July 25, 1995 - Part 3
July 25, 1995 - Part 3
(11:50:44) Mr GEARAN. I can't recall. I think this is Senator SHELBY. What Heymann mean or what do you think did he meant? 278 Mr. GEARAN. I would read this, again, as further guidance of Mr, Heymann to us that the White House display in every way an openness and receptivity to the investigators as they do their work. Senator SHELBY, Then, the next entry you have, "Philip Heymann, does"- documents, is that what you mean, documents,.? it says "does have been distributed over my objection." This is Deputy, Attorney General Phil Heymann to you. He's talking about a copy of the note. Now, you used the word "documents" here, which is plural. Were there two pages to this note instead of one? In other words, you don't say note. You don't say document. You use "documents," plural. Mr. GEARAN, Senator, I do. It was a quick note. As you see on page 3 under Mr. Heymann, again, I also say "it's better if you, avoid any statements other than you turn them over." I think the" point of my notes was the various pieces of paper that were found, and my best read of these notes is that the plural was used because, while there was one sheet of paper, by the time they were found they were in, as you know, many individual pieces. Senator SHELBY. Could it have been Mr. Heymann referring to other documents in the Deputy Counsel's Office? In other words," there were a lot of documents in the office. Mr. GEARAN. No, Senator. The sole purpose of this call was to seek the guidance from the Department of Justice as to how the White House should appropriately answer the questions. In the wake of the Travel Office report, the guidance was that we should seek the guidance of the Deputy Attorney General. That's the purpose of this call. I think the plural references back to the fact that there were many pieces of paper and not that there were any other documents mentioned, Senator SHELBY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Sarbanes. Senator SARBANES. I'm going to yield to Senator Boxer. If the Senator will let me-Mr. Gearan, Senator Shelby was moving you along as he was running through his questioning and, on occasion, I was a little concerned that you weren't getting the opportunity to give a fully complete answer, although I think you took care of that pretty well. But there is one place I have an inquiry to make of you. On page 3 it says, "it was a mistake to rely on silence of lowlevel investigators in dealing with a high-level case." The way the question was put to you, and you didn't quite answer, I didn't think, was that somehow the low-level investigators were being silenced in their inquiry. My reading of that is they were silent in acquiescing to certain procedures or processes that Heymann and others, particularly now in retrospect, but at the time in Heymann case would have had done differently. I just ask you if you can elaborate on the meaning of that par., ticular phrase, because at the time I wasn't quite sure you were going down that path, and you- he closed it and moved on to the next question. I'd like you to elaborate on that. Mr. GEARAN. I appreciate that, Senator. I would read that the silence, meaning that there was not an objection expressed in Mr. Foster's office on that day on the 22nd, that one should not mistake,. 279 that, not that they were being silenced but their silence on that day is how I would read that part of the note. Senator SARBANES. Thank you very much. Senator Boxer. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR BARBARA BOXER Senator BOXER. Thank you very much. Mr. Gearan, the purpose of these hearings is to ascertain whether the White House obstructed an investigation into Mr. Foster's death and, in the process, mishandled documents in the office. I really want to thank Senator Shelby for bringing your notes forward because, I tell you, to me it's very revealing. The undercurrent is there was this conspiracy to stop this investigation, not to cooperate with the law enforcement people. Here you are calling on the Department of Justice, asking every question in the book because you were responsible for answering the press; is that correct? Mr. GEARAN. That's correct, Senator. Senator BOXER. So you didn't just have a conversation with the people at the White House, did you, you had a conversation with the Deputy Attorney General; is that correct. Mr. GEARAN. That's correct, Senator. Senator BOXER. You asked that Deputy Attorney General every question in the book that was on your mind or that you thought might me up; is that correct?