Not content with that loophole, the House has voted to extend the good-faith exception to improper searches conducted without a warrant.

"There appears to have been a rash of improper and insensitive searches," the memorandum says.

Between 1992 and 1995, he looked into charges that Bush administration officials instigated an improper search of Bill Clinton's passport files during the 1992 campaign.

A week after the arrest in Vermont, the case got thrown out for an improper search.

The question of improper searches of the database has been a longstanding one.

Prosecutors throw out arrests for a variety of reasons, including improper searches and inconclusive evidence.

No one has asserted that Mr. Perot himself authorized improper searches of campaign workers' credit records.

The lawyers say any comments could compromise a lawsuit he has filed against four sheriff's deputies he has accused of an improper search and arrest.

In criminal trials, prosecutors cannot use evidence gathered in an improper search, and they cannot call the defendant to the stand.

In Illinois, the survey excluded Chicago and found one-quarter of 1,200 officers questioned had seen such an improper search.