July 19, 1995 - Part 2
July 19, 1995 - Part 2
(11:35:39) Mr. HUBBELL. No, and Phil, on purpose, kept me out of it. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Which gets to the next question. Senator Shelby, in his questioning, talked about an agreement between Mr. Heymann and Mr. Nussbaum. Were you aware of any such agreement? Mr. HUBBELL. I was only aware when I returned and Phil had said they had reached an agreement and that had changed. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. I'm sorry, and then what? Mr. HUBBELL. Then it had changed when they got there. But I had nothing to do with the agreement, don't know what the agreement was. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. That was going to be my next question. Were you advised of what the agreement was and what the scope of it was? Mr. HUBBELL, Phil may have said in general terms what he thought was going to happen or what the agreement was, but I really don't recall. I know Phil would. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. The Park Police had advised you and others that this was an apparent suicide, Is it your impression that everyone who was involved with this matter at the outset had concurred or believed that this was a suicide? III Mr. HUBBELL. Yes, I believe the Park Policeman told me that that night, and when we met with the Park Police the next morning, they made it very clear that it was a suicide. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Was there any basis for questioning the Park Police's description of a suicide? Mr. HUBBELL. No. I asked several questions that morning because I still couldn't believe it. If you knew Vince Foster, it was hard to believe, but after they went through what they discovered they said, Mr. Hubbell, this was a suicide, there's no doubt in our mind. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. In your opinion, would the events following July 20, would those events have been different if it had been a homicide or if the Park Police had advised that it was a homicide instead of a suicide involved? Mr. HUBBELL. I would have to believe they would be. I don't know exactly what the difference would be. I guess it depends on the circumstances, but I suspect that it would be. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. In any event, with regard to the handling of information in Mr. Foster's office, that would not have been in the normal course of a suicide investigation. You had no legal responsibility, no ethical responsibility to get involved with trying to secure that off-ice or anything in it based on what the Park Police had told you? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct, Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. So your interest in securing the office, the conversation the next day, was just based on an abundance of caution and because of your friendship? Mr. HUBBELL. That's correct. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. I have no further questions. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Has the Senator completed her inquiry? Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. I have no further questions. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN, Senator Bennett. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR ROBERT F. BENNETT Senator BENNETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Hubbell, I've tried to take careful notes of some of the things you've said. Let me review them so that we can be sure I'm not misrepresenting your position and I'm going to ask you some questions that I think you do know the answer to, compared to those that have tried to get you to get into somebody else's mind. I have written down you made the point that the files of the White House Counsel were in Vince Foster's office. In effect, they were Bernie Nussbaum's files every bit as much as they were Vince Foster's files. Do I have that right? Mr. HUBBELL. I believe that is correct. I believe they belong to the White House Counsel. Senator BENNETT. You made the comment that in an investigation of this matter, that it's perfectly appropriate that someone with the stature of the White House Counsel should be the one to go in the office and investigate that. Do I have that right? Mr. HUBBELL. I did say that. 112 Senator BENNETT. This was not your comment, but it's in the same vein as what the Senator from Massachusetts asked you about, whether or not the police should be allowed to "roam willynilly," his phrase, through an office and you fsaid no, you didn't think that that would be appropriate. Do I Mr. HUBBELL. I said that, yes.