July 25, 1995 - Part 2
July 25, 1995 - Part 2
(10:35:16) Mr. BEN-VENISTE, We know that the White House Counsel's Office- because we have the electronic records of the opening of that office, when the cleaners came in to remove the trash was at approximately 10:36. So you're operating at the beginning of the sequence at 10:36 when you could have possibly seen-I'm sorry, 10:42 when you could possibly have seen the office open. If you accept that the off-ice was not open, according to the electronic records, until 10:42, your trip upstairs to get your papers could not have occurred before 10:42; is that correct? Ms. MATHEWS. The door was open when I went upstairs, yes. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. So you get your papers, you come back downstairs and some time goes by and there's a conversation about whether the office ought to be locked and then you go to look for the trash; correct? Ms. MATHEWS. That's correct. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. That's the sequence. Now, again, with respect to the trash, is it correct that no one from the Park Police or any other investigative agency made the suggestion to you or those with you that you ought to go and look for the trash? Ms. MATHEWS. That's correct. It was not Mr. BEN-VENISTE. It was something which had occurred to you and which the people with whom you were talking agreed would be a good idea, let's go and see whether we can preserve evidence; correct? Ms. MATHEWS. That's correct. 252 Mr. BEN-VENISTE. So now you go upstairs again, and you talk to' the GSA cleaning people; correct? MS. MATHEWS. I spoke with the GSA-the cleaning ladies, and I think I did that, though, on the-what's the first floor? Mr. BEN-VENISTE. On the first floor? Ms. MATHEWS. It's the basement., the first floor, the second floor, so the first floor. Mr, BEN-VENISTE. The Counsel's Office is on the second floor? Ms. MATHEWS. That's correct. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. You were one floor below? MS. MATHEWS. When I first spoke with the cleaning ladies, Mr. BEN-VENISTE, OR Now, when you saw them, let me ask you, were they in the presence of a uniformed Secret Service officer? Ms. MATHEWS. I don't recall seeing one with them. Mr. BEN-VENISTE, Now, you established in your conversation with them that they had already picked up the trash from the second floor offices? Ms. MATHEWS. That's correct. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. They directed you to where they had accumulated the individual trash bags from each wastepaper basket and accumulated them in larger receptacles; correct? Ms. MATHEWS. Larger trash bags, yes, Mr. BEN-VENISTE. You were able to go through the larger trash bags to identify Mr. Foster's trash bag? Ms. MATHEWS. That's correct, I found his smaller trash bag. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. How did you do that, Ms. Mathews? How did you identify his trash bag? Ms. MATHEWS. The smaller trash bags were separate, so when I opened the trash bags, I found one that had buck slips, which are stickers that are used to circulate documents, and they had Vincent Foster's name on them. Additionally, I saw other things with his name on it, and assumed that that was his trash. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Did you find credit card slips? Ms. MATHEWS. Yes, sir, I did. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. So it was quite clear to you that you had identified the trash receptacle that had come from Mr. Foster's office that evening? MS. MATHEWS. Yes, sir. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Then what did you do with that receptacle? Ms. MATHEWS. I took it downstairs to the secretarial area of the Chief of Staff's Office. I took the bag downstairs. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. What did you do with it? MS. MATHEWS. I consulted with senior staff who were around and asked should we examine the contents and was told-I don't remember the exact words or who said what-but generally encour aged to go ahead and look through the trash. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. And you did so. Did you find any suicide or evidence reflecting Mr. Foster's state of mind? Ms. MATHEWS. No, sir, I didn't find anything that indicated thing about that. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Did you report that fact to anyone? Ms. MATHEWS. Yes, I did, to those that were there. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Whom do you recall advising? 253 Ms. MATHEWS. At that particular time, I don't recall exactly who was around, senior staff were in and out of that off-lee throughout the evening. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. What did you do with the receptacle after you had searched through it? MS. MATHEWS. I put everything back in the plastic bag with one exception, and that was a creamer that still had cream, so I threw that away, and put everything back in the bag.