July 25, 1995 - Part 1
July 25, 1995 - Part 1
(09:50:13) The CHAIRMAN. Let me, first of all, say that I am distressed and share the Senator's concern that information is being selectively put out. That information can be terribly damaging to people and to their reputations. More importantly, the information may not be accurate because if you give a small snippet, that snippet may not be true when it is not in the context of how it took place or when people cannot explain why it is or how it is and give reasons and answers as to why they may have undertaken a particular action. When it is put in the proper context and can be explained, then most reasonable people would say we understand that. That is the purpose, as you, Senator Sarbanes, have indicated, of these hearings. I can only say this. To the best of our ability, we will certainly see what we can do. And, by the way, I don it mean to diminish the seriousness of what you say because it is discouraging. It is discouraging when these selective releases of information come from wherever, and there has been a good deal of that, more than most, I have to admit, more than most instances, given the nature of the hearings, given the length and the time. I would say to the media, though, they do a great disservice to themselves by putting great reliance on information that is given out in a selective way to any and all. By the way, we understand that the media is going to use whatever information they have 237 from whatever sources. To any and all who are involved in this process, you are just undermining the entire effort that we are engaged in, and it's long and it's arduous, et cetera, by doing that, and I say that goes for all, whether they be on the legislative side or whether they come from the administrative side, it should not be engaged in. So I share your distress, and I think we have to work in attempting to instill in those who work with us and for us to understand that it can do a great deal of harm to people and their reputations if that continues. Senator SARBANES. If Senator Simon would yield to me for just a second. Senator SIMON. I'll be pleased to yield. Senator SARBANES. Let me just give a very clear example of what I'm talking about. There was a story over the weekend of an E-mail message by Margolis. Now, the heading on that document that we had was, "Vince Foster: Moot Court Media Question." So what he was setting out are the most bizarre questions you could expect the media to ask. By taking the heading off, it was made to appear that this represented his own view. In other words, instead of setting out what might be asked, he was, in effect, setting out his own view of the situation, and that gives a completely distorted view of the situation. The CHAIRMAN. Senator, once again, though, and this is not to minimize your concern, the fact of the matter is if we ever have to respond to all of the stories that are in the media, we would not be able to do our job. This is a free society. There is this tendency to sometimes be somewhat sensational with bits and pieces of information that are gathered and gleaned from those who have their job to do, so I think we have to keep it in balance. Senator Simon. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR PAUL SIMON Senator SIMON. Yes. I simply want to join in with the comments of both Senator Sarbanes and you, Mr. Chairman, and I particularly appreciate your response to Senator Faircloth. It's a very legitimate question he has asked. But I think we have to recognize that there are a great many people, including many people in the U.S. Senate, who think the sole purpose of this whole thing is just political muckraking. I think we have to conduct ourselves in such a way to make clear that is not the case. In terms of Mrs. Clinton, I've read a great many depositions now. I've seen nothing to indicate that she has done anything improper. I think unless that picture is changed, what the Chairman said is the direction we ought to be going and I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. I thank the Senator. I'm going to now turn to Mr. Chertoff. Mr. CHERTOFF. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Watkins, welcome back East. Actually, where are you working now?