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House Finch
TAPE 1 House finches at a feeder shelling sunflower seeds
White Breasted Nut Hatch
TAPE 1 White breasted nut hatch on a tree
House Finch
TAPE 1 House finches at a feeder
Black Billed Magpie
TAPE 1 Black billed magpies
Cliff Swallow
TAPE 1 Cliff swallows, nests and young
August 2, 1994 - Part 1
(09:55:25) Mr. STEINER. That's correct. The CHAIRmAN. When you were preparing your diary, I assume you never thought anybody would review your diary. You were writing it for yourself. Is that a fair assumption? Mr. STEINER. That is. The CHAiRmAN. Would it also be fair to assume that you kept the diary for your own personal use as a way of recording the significant occurrences that took place that you knew about or were involved in? Mr. STEINER. Senator, as I said in my opening statement, I think I used my diary as an opportunity to reflect back on events, but its primary purpose, I think, was to try to draw lessons from my personal and professional experiences. The CHAiRmAN. Do you have a copy there of the diary entries that we're going to focus on here today? Mr. STEINER. Yes, I do. The CHAIRMAN. Do you want to get those in front of you? Would you agree with me that all of the significant entries between December 2 and February 27 related to Whitewater? Mr. STEINER. Yes, I would. The CHAIRMAN. In your diary, in terms of the coding system you used, I assume, I just want to put this down for the record that RA is Roger Altman, BC is the President Bill Clinton, HRC, of course, is Hillary Rodham Clinton, WH is & White House, George is apparently George Stephanopoulos, and Harold is Harold Ickes. .Is that the coding system that was being used here? Mr. STEINER. That's correct. The CHAIRMAN. Let me read you the entries and ask you if these are indeed what you wrote, and if they are accurate, and it's 1/24 to 2/12/94. Those are the dates, It says two extremes. 326 In D.C. spent long hours with RA, Roger Altman, going over how he should han- dle the RTC's investigation of Whitewater. The statute of limitations on Madison Guaranty cases was supposed to expire 2/28. Should RA recuse himself or should he stay involved. The hurdle was so high, fraud, that it seemed unlikely the RTC would bring suit or seek a tolling agreement from BC/HRC, but the chance existed. RA originally decided to recuse himself, but under intense pressure from the White House, he said he would make the final determination based on a me. ommendation from Ellen Kulka, the GC. Now let me just stop there. When you say here, "but under intense pressure from the White House," what does that refer to? Mr. STEiNER. Senator, if I might, I'd just like to give you a little bit of background, in addition, and then I'll answer your question. Which is that, as you'll see, the dates here are 1/24 to 2/12. This entry was, in fact, written on February 12, and so it summarizes events that occurred up to that point. That was the date on which it was written. Let me describe the circumstances, if I might, about that particular entry that you referred to. Mr. Altman was considering his recusal decision. Mr. Foreman, in his opening statement, went over some of those decisions. In anticipation of his meeting at the White House, he bad received a variety of pieces of advise from members of the Treasury staff, both in favor of recusal and against it. It was my understanding that when he went to that meeting, he was either planning to or leaning toward recusal. And when I spoke with him after that meeting, I believe it was the same day, he said that he was going to consider his decision and sleep on it. I did not attend that meeting, and at no time did Mr. Altman say to me, I feel under intense pressure. I think I was surmising something or giving my impressions based on the circumstances as I knew them. The CHAIRMAN. What were those? You picked those words. You're a very thoughtful person. You're the Chief of Staff now for the Secretary. You're obviously very talented. You would not have picked those words out of thin air. What do you base that on? Mr. STEINER. As I said, Senator, Mr. Altman was receiving advise from Treasury staff at the time prior to the February 2 meeting. Most of it was in favor of recusal. The CHAIRMAN. Let me narrow you down because we're under time limits for all of us. I'm going to specifically focus on your choice of the words "but under intense pressure from the White House . . ." and I want you now to recall, as fully as you can, what the facts were that would have caused you to write those words.
House Finch
TAPE 1 Male house finch at feeder
White Breasted Huthatch
TAPE 1 White breasted huthatch at feeder, bill
Cardinal
TAPE 1 Male cardinal at feeder, baisecrest, bill
Rose Breasted Grosbeak
TAPE 1 Male rose breasted grosbeak in tree
Bluejay
TAPE 1 Bluejay at feeder, bill
Female Cardinal
TAPE 1 Female cardinal at feeder, bill Female cardinal chases male away at feeder
Red Bellied Woodpecker
TAPE 1 Male red bellied woodpecker at feeder, bill
Robin
TAPE 1 Male robin on branch
Purple Martin
TAPE 1 continued on TAPE 2 (must fast forward to image) Female and male purple martin at nest box Female purple martin's bill Female and male purple martin
Eastern Kingbird
TAPE 2 Eastern king brd
Least Tern
TAPE 2 Least tern (endangered animal) getting on its nest Least tern getting on its nest Least tern on its nest Least tern getting on its nest Least tern getting on its nest and off again Least tern close up of bill Least tern close up of head Least tern eggs and nest
Black Bearded Skimmers
TAPE 2 Flock of black bearded skimmers Black bearded skimmers on nest, bill Black bearded skimmers on nest, head
Common Tern, Black Backed Skimmer
TAPE 2 Common tern on beach and eggs Flock of black backed skimmers Common tern eggs and nest
Piping Plover
TAPE 2 Piping plover - an endangered species
Least Tern
TAPE 2 Least tern and chicks brooding Least tern and chicks run and brood Least tern and chicks run and brood Least tern feeds chick fish Least tern - bill Least tern on nest and turning around Least tern flying off of nest Least tern getting on nest - close up Least tern's eggs
Black Backed Skimmer
AS OF 7/31/98 THIS FOOTAGE IS MISSING Black backed skimmer on nest, bill Black backed skimmer with dragging wing displayed, walking around
August 2, 1994 - Part 1
(10:00:15) Mr. STEINER. Mr. Altman returned from that meeting, and as I said, I spoke to him at some point that afternoon, and be described to me what were strong arguments made by Mr. Nussbaum at that meeting. I suspect I, without choosing my words particularly carefully, interpreted those arguments as encouraging him in a direction-let me make it very clear that, at no point, did Mr. Altman say to me, I feel under pressure or the White House is pressuring me to do something; let me also make it clear, if I might that to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Nussbaum was the only person who made 327 those comments on the subject of recusal so when I use the White House, it is a euphemism for Mr. Nussbaum, The CHAIRMAN. I'd like YOU to now search your memory. When you say that Mr. Altman described to you what had been said by Mr. Nussbaum that created this impression of intense pressure, I want you to think ' as carefully as you can, as to exactly how Mr. Altman would have described that to you. What did he say to you? Mr. STEINER. I want to make it clear, Senator, that it was not my impression at the time that be was under intense pressure. As I said before, I did not write this diary for the purposes of providing a precise narrative. Mr. Altman recounted to me what I believe were two arguments made by Mr. Nussbaum. I know that he has testified before on this subject. The first argument was that he was concerned about recusal as a precedent for other Administration officials. The second concern was that the RTC had a reputation for being a fairly partisan institution, and be was concerned that in Mr. Altman's absence, this investigation, which Mr. Altman had made clear that he wanted handled in a completely nonpartisan, nonpolitical matter, would be carried out in a partisan fashion, I believe those were the two concerns Mr. Nussbaum expressed. The CHAIRMAN, Time is not going to permit me to go to your next entry right now, but that's much more important and it comes right behind your first entry that we just talked about, where you clarify and you say, "at a fateful White House meeting with Nussbaum, Ickes, and Williams, however, the White House staff told Roger Altman that it was unacceptable." That's now with respect to the recusal. Now there's some words before that and after that, and I'm going to read those when time permits. But the 7-minute time periods here are limiting to us in that regard. It's very clear to me, from reading your diary, which you wrote to yourself, not thinking an ybody would ever read it, that there was a problem here of Mr. Alt- man being under very significant pressure with respect to this decision. When I have the chance, I'll come back and lay out the remaining entries that you gave here, so that you can respond to those. Senator DAmato. Senator D'AMATO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The CHAiRmAN. Let me just ask unanimous consent that these entries go into the record. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR ALFONSE M. DAMATO Senator D'AMATO. Let me go to this point Senator Riegle just touched on and that you just began to speak to. You said that one Of the things that Secretary Altman told you was that Mr. Nuss- baum advanced two reasons for not recusing himself, one being a precedent and the other being that the RTC was partisan and that, in the event that Mr. Altman stepped aside, he was concerned about them being partisan? Do you recall him saying partisan or tough? Because, I mean there's been numerous accounts now, and everyone has used the word tough, and there's a big difference. ~ Mr, STEINER. I appreciate that distinction, Senator. I don't recall the precise words that Mr. Altman used. That was the impression 328 that I had at the time. I think the concern was, as I said be Mr. Altman had made it very clear to Treasury staff and to RTC staff that he wanted this case handled in an identical fashion to all other cases at the RTC. That meant in a hands-off nonpartisan fashion. Senator D'AMATO. Why would you brief the White House on the issue of recusal? Don't you think that goes into an area that shouldn't have been discussed? Let me say this. Did you have any conversation with Roger Altman before the February 2 meeting at the White House concerning the subjects to be covered at that meeting? Mr. STEINER. I recall meetings on the general subject of Madison and the general subject of recusal and the statute of limitations deadline. I do not recall meetings that specifically addressed the subjects for that meeting. Senator DAMATO. Did you testify in your deposition that the two subjects to be discussed were the statute of limitations applied in Madison and the issue of Roger Altman's recusal? Mr. STEINER. It would be helpful, Senator, if I could see a copy of the deposition. I've now given testimony 5 times. It would be helpful if I could have a copy in front of me.
Eastern Bluebird
Tape 2080 Part 1 Eastern Bluebird ( Sialia sialis ) CU Male bluebird at a tree cavity. Chicks are not seen. He removes fecal sacs and flies away. He returns with some food for chicks. Chicks heads can be seen inside tree. He flies away.