BURTON'S GLASS HOUSE

With enemies like Dan Burton, Bill Clinton doesn't need friends. The feisty and sometimes flaky Indiana Republican is slated to chair the House hearings on campaign-finance scandals, but even as he prepares to cast the first stones, he is being hit with allegations of his own fund-raising sins. He has been accused of shaking down a lobbyist for campaign contributions, improperly accepting money from Sikh temples and pressuring an Education Department official to help a contributor. And last week he had to return a $500 donation from a lobbyist for Zaire's departed dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

Burton and his aides dismiss the accusations as a partisan campaign to distract attention from his investigation of the President and the Democrats. But Speaker Newt Gingrich and other Republican leaders are concerned that Burton does not have the probity of a prime-time presidential prosecutor. They fear that the pressure on Burton, who once re-enacted Vince Foster's death by shooting bullets into "a headlike object" in his own backyard, may provoke the chairman into saying or doing something else that could discredit the investigation. Sources close to the Speaker tell TIME that Gingrich is so concerned about Burton's reputation that he has assigned two members of the committee known for their judiciousness to try to steer Burton away from further danger.

Being sent to Burton's aid are Ohio's Rob Portman and California's Christopher Cox, both of whom served in the White House counsel's office under Republican Presidents. Gingrich hopes their experience will prove valuable to an investigation that involves complex legal haggling with Clinton's counsel, Charles Ruff. But the Speaker's real goal, says a close adviser, is "to encircle" the chairman and "put him on a shorter leash." The leadership has added to its leverage by setting aside much of the money Burton requested for his committee in a "reserve fund." "We only gave him money for this year," says a leadership aide. "That way, if he tanks, we can pull the plug on him."

It is Burton's past that has been haunting him and giving comfort to the White House. First the New York Times reported he accepted an invitation to play in a Pro-Am golf tournament at Pebble Beach, Calif., sponsored by AT&T, which has business before Burton's committee. AT&T also threw a fund raiser for Burton during the tournament.

More bad news arrived two months ago, when the Washington Post reported that Mark Siegel, a former lobbyist for Pakistan and a longtime Democratic activist, had accused Burton of threatening to cut off his access to other lawmakers last year if he didn't deliver $5,000 to the Congressman's campaign. Burton admits he solicited the money from Siegel and was disappointed when Siegel didn't deliver, but he denies making any threats. Siegel has since been called to testify before a federal grand jury.