July 18, 1995 - Part 1
July 18, 1995 - Part 1
(10:00:42) In essence, he seems to be saying that the option that supports the public statements is something he can't pursue. The third document is number 237. 1 believe you have focused in on "$1,000 basis so no tax effect, but arbitrary and still risk audit." I believe as well "0 basis with $1,000 gain. Avoid any audit of issue." Here, again, Mr, Foster appears to be going over his options and how he can possibly keep the IRS from auditing the Clintons. He thinks about claiming "$1,000 basis so no tax effect, but arbitrary and still risks audit." He appears to then compare the scenario to the possibility of "0 basis with $1,000 gain," which would "avoid any audit of issue," Despite the fact that he recognizes it is arbitrary, this is ultimately the option Foster chooses. What all these documents tell me is the White House certainly had reason to worry about a Department of Justice search of Vince Foster's office. The documents tell me that, contrary to the assertions the White House has made for many months and as recently as this past weekend, this is not a harmless issue about tax returns. Rather, it's about the finances of Whitewater Development and the fact that Vince Foster couldn't square the First Couple's public statements with reality. Imagining the nervousness of the White House suspecting that these documents and others existed and that they were easily discoverable during the suicide investigation, a great deal of odd behavior is explained. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. We have some time remaining, but we're going to turn. As I said, each side will take approximately a half hour, then we'll go to 10-minute segments as necessary. Senator Sarbanes. Senator SARBANES. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I take it after the half hour on this side, we'll go back to that side for 10 minutes and then back to this side for 10 minutes? The CHAIRMAN. Correct. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR PAUL S. SARBANES Senator SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I subscribe to the necessity of conducting fair, impartial and thorough hearings. I think it's important that the facts be laid out in a civil manner, that this not become a partisan exercise. The Senate approved resolutions authorizing an examination of the handling of the documents in Foster's office, both last year and again this year. In June 1994, the Senate passed Resolution 229 authorizing The first phase of this investigation, and that resolution provided that the Committee should conduct hearings into whether improper con- duct occurred regarding the way in which White House officials handled documents in the office of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster at the time of his death. Now, those hearings were not held last year in response to a letter from the Independent Counsel, then Mr. Fiske, who said that there were questions unanswered at this point with respect to the handling of the documents that they were trying to resolve before they could complete the investigation. They therefore asked if the 9 Committee last summer wanted to do public hearings on this particular subject, and the Committee acceded to that request. This year, when we passed the resolution S. Res. 120, which is the resolution governing the activities of this Committee and which provides in section 4 that Consistent with the rights of persons subject to investigation and inquiry, the Special Committee shall make every effort to fulfill the right of the public and Congress to know the essential facts and implications of the activities of officials of the United States Government and other persons and entities with respect to the matters under investigation and study, as described in section 1. The matters outlined for investigation and study in that resolution included in section I are, and I quote: