July 25, 1995 - Part 5
July 25, 1995 - Part 5
(16:05:47) Senator SHELBY. Did you obtain a security clearance the following March, March 5, 1994? Ms. THOMASSON. I received it in March 1994, yes. Senator SHELBY. Did you know Mr. Nussbaum very well? Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir, I did not. Senator SHELBY. But you knew who he was? Ms. THOMASSON. Yes, sir. Senator SHELBY. Did you come in contact with him infrequently? Ms. THOMASSON. I came in very infrequent contact with Mr. Nussbaum. Senator SHELBY. Did he know your name? Did he know you and your title or whatever? Ms. THOMASSON. I have no idea, sir. Senator SHELBY. When you were at the White House that night and you went into the Deputy Counsel's Office, did he call you Mrs. Thompson, Patsy Thomasson? Did he call you anything? Did he just assume you belong there? If he didn't know you very well and you didn't know him very well, what was the familiarity of both of you going into the Deputy Counsel's Ms. THOMASSON. I told him that Mr. Watkins had asked me to look in Vince Foster's office for a note. Senator SHELBY. Did Mr. Nussbaum ask you at least once, did You have proper security clearance? Ms. THOMASSON. I don't know that I would have had to have Senator SHELBY. I'd ask you to answer the question. Did he ask you, Mr. Nussbaum-let me ask you again. Did Mr. Nussbaum at this time-when you told him Mr. Watkins asked you to go look in the office--did Mr. Nussbaum, the Counsel at the White House, 326 ask you, Ms. Thomasson, did you have proper security clearance to go in there or to look through documents? Ms. THOMASSON. Mr. Nussbaum didn't question me about that. Senator SHELBY. He didn't ask you that question? Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. Senator SHELBY. Did he mention security clearance at all to you? Ms. THOMASSON. It would not have been an issue that night, Senator Shelby. We were only looking for a suicide note. Senator SHELBY. I didn't ask you if it was an issue. I asked you did lie ask you. Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. I've said that. Senator SHELBY. No, he didn't, did he? When you went into the room, just relate again, you went over and looked on top of Mr. Foster's desk? Ms. THOMASSON. I did. Senator SHELBY. Were there documents on top of the desk? Ms. THOMASSON. There were papers on top of the desk. Senator SHELBY. Papers. Were they stacks of papers like a typi. cal working desk? Ms. THOMASSON. Typical working office, sir. Senator SHELBY. Did you look through the papers? Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. Senator SHELBY. Did you look at the top of the paper to see perhaps what the subject matter was? Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. Senator SHELBY, Did you look under the desk? Ms. THOMASSON. No, Sir. Senator SHELBY. Did you sit in the chair, as you related? Ms. THOMASSON. I did sit in the chair, yes, sir. Senator SHELBY. When you sat in the chair, did you look in the drawer, the top drawer, as you related? Ms. THOMASSON. I've testified to that, sir, yes. Senator SHELBY. Did you look in any of the side drawers of the desk? Ms. THOMASSON. I've testified I did, sir. Senator SHELBY. Not what you testified. Did you do it? Ms. THOMASSON. Absolutely did. Senator SHELBY. Did you look at every item in the side drawers of the desk? Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. Senator SHELBY. What did you do? Ms. THOMASSON. I looked at the top of those desk drawers to see if there was anything that would have looked like a suicide note. Senator SHELBY. What would you describe as looking like a suicide note, like a personal handwritten note or something? How can you describe that? Ms. THOMASSON. In my mind, what I was looking for was something that was in an envelope that would have someone's name on the front, perhaps Lisa Foster. Senator SHELBY. You didn't find that, did you? Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. Senator SHELBY. Did Mr. Nussbaum, while you were seated at the desk, sitting at the desk or seated at the desk, did he look around the office for something? 327 Ms. THOMASSON. No, sir. Senator SHELBY. What did he do? Ms. THOMASSON. He was pacing around the office. Senator SHELBY. Just pacing the office? Ms. THOMASSON. He was very upset. He was very distraught about Vince's death that night. Senator SHELBY. Was he quiet, as you described it? Ms. THOMASSON. He was quiet and rubbing his hands through his hair. He was very distraught about Vince's death. Senator SHELBY. Did you have a conversation while you were sitting there or was everything just quiet? Ms. THOMASSON. Fairly quiet, sir. Senator SHELBY. You didn't mention anything to him like I haven't found anything or I don't see anything that's relevant to what I'm looking for? Ms. THOMASSON. I don't recall having had a conversation of that nature, sir. Senator SHELBY. About how long were you in there, in your best judgment? Ms. THOMASSON. In my best guess, sir, I was there about 10 minutes. senator SHELBY. Did Mr. Nussbaum leave when you left, as you relayed? Ms. THOMASSON. As I said earlier, Senator, I was in the office with