The Debategate Probe Fizzles

A ruling by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals may finally end the affair dubbed "Debategate." The court unanimously overturned an order issued by a lower federal court judge that directed Attorney General William French Smith to call for a special prosecutor to look into allegations that the 1980 Reagan campaign illegally obtained briefing materials prepared for President Carter before the two candidates debated.

Smith declined to request a special prosecutor when an eight-month Justice Department investigation failed to turn up evidence that a crime had occurred. A lawsuit, brought under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, argued that Congress had not intended to give the Attorney General, a political appointee, the last word on such probes. But the Court of Appeals rejected this reasoning, ruling that Congress did not intend judges to second-guess the Attorney General in these matters. Under the Ethics Act, said the appeals court, Congress could use other avenues, such as the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, to bring pressure on the Attorney General if it wishes.