July 19, 1995 - Part 1
July 19, 1995 - Part 1
(10:15:45) Mr. HUBBELL. I really don't know what they were there for. I would assume they were there to see if there was some kind of a note. Senator KERRY. Correct. The note was the evidence, if you will, of the state of mind of Vince Foster at this moment; is that correct? Mr. HUBBELL. You're talking about what Senator KERRY. You hoped? Mr. HUBBELL. You hoped, yes. Everybody was looking for some idea of what was on Vince's mind. Senator KERRY. That hope is what, in fact, elicited a fairly significant search for a note in the immediate intervening hours after notification of his death; correct? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct. Senator KERRY. You, in fact, took significant steps to find that note, did you not? Mr. HUBBELL. I looked with Lisa in the house that evening, yes. Senator KERRY. So this is very important, I think. In the immediate aftermath, right after notification, Vince Foster's widow is now looking in her own house for a note? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct, with me. Senator KERRY. Is it fair to say that at the White House and elsewhere, people were anxious to try to find a note? Mr. HUBBELL, I don't know this for sure because a lot of things happened that night, but I believe I even asked people, did anybody find a note. Senator KERRY. Have you read the note that was subsequently found? Mr. HUBBELL. I have read a copy of the note. I've read the transcription of the note, Senator KERRY. But you know the substance of that note? Mr. HUBBE LL. Yes, I do. Senator KERRY. Is there anything in that note, now a matter of Public knowledge, found several days later, that suggests to you there was a reason that someone might not have wanted that note found prior to that moment in time? 86 Mr. HUBBELL. No, Senator. I think it is the best insight we have into what was troubling Vince at the time. Senator KERRY. Pretty straightforward, is it not? Mr. HUBBELL. Yes, it is. Senator KERRY. Did you have any further conversation with Bernie Nussbaum subsequent to the conversation that you've discussed here? Mr. HUBBELL. No, I did not. Senator KERRY. So you had no further contact with him, other than the one where you said you were out of it, out of the investigative process? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct. I mean, the only conversations I would have at that point with Bernie were grief conversations. Bernie and I were both pallbearers and I obviously saw Bernie at the funeral, Senator KERRY. I wonder if you would share with us for a moment, so that people who are really interested in this can understand what was going on, if you could describe the concern you had and what you observed in your good friend, Vince Foster, in the weeks preceding the 20th. Mr. HUBBELL. With hindsight, Vince was troubled by the publicity he had been getting in The Wall Street Journal. He was troubled by the fact that the internal audit of the Travel Office affair had been very critical of our good friend Bill Kennedy, and he felt personally to blame for that. With hindsight, the significance of the disease was a lot worse than anybody saw. He was overly suspicious about things, was afraid to use the telephone when he talked to me. Senator KERRY. Did he not relay to you in a conversation, in fact, he was frightened, didn't trust the telephones at the White House? Mr. HUBBELL. Yes, he did. Senator KERRY. What was your reaction to that when you heard that? Mr. HUBBELL. At the time I just thought ah, Vince. With hindsight, I think it was significant of how serious the disease had become. Senator KERRY. What other observations did you make? Mr. HUBBELL. Most of the people, as you know, spent the weekend together before he died and we talked about how tired he was, how down he was. But actually having a good weekend away from Washington, he said he felt a lot better when I left him that evening and then I saw him on Monday.