July 19, 1995 - Part 1
July 19, 1995 - Part 1
(10:45:36) Mr. BEN-VENISTE. In fact, that was done the next day. Did you know that? Mr. HUBBELL. I don't know that. I really don't. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. But, in any event, as far as you were concerned, if the office was locked, that would have taken care of the matter? Mr. HUBBELL. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. Again, in the interest of making some kind of sense, when Members or counsel have a line of questioning that they are close to completing, I would hope that we would give deference so that could take place. That has been the case this morning and throughout the hearings. We ran several minutes over, and I intend to even that out. So, Mr. Ben-Veniste, please continue. Mr. BEN-VENISTE, Simply to bring closure to the issue of locked versus sealed, some of the questions have been put to you in terms, of sealing the office. I'm not sure exactly what that means, and perhaps others will shed light on their definition of that term, but as far as you were concerned, if somehow the office was locked, that would have been satisfactory; correct? Mr. HUBBELL. Yes, I would have preferred to have somebody there to log if people went in or out. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Finally, the next day when you had your con-, versation with Mr. Nussbaum, it became clear to you that Mr.' Nussbaum or someone else had looked in the office to see whether there was a suicide note left by Mr. Foster; is that correct? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct. Mr, BEN-VENISTE. Did you find that to have been a reasonable and appropriate thing to do? Mr. HUBBELL, Yes. I think everybody was searching for a note, and I think it would be somebody of the stature of White House' Counsel to open the door, walk in and see if there's a note. I think' that is appropriate. Mr. BEN-VENISTE. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Ben-Veniste. Let me, at this point, point out that yesterday Senator Sarbanes and I and indeed the entire Committee agreed that we would request from Judge Starr on behalf of all the Members of the Com- mittee, reiterate our request for the testimony and notes of Officer O'Neill and Mrs. Williams, Maggie Williams as well as any poly- 95 graph tests that the Independent Counsel might have, We'll release a copy of that request and the letter, the initial letter, which was sent by the Committee or by counsel to the Committee on July 11th. So we have asked, and we just say on behalf of all of the Members of the Special Committee, we reiterate the request that we made on the I 11th. I'd just like to note that and we have undertaken that. Can you put on the clock? Mr. Hubbell, I'd like to take this opportunity, and I know that you are not familiar with all the people who did enter the office and the manner in which the review was taken, certainly not by your own knowledge, and maybe you've gleaned some of this from some of the questions that have been asked of you, some of the stories that have appeared in the press, and you certainly can't make a judgment on the basis of hearsay or what you've heard, but let me ask you this. Should a person without security clearance have been allowed to search Mr. Foster's office? Mr. HUBBELL. Search his office? The CHAIRMAN. In other words, go through his office, go through his documents. If you had a person who did not have security clearance, would that be appropriate? Again, let's remove it from Mr. Foster's office. Given the situation where confidential materials are stored, questions of national security, et cetera, would it be, in your judgment as a former Member of the Justice Department, would you say that is proper?