On Fresh Ground

The goodies that started the investigation of Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy < were relatively small things as political scandals go: sky-box seats at a Dallas Cowboys game, tickets to a Chicago Bulls play-off, a ride on a corporate jet and lodging at a lakeside cabin. One of the largest items was a $1,200 scholarship for his girlfriend. At first, the situation seemed as if it might be cleared up quickly. For accepting those gratuities from Tyson Foods and other companies, some of which Espy had reimbursed, the White House demanded his resignation. Independent counsel Donald Smaltz, appointed by a three-judge panel last September, promised a low-profile and speedy inquiry to see whether evidence could be found that Espy did anything illegal in accepting the items and whether he provided favors in return.

That seemingly narrow task, however, has expanded into a full-scale investigation that has gone beyond Espy to include Tyson Foods and its relationship with Bill Clinton as Arkansas Governor. Many close ties are already known: Tyson executives helped finance Clinton's campaigns, and James Blair, one of the firm's lawyers, guided Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful commodities trades. Smaltz, 57, a former prosecutor from Los Angeles who was expected to finish the current probe within six months, says he has collected such a large battery of allegations that he may not finish the task before 1996. He is working seven days a week and has hired nearly 30 employees, including six lawyers and eight FBI agents. Last week he opened an office that he describes as "a toehold" in Fayetteville, Arkansas, just a few miles from the headquarters of Tyson, the world's largest poultry producer (1993 sales: $4.7 billion).

Smaltz has served more than 50 grand-jury subpoenas on individuals and groups ranging from the National Broiler Council, a chicken-industry trade group dominated by the Tyson company, to the Arkansas Workers Compensation Commission, the state agency that handles disability claims by Tyson employees. Among the many areas of Smaltz's inquiry are whether Tyson induced Espy to delay tough inspection rules for poultry, and why Espy intervened on Tyson's behalf in a chicken-labeling dispute in Puerto Rico. TIME has learned that Smaltz is also investigating a charge made by a former Tyson pilot that he helped convey cash payments from the company to Clinton while Clinton was Governor of Arkansas.

The reaction to the expanding probe of Tyson Foods has been swift and furious. In a prepared statement, company spokesman Archie Schaffer accused Smaltz of going "outside the scope of the independent counsel's charge" and of "taking off on a politically motivated witch-hunt." Tyson has hired Thomas Green, a top Washington white-collar defense attorney, to represent the company. Smaltz, however, says he was given the jurisdiction to look into any criminal charges arising from his original inquiry. "It's a very broad mandate," he said in an interview.