August 4, 1994 - Part 12
August 4, 1994 - Part 12
(22:55:14) The White House is required to respond to numerous press inquiries that concern both the official acts and past private behavior of the President and the First Family. It is important that the White House be in a position to disseminate accurate information ''to the public to ensure that spurious or inaccurate allegations concerning the President are dealt with promptly and appropriately. That's our job, in part. Otherwise, confidence in the President and in the Presidency could be undermined without justification. The September 29 meeting furthered this public purpose. There have been suggestions at this inquiry that you're conduct ing, that assisting the White House to prepare itself to respond to press inquiries- about an investigation in which the President is ,named only as a potential witness--does not further a necessary "And important public purpose. -What this argument overlooks is the special problems the President faces and the unique responsibilities he has, problems and responsibilities not faced or borne by anyone else. The President, for example, is much more likely than anyone else be the subject of leaks. He is the focus of overwhelming media attention. He is the target of opponents who feel no hesitancy in misusing or distorting leaked information in an effort to discredit And, of course, he is required to continue to act, at the same time, at home and abroad, as the Nation's Chief Executive Officer. 476 In its recent report, the OGE-this report came out after my testimony before the House Banking Committee-the OGE recognizes that "the question of whether Ms. Hanson's disclosure [of the criminal referral] served an official interest raises a unique issue about the nature of the Off-ice of the President." It goes on to say that 44 matters that would be of only personal significance for other Executive Branch officials may take on official significance when the President of the United States is involved. White House staff has long been used in addressing press inquiries regarding essentially personal matters involving the President and the First Lady." And it concludes that dealing with press inquiries regarding the President's and First Lady's personal lives, including any involvement they may have had with Madison, is a proper White House function. I would also commend to you an article in yesterday's Washington Post by Mr. Cutler, my successor, entitled "Heads-Up History." Citing examples from the Administrations of Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, he demonstrates how customary it has been for Government agencies with law enforcement responsibilities to inform the White House whenever a criminal investigation is launched that involves high Administration officials or the President himself And one reason for this line of precedent is expressed as follows by Mr. Cutler: "The President is the heart and brain of the Executive Branch. Like a hospital patient undergoing tests, he is monitored by a host of journalists who watch his every move and bombard him with questions. An unanswered question can be a story in itself, especially when it contains a hint of possible scandal. Presidents simply cannot afford to be uninformed or taken off guard," In sum, with respect to this issue, both history as reflected Mr. Cutler's article, and the OGE report of this past week clearly support the position that to inform the White House that the President may be a witness in a criminal referral-a referral almost certain to leak-serves a legitimate public purpose. It is a proper White House function to help the President to prepare himself, to respond accurately and promptly to press inquiries, to defend himself against misinformation and disinformation. Second, regarding the October 14th meeting, Treasury officials advised us of a press inquiry that they had already received and their plans for responding to it. By providing that information, the Treasury officials were assisting the White House In understanding the nature of the press' interest so that the White house could prepare itself to respond to further inquiries. This, as I have stated, is a necessary and important public purpose. There have been suggestions in this hearing that the limited information conveyed at the September 29 and October 14 meetings should not have been conveyed because it could have been put to an improper use. That is true of virtually all the information the White House receives on numerous matters and it is true, of course, of information received from time-to-time by other branches of Government. ` 477