July 25, 1995 - Part 1
July 25, 1995 - Part 1
(09:45:29) I knew Vince Foster from childhood forward. His death came as quite a shock to me and my wife. After learning of his* suicide, I volunteered to accompany the U.S. Park Police in connection with the notification of the Foster family of their tragic loss. My wife and I were present at the Foster home when that notification occurred and for an extended period thereafter, during which time we sought to provide whatever comfort and assistance we could to Mrs. Foster and other relatives and friends who were present. It was an intensely emotional time and many, many people who knew Vince came by or called to grieve and to grapple futilely with an overwhelming sense of disbelief and a related need to comprehend. Although it has been difficult reliving the events of those sad hours of 2 years ago, I appear willingly to shed whatever light I can on the matters of interest to this Committee. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Watkins. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR LAUCH FAIRCLOTH Senator FAIRCLOTH. Mr. Chairman, I had a question I wanted to ask before we got into the witnesses, if I may. The CHAIRMAN. Yes, Senator. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Given the revelations over the weekend concerning the possible involvement of Hillary Clinton in denying the Park Police access to Mr. Foster's office and whether or not she may have instructed Susan Thomases to tell Bernie Nussbaum to keep investigators out of Foster's office, I would like to ask the Chairman and the Ranking Member if they plan to call Mrs. Clinton to testify before this Committee? The CHAIRMAN. Senator, that question has been raised to me, and I will repeat what I have indicated. Unless there is clear and convincing fact and reasons that necessitate-I say necessitatethe First Ladys appearance, I certainly have no intention of having her called before this Committee. That is my feeling. There would have to be very, very, very strong evidence and facts that have been established, very, very clearly. Otherwise, there will be no appearance before this Committee that this Committee will ask of the First Lady. 236 Senator FAIRCLOTH. I think she should testify, and I'd like to urge you and the Ranking Member to consider calling her, but I'll abide by that decision now. Senator SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, could I just make this observation? I'm very concerned about these leaks that have been taking place. Now, we take depositions in advance of bringing witnesses in. We receive documents. When one examines those documents and examines the depositions, there's, on occasion, a conflict in the recollection of people that are involved. One of the purposes in bringing people here for these hearings is to probe into those differences in recollections. Now, I observed at the outset that it's not surprising that there should be differences in recollections. The CHAIRMAN. Certainly. Senator SARBANES. But this selective leaking of material presents a one- sided view of a lot of these situations. Often, in tact, what is leaked is distorted, it's not even factually accurate, let alone even if it were factually accurate, there's a conflict on the part of others. I think we need an opportunity for these hearings to develop in an orderly fashion before the Committee in public, just as we're about to do with this panel, and that we need some additional effort with respect to this leaking that's taking place. Obviously, somehow, there's a selective releasing of material upon which then media reports are based. I think that this undermines the value of these hearings when this takes place. All of these matters are going to be discussed and discussed fully and openly in these very public sessions, and I think that we need to pay some attention to this situation that's developed. We had a bit of it in the beginning, but it seems now to have intensified. In fact, I think it's provoking, perhaps even the request we heard this morning, when we haven't even heard from people with those differing recollections.