July 18, 1995 - Part 1
July 18, 1995 - Part 1
(09:45:25) Between 5 and 6 P.M. on July 20, 1993, Vincent Foster was discovered in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia. After 8:30 p.m. that same night, White House officials first began to receive word of Vincent Foster's death. As of 9:15 that night, the White House Counsel's Office was empty. In keeping with routine normal security procedures, the office's door was locked and the alarm was set. What happened in the office of Vincent Foster in the following hours and days will be the subject of these hearings. Because of Vincent Foster's high office and important responsibility, the implications of his suicide reach beyond the personal and private tragedy of his family and friends. There was both a national interest and a law enforcement interest in examining why Vincent Foster took his life. The facts that I've just outlined are not in dispute, but many of the events that took place at the White House after Vincent Foster's death are in dispute-and sometimes these facts are in sharp conflict. I will now briefly outline the three major areas the Committee will look at during this round of Whitewater hearings. First, what happened in Vincent Foster's office on the night of July 20, 1993. The Committee will hear conflicting testimony about whether the police asked the White House to safeguard Mr. Foster's office so that investigators could later examine its contents. We do know, however, that Vincent Foster's office was unlocked and remained open between the hours of 10:45 and 11:45 on the night of his death. The White House undertook no special effort to secure Mr. Foster's office until the next morning. The Committee staff has established that at least three people entered Vincent Foster's office at some time between 10:45 and 11:45 p.m. on July 20, 1993: Bernard Nussbaum, the Counsel to the President and Mr. Foster's senior colleague; Margaret Williams, Chief of Staff to the First Lady; and Patsy Thomasson, then Special Assistant to the President and a long time friend of the First Family from Arkansas. The Committee will want to ask why wasn't Mr. Foster's office sealed? Who entered the office and when? What were they looking for? Were they looking for the Whitewater documents? Was anything removed or destroyed? The Committee will have to resolve differing accounts by various White House officials concerning their movements in Mr. Foster's office on the night of his death. The next major episode to which this round of hearings will turn occurred on Thursday, July 22, 2 days after Vincent Foster's death. That morning, top Justice Department prosecutors, FBI agents and Park Police arrived at the White House. These law enforcement officers expected to search and review the documents in Vince Foster's office. There is a dramatic contradiction among the witnesses about the events relating to that search. On the one hand, there is testimony of the White House officials; on the other hand, the testimony of career Justice Department prosecutors, FBI agents and police. 5 What we do know is that the Justice Department officials were not allowed by the White House to review the contents of Vincent Foster's office. Instead, Bernard Nussbaum, the President's top lawyer, insisted that the Justice Department officials, FBI agents and police sit by as lie and his own staff examined the Foster papers. After the law enforcement agents left the White House, Nussbaum and the First Lady's Chief of Staff, Margaret Williams, returned to Vincent Foster's office. They searched the office and selected files relating to Whitewater and the First Family's finances to be removed to the White House residence. These files remained there for 5 days before being sent to the First Family's personal attorney at Williams & Connolly. The Committee will want to ask why did the prosecutors, including the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, the number two Justice Department official, believe that it was important that the career Justice Department attorneys review the files in Vincent Foster's office? Why did the White House reject their request? Why were the documents moved from Mr. Foster's office to the residence? Who made the decision about the White House? Who would handle the documents and the investigation?