July 25, 1995 - Part 4
July 25, 1995 - Part 4
(14:20:19) Mr. CHERTOFF. So she had expressed an interest to you in coming to the house, right? Mr. WATKINS. I do not recall that, Mr. Chertoff. Mr. CHERTOFF. But you do recall telling her you wanted her at the White House? Mr. WATKINS. I do recall asking her to go look for a note. 289 Mr. CHERTOFF. Would it refresh your memory if I were to tell you that the elapsed time between the time you paged her and the time she called you back was more on the order of 5 minutes? Mr. WATKINS. I don't know. Mr. CHERTOFF. Is that possible? Mr. WATKINS. That is possible. Mr. CHERTOFF. So now is your testimony that in the space of the 5 minutes between the time you paged her and the time you sent her to the White House you had conversations about having her find the note in the office? Mr. WATKINS. Mr. Chertoff, my testimony is this: That I don't recall the precise time. I do not know the precise time. My testimony is that there was conversation prior to talking to Patsy-prior to ever talking to Patsy about looking for a note. There was-was there--could there have been a note in Vince's office. Mr. CHERTOFF. So is your testimony now that that conversation might have occurred before you paged Patsy? Mr. WATKINS. No, I'm not-my recollection is that I paged Patsy to let her know of Vince's death, and then there was conversation between the time she answered there was some conversation about looking for a note. Mr. CHERTOFF. That all occurred in about 5 minutes? Mr. WATKINS. You're saying the 5 minutes, I don't recall the time. Mr. CHERTOFF. You are still sticking with 30 minutes? Mr. WATKINS. I'm not sticking with 30 minutes. As I recall, it was about 30 minutes. It was within 30 minutes. Mr. CHERTOFF. Now, you remember when the agents left the premises, the Foster premises? Mr. WATKINS. I don't remember precisely when they left, no. Mr. CHERTOFF. Your testimony is that you do not recall Cheryl Braun asking you to close or seal or secure the office; correct? Mr. WATKINS. I have stated several times, Mr. Chertoff, I do not recall Ms. Braun asking me to close the office. Her partner did not hear her say that. The CHAIRMAN. We're not asking you to recall what her partner testified to, Mr. Watkins. You answered the question. You said you don't recall. That's fine. Mr. WATKINS. I do not recall her requesting that of me. Mr. CHERTOFF. Do you remember that she stopped to talk with you? Mr. WATKINS. I do not remember-I don't remember precisely her talking with me, no. Mr. CHERTOFF. Did you ask her to make sure that the Park Police did not release the identity of Mr. Foster prematurely? Mr. WATKINS, Sometime during the evening I remember asking her not to release-to give a press release about-until Mrs. Foster-until his mother was contacted. I do not recall if that was at her departure or prior to that. Mr. CHERTOFF. But your testimony is you don't recall her stopping to talk with you on the way out? Mr. WATKINS. I do not recall that. Mr. CHERTOFF. Did you know that Detective Rolla saw you talking on the way out as Ms. Braun was on the way out? 290 Mr. WATKINS. As I said, I do not recall. I do not recall-My recollection is that I talked with both Mr. Rolla and Ms. Braun, that I don't recall talking to either of them independently through the evening. Mr. CHERTOFF. You will agree with Me at least that at no time did you tell them in the Foster house that You had sent Patsy Thomasson into Vincent Foster's office to look for a note; correct? Mr. WATKINS. I did not tell them that I had sent Patsy Thomasson to look for a note. Mr. CHERTOFF. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Sarbanes. Senator SARBANES. Thank you, Mr. Ben-Veniste. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Thank you, Senator. Mr. Watkins, at the time you made your telephone call to Patsy Thomasson, you were at the Foster home; correct? Mr. WATKINS, That's correct. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. What telephone were you using, if you recall? Mr. WATKINS. I don't really recall which phone I was using. The Foster phone was quite busy during the time. Also, I had a cellular phone and it was being used by others, myself and others, and the battery was low at one point. So I may have-I don't know. Mr. BEN-VENISTE, At certain points during the evening the testimony from Mr. Hubbell and supplemented by you has been that there was an effort to reach certain people, both in Washington and in Arkansas, so that those people who knew and cared about Mr. Foster would not learn about his death by hearing it over the airwaves? Mr. WATKINS. That's correct. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Who are some of the people you were trying to reach that evening?