July 25, 1995 - Part 2
July 25, 1995 - Part 2
(11:00:40) Senator BOND. Thank you, Mr. Watkins. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Sarbanes. Senator SARBANES. Senator Dodd. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER J. DODD Senator DODD. Just very quickly-thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Sarbanes-then I'll turn to Mr. Ben-Veniste. I would just like to, for my own purposes, clarify here. How long a time were you in the car with the Park Service employees, that is, from the time they picked you up to the time you went to the Foster home? Where did they pick you up? Mr. WATKINS. They picked me up at my house, Senator. I don't know, it took us a little while to get there because there was some roadwork up in the Georgetown area. I would guess 15 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes. Senator DODD. Was there much conversation in the car? Mr. WATKINS. There was not a lot of conversation. There was conversation in the question-again, my main question that night was why, and I think I engaged with-more with Detective Rolla than anyone. I think he had asked me was there anything that Mr. Foster was particularly upset about, Senator DODD. Who was driving the car, Mr. Watkins? Mr. WATKINS, I think Investigator Braun was driving. Senator DODD. But were you asking more questions of them or were they asking more questions of you, just as a general Mr. WATKINS. As a general, I don't know. I don't know which way it was. I told them about the Travel Office, and he said that he had been upset about the Travel Office as we all were. I was concerned at the time- I asked them about the fact, I asked, who notifies the family? Since I know them, do 1 notify them? They said no, that's part of our job. They told me that, that they notify them, and I was in one sense relieved but also understood how difficult it was for them, and we talked about that a little bit. Senator DODD. Did they inquire of you as to why Vince Fosterhad they drawn the conclusion that a suicide had occurred? Mr. WATKINS. It's my definite feeling that they thought it was a suicide. Senator DODD. You weren't talking about alternatives to that? Mr. WATKINS. No, sir, never talked-never mentioned any alternatives to suicide. Senator DODD. Did they inquire of you as to Mr. Foster's state of mind, as to why he might have done it, the questions you might get under a normal investigation of this kind? Mr. WATKINS. Yes, they asked about his state of mind. 260 Senator DODD. There is just one other point that I would like to clear up on this. Did you know where Patsy Thomasson was when you beeped her, or did you call her office first to see if she was at the White House? Mr. WATKINS. No, sir, I beeped her. Senator DODD. You weren't aware whether or not she was in a restaurant or home or any place? Mr, WATKINS. No, sir, that was the way we would normally communicate Senator DODD. There is a question about who was in the White House, even at that flour, certainly with a lot of people in it. Were you aware the President was doing a program that night for Larry King Live? Mr. WATKINS. Yes, sir, I was. Senator DODD. So you were probably aware of the fact that there was some key White House personnel around the White House? Mr. WATKINS. Up until 10 p.m., the Larry King Live show was over at 10 p.m., I believe, from taping it. Senator DODD. Why did you call Patsy Thomasson, why her? Mr. WATKINS. Patsy was my assistant, and she was the natural one for me to call and ask Senator DODD. Was she your top assistant? Mr. WATKINS. Yes. Senator DODD. So she wasn't just some other person at the White House? Mr. WATKINS. No. Senator DODD. This is the person directly under you, the person you deal with on almost all matters of this kind Mr. WATKINS. That's correct. Senator DODD. -in terms of operations at the White House and so forth? Mr. WATKINS. That's correct. Senator DODD. Thank you. Mr. Ben-Veniste. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Thank you, Senator Dodd. To follow up on that, Mr. Watkins, it was your testimony that when you beeped Patsy Thomasson, it was for the purpose of advising her of the fact of Mr. Foster's death; is that correct? Mr. WATKINS. It is my best recollection that at the time I beeped her, it was to notify her of Vince's death, Subsequent to that and before she returned the beep, there was conversation and talk about a note, there was possibly a note at the office. So I asked her, when she called me back, I said to Patsy, we've talked about the possibility-there was not a note at the scene, there was not a note at the house. Might there be a note in his office, and I asked her to go look for a note. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Do you have any reason to believe from anything you have heard or seen that Ms. Thomasson removed anything from Mr. Foster's office that evening? Mr. WATKINS. Mr. Ben-Veniste, I have no question about that, mean in my mind.