July 19, 1995 - Part 2
July 19, 1995 - Part 2
(11:30:45) Mr. HUBBELL. Senator, I only remembered Lisa's reaction. I don't think I could have-I didn't hear them-I heard Lisa's reaction. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. I'm going to ask you, and I know this is touchy because this is a very sensitive area and a troubling personal area, but what was her reaction, that you recollect? Mr. HUBBE LL. She screamed and sat down on the stairs. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. You talked with her thereafter? Mr. HUBBELL. Yes, I think Eileen-we all went in. Eileen took her back upstairs and, then, a few minutes later, Eileen came down and said Lisa needs you to be with her. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. When you went upstairs to talk with her, did you touch on anything having to do with Vince Foster's papers or effects or the like? Mr. HUBBELL. Initially, we looked for a gun at some point. I mean, I'm sure we just sat and held each other for a while, but at some point we looked for a gun, then, later on, we looked for a note. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. So your overarching concern that night was your concern for your grieving friends as opposed to having anything to do with the official responsibilities that Vince Foster might have had? Mr. HUBBELL. Correct. I think we were in shock. I had concerns that people were going to presume it was a suicide before we knew what happened, but pretty quickly everybody was saying it was a suicide. It was on the news. My concerns were related to the Fosters' religion and what effect that would have on them, but we didn't think about official business. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. These were close friends of yours? Mr. HUBBELL. Very close friends. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. How long had you known the Fosters? Mr. HUBBELL. I knew Vince from the day I joined the Rose Firm in 1973, over 22 years. I worked closely with him. Lisa and Susie became close friends. We would travel together. We would play together, we grieved together. This is as close as you get, Senator. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. To switch gears just a little bit from that night, this is not so much as to July 20, but in terms of your Official responsibilities as Associate Attorney General, you supervised the Civil Division and, from your deposition, I'd like to just read this into the record, You supervised the Civil, Antitrust, Tax, Civil Rights and Environmental Divisions, You also supervised immigration Office of Legal Counsel, the Office of Information and Privacy, Community Relations Service, office of U.S. Trustees, Office of Legislative Affairs, Public Affairs, Policy and Development, 110 Now, that description suggests that you did not have direct supervisory authority from the Department of Justice over the White House Counsel's Office; is that correct? Mr. HUBBELL. Oh, no, no. The White House Counsel's Office is part of the President's Office and I have no authority over the White House Counsel. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. But you had interactions with the White House Counsel's Office because of the informal relationship and previous personal friendship with Vince Foster? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct, and there was a lot of business between White House Counsel and the Justice Department. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Now, you've testified that you couldn't sleep that night and you made a call that next morning to see if the office had been secured. Did you feel that you had any official responsibility for securing the office of Vince Foster? Mr. HUBBELL. No. Senator, I didn't mean to ever imply that anything I said that night or the next day had anything to do with any official capacity. I was calling as a friend to make sure something like the cleaning people didn't happen. I know, specifically when we met with the Park Police that morning, I advised everyone that I was there as a friend and representative of the family and was not there in any official capacity from the Justice Department. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. When you later had a discussion that day with Mr. Nussbaum, you later had that conversation regarding what should happen in terms of the investigation based on your re-' lationship as a friend, and not in any official capacity; is that correct? Mr. HUBBELL. That is correct. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. So what role, if any, did you assume again? I just want to bring this home, As Associate Attorney General, you did not assume