Ex-Federal Official Cleared of Corruption Allegations

Roger W. Johnson, the former head of the General Services Administration, was cleared Thursday of allegations that he used his powerful government position for personal gain, a government spokesman said.

An investigation by the GSA inspector general’s office had focused on allegations that Johnson used his executive secretary to draft memorandums to his personal business consultants. He was also accused of using her to oversee furniture delivery and plumbing work at his Georgetown home. In addition, Johnson was accused of using his government driver and limousine for nonofficial duties.

The government’s decision not to prosecute Johnson, which came after a three-year investigation, was bittersweet news for the former Republican who angered Orange County’s GOP establishment by endorsing Bill Clinton in 1992. Johnson later joined the Democratic Party, but at one time he was the highest-ranking Republican appointed to the Clinton administration.

Johnson, the 62-year-old former chief executive of Irvine’s Western Digital Corp. who resigned as GSA chief in March 1996, said he is still pained by the allegations of ethics violations that clouded his three-year tenure as head of the agency almost from the day he arrived.

He blamed his problems on career bureaucrats and politicians who resisted his reforms for the GSA, an agency viewed by many in Washington as wasteful and inefficient, and a political “system that lets a small minority of people destroy one by innuendo.”

“This investigation is a good example of people chasing people merely to destroy them,” Johnson said. “It was that from the beginning, and it went on for 3 1/2 years, costing the taxpayers millions and me hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The inspector general’s office had forwarded its findings to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. A Justice Department official notified Johnson’s lawyer Thursday morning that the agency had declined to prosecute.