion on the issues raised. In short, White House staff members
should avoid even the mere appearance of interest or -influence --
and the easiest way to do so is to avoid discussing matters pending
before the independent regulatory agencies with interested parties
and avoid making ex parte contacts with agency personnel. Should
an occasion arise in the course of your duties where it appears
necessary to discuss general policy matters with the staff of an
independent regulatory agency, to avoid any appearance of impropriety,
you should first consult with the Office of the Counsel to the
President to determine whether such contact would be appropriate
under the circumstances. Such clearance is not required before
contacting executive agencies on administrative or purely executive
matters where no adjudicative, regulatory or procurement action is
involved.
-2-
The following agencies, while not an exhaustive listing, are regarded
by the Justice Department- as independent and should not be contacted
by White House staff (except for routine referrals of mail, and
administrative matters) without prior clearance with the Counsel's
Office:
Civil Aeronautics Board
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Election Commission
Federal Maritime Commission
Federal Trade Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
National Credit Union Administration
National Labor Relations Board
National Transportation Safety Board
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
Securities and Exchange Commission
U.S. International Trade Commission
The following agencies, or components of Executive departments or
agencies, exercise certain regulatory or adjudicative functions
which should be treated as independent. Accordingly, they should
not be contacted with respect to the exercise of those functions
without prior clearance with the Counsel's Office:
Environmental Protection Agency
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Federal Aviation Administration (Transportation)
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Energy)
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (Justice)
Merit Systems Protection Board
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
U.S. Parole Commission (Justice)
This list is merely illustrative. Many bureaus and divisions of
agencies have authority to issue binding regulations or to decide
specific claims, and White House staff should not attempt to
influence these decisions on an ex parte basis.
-3-
Investigative and Intelligence Agencies: As set forth in my
memorandum of February 10, 1981 (attached) the ban on contacts
extends to the litigating; investigative and adjudicatory divi-
sions of the Department of Justice. The same rules apply to the
Internal Revenue Service, the Inspectors General, the Special
Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board, and similar com-
ponents of departments and agencies with authority to investi-
gate charges of misconduct, conduct audits of specific programs,
or bring complaints before courts or other adjudicative bodies.
White House staff should also.confer with the Counsel's Office
before making inquiries of agencies with respect to particular
individuals. While the White House Office is not bound by
the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 USC 552a, federal
agencies are restricted by that Act from disclosing information
about individuals contained in their files. The White House
staff should be sensitive to these constraints.
Agencies in the intelligence community, including CIA, NSA, DIA,
the Intelligence Division of the FBI, and the intelligence com-
ponents of the military services, report to the President
through his Assistant for National Security Affairs. These
agencies should not be contacted directly without coordinating
first with the Assistant for National Security Affairs, and,
where issues of individual privacy may be concerned, the Counsel
to the President.
Procurement Agencies: In recent years, the public has become
increasingly sensitive to the allegations of improper influence
in the awarding of government contracts. Obviously, no member
of the White House staff should contact any procurement officer
about a contract in which he has a personal financial interest or
in which a relative, friend, or business associate has a finan-
cial interest. This is true not only as to calls or contacts in
which influence is directly exerted, but also as to so-called
"status" calls or other communications which might direct the
attention of the procurement officer to the fact that the White
House staff member has an interest.
There are likely to be occasions when the White House has a
legitimate interest in information about procurement matters; in
such instances, the communication should be made by persons who
have no direct interest themselves, and whose friends or associates
have no such interests. It is advisable that the lack of such
interest be made known to those receiving the communication so that
unintended inferences do not arise. To the extent that it can be
done, information should be obtained after the contracting procedure
is completed, or from persons not involved in the decision-making
process. To avoid the appearance of conflict and subsequent
embarrassment, White House staff members who feel they must
contact procurement agencies with regard to pending matters
should also first contact the Office of the Counsel to the
President.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
February 10, 1981
MEMORANDUM FOR THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF
FROM:
FRED F. FIELDING
COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Communications with the Department of Justice
As we are all keenly aware, it is imperative that there be
public confidence in the effective and impartial administration
of the laws. To that end, after consultation between the
President and the Attorney General, the following procedures
have been established in regard to communications between the
White House Staff and the Department of Justice.
1. All inquiries which concern or may concern
particular pending investigations or cases being
handled by the Department of Justice shall be
directed to the Counsel to the President. If
appropriate and necessary, the inquiry will then
be transmitted to the Office of the Attorney
General or the Deputy Attorney General.
2. All requests for formal legal opinions
from the Department of Justice shall be directed
to the Counsel to the President, who will direct
such requests to the Office of the Attorney
General or to the Assistant Attorney General --
Office of Legal Counsel.
3. All comments between the White House Office
and the Department of Justice in regard to policy,
legislation and budgeting should be handled directly
between those parties concerned.
Your cooperation in observing these guidelines is most
strongly urged. If you have any questions regarding these
procedures, please contact this Office.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 17, 1981
MEMORANDUM FOR THE WHITE HOUSE STAFF
FROM:
FRED F. FIELDING 1 Date
SUBJECT:
Communications with the Treasury Department
My memorandum of July 13, 1981 addressed the general issue
of White House staff contacts with regulatory, investiga-
tive, intelligence and procurement agencies and attached a
specific instruction concerning contacts with the Department
of Justice. However, I feel it important that you receive
this additional memorandum concerning contacts with the
Department of Treasury, in light of the sensitive nature of
some of its component agencies, such as, the Office of
Comptroller of the Currency, Internal Revenue Service,
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Secret
Service.
The following procedures have been established in regard to
communications between the White House Staff and the Treasury
Department:
1.
All inquiries which concern or may concern parti-
cular pending investigations or cases shall be
directed to the Counsel to the President. If
appropriate and necessary, the inquiry will then
be transmitted to the Office of the Deputy Secre-
tary of the Treasury.
2.
All inquiries which concern or may concern rulings
on pending applications, regulatory actions or
adjudications shall likewise be directed to the
Counsel to the President for transmittal, if
appropriate, to the Deputy Secretary.
3.
All requests involving tax return information,
shall be directed to Counsel to the President. If
permitted by the Internal Revenue Code, such
requests will be forwarded to the Deputy Secretary
of the Treasury, except for routine "tax checks"
which will be processed under our existing procedures.
2
4.
Requests for information or statistical data of a
routine nature and comments regarding policy,
legislation and budgeting should continue to be
handled directly between White House staff and the
appropriate Treasury official.
Your cooperation in observing these guidelines is most
strongly urged. If you have any questions regarding these
procedures, please contact this Office.
Thank you.