July 20, 1995 - Part 1
July 20, 1995 - Part 1
(10:15:38) Ms. BRAUN. That's correct. The CHAIRMAN. Do you recall how you said that, to the best of your recollection? Ms. BRAUN. To the best of my recollection, I explained to him that the office would need to be closed up so that we could go ,through it the next day to look for a suicide note or evidence that would confirm the suicide, The CHAIRMAN. How did he respond to you? Ms. BRAUN. He seemed to understand what I was asking him and, like I said earlier, I do not remember what his exact words were, but he acknowledged that it would be done. The CHAIRMAN. Now, Detective Rolla, you testified while you did not hear the conversation, that Sergeant Braun thereafter, as you were leaving or as you left or when you left, indicated to you the nature of her request to Mr. Watkins; is that correct? Mr. ROLLA. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. She had asked him to seal off the office; is that correct? Mr. ROLLA. She asked him to secure the office because we knew the situation was that we weren't going to be able to be in there that night. Just to have things maintained, we wanted it secured until such time as higher officials could get in there and things could be gone through properly. The CHAIRMAN. Major Hines, the next morning when you had a briefing, who attended? Was Mr. Hubbell there? Mr. HINES. Mr. Hubbell was there. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Nussbaum? Mr. HINES. Mr. Nussbaum was there; Mr. Watkins was there. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Watkins was there? Mr. HINES. Mr. Kennedy was there and Mr. Stephanopoulos was there. There were several other people there that I don't remember. The CHAIRMAN. Those are the people that you specifically recall? Mr. HINES. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. In addition to your advising them as to what you believed to be a suicide, from the initial investigation until you reached that conclusion, was there any other discussion about sealing the office or when you would be given access to the office? Mr. HINES. There was no discussion of when we would be given access to the office. The CHAIRMAN. Do you know when the Park Police first had access to the office? Mr. HINES. It is my understanding on July 22, 1993, 1 believe we first had access to the office. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Chertoff has a question. Mr. CHERTOFF. Something just came to mind; I want to be quite clear on it. Sergeant Braun, on the night of July 20, 1993, you left the Foster residence after the President had arrived? Ms. BRAUN. That's correct. Mr. CHERTOFF. That's when you had your conversation right before you left, with Mr. Watkins? 156 There's some independent evidence in the record that the President arrived around 11 p.m. I want to be quite clear that at that point in time when you talked to Mr. Watkins, he did not tell you that he had already made arrangements to have someone go into Mr. Foster's office and look for a note. Ms. BRAUN. No, he did not tell me that. Mr. CHERTOFF. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Grams. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR ROD GRAMS Senator GRAMS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I know we have a short span of time that we're talking about and some of these questions might be similar in nature but , again, I'd like to go back over and to reiterate some of those. Sergeant Braun, why would you consider Vince Foster's office in any way connected-it wasn't a crime scene--with the investigation? How important was that office to your thoughts right after' the incident? Ms. BRAUN. I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say "right after." Senator GRAMS. As you were following the course of your investigation, from the crime scene itself to the thoughts that Vince Fos". ter's office should also be sealed to preserve its integrity as far as the investigation would go. Ms. BRAUN. As you're going through a scene like this, you're going through a particular process. When you initially arrive, your concerns are with the immediate scene, and so we dealt with the immediate scene. Then I dealt with the car: I thought if we didn't find a note at the scene, then the car would be, possibly, the next logical place. Having not found a note, then, in the car, the family becomes the next logical step in trying to confirm Mr. Foster's depression or state of mind, We didn't get any assistance with that. When we spoke with the family, there was no indication from the family that he had been suffering from depression, The only thing left, then, to examine was his place of business. Senator GRAMS. The office was important in your estimation---- Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator GRAMS. -immediately and early on in this investigation. Could you go into a little more detail about what you're trained to do when you approach such a crime scene?