July 25, 1995 - Part 2
July 25, 1995 - Part 2
(11:05:32) Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Do you have any reason to believe from anything you have heard or seen that either Mr. Nussbaum or MsWilliams removed anything from the office that evening? Mr. WATKINS. I have no knowledge of that. 261 Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Thank you. Now, one final question to Ms. Mathews on the subject of this burn bag again, and in order to clarify the issue. If Mr. O'Neill is correct, the uniformed Secret Service officer who was charged with emptying the burn bag material on the second floor of the West Wing on July 20, 1993, that he had not been able to get into Mr. Foster's office that evening to dump the material because by the time he was ready to do that, other people were already in the office, and he backed off, then it would follow if Mr. Foster had placed anything in the burn bag on July 20, 1993, that that material would still be intact in the burn bag? Can you follow that? MS. MATHEWS. I'm sorry. Yes, if it wasn't dumped, then it would not have been in the bag that I had. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. I have nothing further. Senator SARBANES. Mr. Watkins, how did you come to go with the Park Police to the Foster home? Did they ask you to go with them? Mr. WATKINS, Originally, I think the request was from me. I told them that I would like to go with them to notify the family. Senator SARBANES. As I understand it, they like to have someone from the family with them when they make such notifications; is that correct? Mr. WATKINS. I have since learned that from their testimony, but I was not aware of that at the time. It was just a request of me to accompany them. Senator SARBANES. So they came by and picked you up? Mr. WATKINS, They did, yes, sir. Senator SARBANES. You went with them and your wife followed you over; is that correct? Mr. WATKINS. Yes, sir. Senator SARBANES. Who actually made the notification to Mrs. Poster? Mr. WATKINS. Detective Rolla, I believe. Senator SARBANES. Were you there or behind them or out of the house? Mr. WATKINS. I was behind them. We were on the steps going into the front door. Senator SARBANES. Detective Rolla told Mrs. Foster on the staircase. Is that what happened? Mr. WATKINS. It's a very small entryway, and I think he actually had stepped into the entryway, and she was coming down the stairwell right into the entryway, and I was right in the front door. Senator SARBANES. You were right behind them? Mr. WATKINS. Yes, sir, she could see me. Senator SARBANES. Then he told her and what happened? Mr. WATKINS. Just cries of anguish. Senator SARBANES. Then, did you seek to comfort her at that point? Mr. WATKINS. My wife did. My wife went to her, and I think they took her upstairs as she was just in great grief, Senator SARBANES. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Grams. 262 OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR ROD GRAMS Senator GRAMS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and my thanks to the panel. Mr. Gearan, I do have a couple of questions to get you involved in here, but that will come a little bit later on. First, Ms. Mathews, on the night of July 20, 1993, you were in the Office of the White House Chief of Staff-, is that correct? Ms. MATHEWS. I was in the secretarial suite, yes, sir. Senator GRAMS. I know we're going to cover some ground that you've already talked about, but what were you doing in the office that night? What was your responsibility? Ms. MATHEWS, I was answering the phones. Senator GRAMS. That was your job for that evening. What was the time you were supposed to be there? Ms. MATHEWS. For that evening. I was the most junior person there that evening, so I started answering the phones. Senator GRAMS. What were your hours? Was it from 4 p.m. to 10 P.M.? Ms. MATHEWS. My normal hours and my normal duties? I was generally there from 8:00 to between 9:30 or 10 p.m. at night. Senator GRAMS. Did you take the call that night from the Park Police? Ms. MATHEWS. I'm sorry, the call? Senator GRAMS. You did take a call that night from the Park Police? You answered the phone Ms. MATHEWS. I answered the phone throughout the evening. As far as my recollection of specific phone calls that came in, I don't recall. There's only one, and that is the conversation with Mr. Burton that I described earlier. Senator GRAMS. Mr. Burton who is the Chief of Staff to White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty? Ms. MATHEWS. Yes, sir. Senator GRAMS. Do you know the name of the Park Police representative who called that night? MS. MATHEWS. No, sir, I'm sorry, I don't. Senator GRAMS. Could it have been Major Hines, or is your testimony you're not sure? Ms. MATHEWS. I'm not sure. Senator GRAMS. Now, you overheard part or some of that conversation; is that correct? Ms. MATHEWS. Yes, sir, I heard the end from where I was standing. Senator GRAMS. Did the subject of sealing Mr. Foster's office that night come up in that conversation, again, do you recall? Ms. MATHEWS, Not that I recall in the conversation. Senator GRAMS. Did Mr. Burton mention to you anything about the need to lock Mr. Foster's office either during the conversation or sometime later that evening? Ms. MATHEWS. After-sometime during the evening, yes, after the phone call.