July 25, 1995 - Part 3
July 25, 1995 - Part 3
(12:10:46) Senator MACK. But you're aware of that correction? Mr. GEARAN. I'm aware of the press reports, yes. Senator MACK. I'd like to show another document here, number 236. At the bottom of that document, it says "Colorado came up with a theory to justify, but it's shaky." That is Mr. Foster's writing and he appears to be concerned about the theory behind the Clintons' public statements on the amount of their losses. Again, were you aware that Mr. Foster had concerns about the analysis of those in Colorado? Mr. GEARAN. No, sir. Senator MACK. In a December 20, 1993 Washington Times article, it states that "officials have said records taken by White House officials from Mr. Foster's office were made available to Park Police investigators for review." Is that a statement that you would have reviewed? Again, this is a December 1993 reference to the files in Vince Foster's office. Mr. GEARAN. Could you repeat the statement? Senator MACK. Sure. "Officials have said"-this is a quote from The Washington Times. "Officials have said records taken by Whit House officials from Mr. Foster's office were made available to Park Police investigators for review." Is that a statement you would have Mr. GEARAN. I don't know that I made that statement. My understanding was during the course of the review of the documents in Mr. Foster's office on July 22, 1993, that that's how they separated the documents, into the three categories that I've mentioned. Senator MACK. Yes. Now, if you didn't make that statement probably you would have been, this would have been brought to your attention though. Again, it's part of your job. You're going to review statements that are being attributed to the White House; and if there's an error in those statements, I assume you would correct them. Mr. GEARAN. I would certainly make every effort, Senator. I'm just not certain whether that's a White House statement. I'm not familiar with that particular quote. Senator MACK. It is quoted as, again, being White House officials. I just have another point or two and then I'll be finished. 285 The CHAIRMAN. All right, Senator. Senator MACK. The point that I'm making here, though, is that that statement, which I don't believe was corrected, in fact is not true. The implication or what is implied in that statement is that, at the time, the Park Police had the opportunity to review those documents, and we all know at this point that that simply is not true. Mr. GEARAN. Senator, what I tried to do in the December period was to make it clear as to the division of the three categories in which the files in Mr. Foster's office were separated into. That's the effort that we made at that point in time. Senator MACK. But my point here, Mr. Gearan-and I think this goes right to the heart of it-is the impression created by the White House official is an impression that there was a review by the Park Police at that time of those documents. That did not take place; and, to my knowledge, that statement was never corrected by the White House. Mr. GEARAN. Senator, in every statement that I made in the statement that we issued in December, it made clear these three points. I don't recall personally being asked whether they individually reviewed them or not. It would have been our intent certainly to describe the scene as completely as we could have. That they reviewed-they were described by Mr. Nussbaum, which category they would fit into. I don't recall the specific newsclip that you're referring to in that instance. Senator MACK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, The CHAIRMAN. We have about 2 minutes left on the vote. We're going to stand in recess and will reconvene at 2 p.m. (12:14:36) [Whereupon, at 12:12 p.m., the hearing was recessed, to be reconvened at 2 p.m. this same day.] (12:14:38) Various shots of media, Senators, witnesses, and audience mingling and dispersing (12:21:12)(tape #10122 ends)