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Anti-Indian Congressman follows in bugbear Clinton's footsteps, admits to extra-marital affair

Arthur Pais in New York

Dan Burton, the ever combative US Congressman, who has been the architect of several anti-India bills in the Congress and who has the backing of many Khalistani activists, admitted on Friday that he had an extra-marital relationship and child in the early 1980s.

In recent weeks, Burton, a Republican, has emerged as one of the harshest critics of President Bill Clinton. About three months ago he called Clinton a "scumbag" but later, following wide criticism, regretted using the word.

Two years ago, a retired engineer R Nagarajan sought the nomination of the Democratic Party to defeat Burton. But Nagarajan lost in the primary.

Burton's confession came just when the magazine Vanity Fair was about to hit the streets with a major story on his extramarital affair.

Burton, who heads the powerful finance campaign committee investigating alleged wrong-doings by Clinton's fundraising committee, has been married to the same woman for nearly four decades. He says his wife has known about the affair, and the four -- including the other woman and her son -- had decided to keep the information private many years ago. Burton's illegitimate son is 15 years old.

His campaign literature only mentions the three children Burton has with his wife, Barbara. The boy's birth certificate does not list a father, and he has a different last name, according to Indianapolis Star.

While rumours about Burton's personal life had circulated for years, they reached a crescendo when a writer for Vanity Fair magazine began to interview hundreds of Burton's friends, family and political associates, along with current and former staff members.

Despite Burton's confession, his seat in the Congress is safe, political observers say. He has received nearly 90 per cent of the votes from his highly conservative constituency, and his allies say that his backers are prepared to put the scandal behind because it happened nearly two decades ago.

But his ability to lead any impeachment process against Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal is highly weakened.

The woman has declined to discuss her relationship with Burton, which occurred when he served in the Indiana senate and the woman worked for a state agency.

Burton's confession came five days after he made an extraordinary and unexpected statement to his constituents at a town meeting that he had caused pain in his marriage. What's more, if the details came out, he would admit the truth.

Earlier this week, Burton acknowledged that his 38-year marriage had had rocky periods. The Indianapolis Star reported Burton as saying he pays child support.

He apologised for mistakes "that are mine and mine alone."

But, Burton said, he was through talking.

"I'm not going to talk any more about my personal life. Enough is enough."

Hours later, though, Burton stood in the dark to talk to reporters in the driveway of his home, the Star reported..

He spoke of the pain the sudden exposure has caused the families involved. "The boy was very, very upset," he said. "And I was concerned about the well- being of the mother, and the boy and their family, and what they were being put through."

That, he said, is why he decided to tell the public of this long-hidden relationship.

Reporters persistently asked him if this was his only sexual indiscretion, Burton said: "I just told you. I don't have any intention of going into every single rumour or allegation that may come up over the next week, two weeks or month."

Burton will attend two town meetings in his district on Saturday. But Jim Atterholt, Burton's district director, said that if constituents have questions about this matter, Burton will simply refer them to the statement he gave the Indianapolis Star on Friday.

There would be no more explanations.

Out of deference to the boy and his mother, The Star and The News are not disclosing their names or their central Indiana hometown but publications such as Star and Globe may reveal the woman's name..

In a telephone interview with The Star, Burton said the responsibility and blame is his alone, but he also criticised the White House and the media, charging they provoked the need to make his mistakes public.

By heading a key House committee investigating President Clinton's campaign fund raising, he said he "joined a long list of individuals who have come under attack from people inside and outside of the Clinton administration."

The media, he said, "harassed innocent people in an effort to embarrass me" and asked "tasteless questions." The police, he said, had to force a television crew to leave the property of the woman.

The White House had no comment on Burton's statement. However, spokesman Barry Toiv earlier dared Burton to produce evidence if he believed the White House was behind the media reports.

"We have a lot of concerns about how Chairman Burton runs his investigation. His personal life is something we are not concerned with. We will aggressively address our differences with him and he will surely do the same with us," Toiv said.

For the past two days, Burton has been in Indiana meeting with the woman and their son, and discussing the situation with his family and closest friends, many of whom have encouraged him to speak candidly. He said he has also tried to prepare them for what he expects to be a traumatic aftermath, news reports said..

"I have tried to be as straight as I could be with my family on all this. I tried to keep it between my family and this lady's family," Burton said.

He called those discussions gut-wrenching and painful.

"What bothers me the most is not about me. I know this is hard for someone to believe about a politician, but I have watched everybody's hearts being ripped out today," he said.

"I just don't want anybody to be hurt any more than they are going to be hurt. I made a mistake."

He continued: "I have accepted my full responsibility -- financial, everything. It's all been done in an agreeable way. There was no need for anybody to go to court or anything else. I said I would be glad to pay support because I think that is my responsibility."

Burton also sounded defiant from time to time in discussing his past indiscretion.

"I have never perjured myself. I have never committed obstruction of justice. I have been as straight as an arrow in my public duty," he said referring to the charges against Clinton. "But this is private."

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