July 18, 1995 - Part 2
July 18, 1995 - Part 2
(11:15:15) So, whether we put these notes on a screen and hint around that there's a problem, let's get back to the question here, the papers of Vince Foster. Where did we get that note? They were turned over to this Committee by President Clinton's lawyers. They were not kept from this Committee. I think that's an Important point, and when we see documents that say redacted, which means something has been left out, that is part of the procedures under which we are operating, where information may be redacted if it covers other questions and isn't relevant, whether it's a phone call or another comment. So let's not put endless papers that say redacted, redacted, redacted. We have a procedure for dealing with redacted documents. So I hope that what I can do is just look at these documents because they're shown on these screens, and maybe some will give us something we don't already know and that would be very useful to the Committee. Mr. Chairman, I am done with my comments, and I look forward to our witnesses. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Grams. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROD GRAMS Senator GRAMS Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for, of course, calling this important round of hearings. Some may ask why the hearings we conduct today and over the next few weeks are relevant to the lives of the average American. The first answer to that question is that the failure of Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan cost the American taxpayers $60 million, and there is evidence that the investments of America's First Fam- ily in the Whitewater Development Corporation played a major role in Madison's failure. We owe it to the American people, the people who work hard and pay their taxes to keep Government operating, to get to the bottom of this whole affair. More importantly, however, the testimony we will hear over the next 3 weeks on the events surrounding the death of White House Associate Counsel Vincent Foster will unmask a side of Government we don't like to see: arrogance, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, lack of accountability to the people. These are the real subjects of our hearings. While all of us would prefer not to think that these things go on at the highest levels of our Government, we suspect deep down inside that they do The story you're about to hear is simple, often troubling, some times unbelievable, but in the end reveals why the American peo- ple don't trust their Government anymore. I have just one chapter in this story to tell, but like the rest of this unveiling tale, it contains conflicting testimony, failures to recollect important events and questionable accounts of what really happened in July 1993. Specifically, I am referring to the events surrounding the uncontrolled rummaging by White House officials in and out of Vince Foster's office the night of his death. Or more 28 simply put: Who came and left, when, why, with whom, and what did they take with them? As conflicting as the accounts we are about to hear may seem, there are things we do know to be true. Fact: Vince Foster was deeply involved in President and Mrs. Clinton's handling of Whitewater, Fact- On the night of Mr. Foster's death, the White House Counsel's suite was opened by a member of the Secret Service at 10:42. Fact- On the same night, the White House Counsel's suite was closed by that same member of the Secret Service at 11:41. Fact: During that hour, three Administration officials, Bernard Nussbaum, then White House Counsel; Maggie Williams, the First Lady's Chief of Staff-, and Patsy Thomasson, then Deputy Director of Administration at the White I-louse entered Mr. Foster's office for some period of time. Fact: Despite requests from the Park Police to secure Mr. Foster's office for the purpose of protecting the integrity of the contents therein, Mr. Foster's off-ice was not secured until the next morning. Those are the facts which leave us with a number of troubling questions. Why wasn't the office of Mr. Foster, a high-ranking Government official, secured on the night of his death, especially when the circumstances of his death were not fully known? Why were three White House officials given free rein to go in and out of Mr. Foster's office that night when the Park Police were refuse entry the next day? Why were these officials so intent on rummaging through Mr. Foster's office that night? Why do the accounts of that night by Mr. Nussbaum, Ms. Williams and Ms. Thomasson, conflict with each other? Why did Mr. Nussbaum, by all accounts, other than his own, leave Ms. Williams and Ms. Thomasson alone in the White House Counsel's suite? Finally, were any documents from Mr. Foster's office removed in the middle of the night? Now, these are just a few of the questions left unanswered answered by the depositions this Committee took over the last few weeks, questions that still need answers. It is my sincere hope that we unearth these answers to these questions, Mr. Chairman otherwise I'm afraid that our Government may never again regain the full confidence of the American people. The American people are generally willing to give Government the benefit of the doubt, but when the people learn about how their public officials have abused their trust and assumed the power to Cover up questionable actions their faith in government disappears, We can't allow that to happen