July 20, 1995 - Part 4
July 20, 1995 - Part 4
(12:50:52) Now, I ask you, as investigators for the Park Police, is there anything in that note that strikes you as a note that should not have been found or that hides something or that has any evidence whatsoever of anything that might lead somebody to an ill conclusion about Vince Foster or the Clintons? Ms. BRAUN. No. That note would have been helpful. Mr. ROLLA. No, not to me. Mr. HINES. No, not to me. The note, although not a suicide note, per se, did list some grievances he had and was a critical piece of evidence to us. Senator KERRY. You just said it would have been helpful, Ms. Braun? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator KERRY. Therefore, presumably, one would have wanted to have found it sooner? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator KERRY. Now, turning to your statement at some point in the deposition, Major, in answer to a question about the finding and friends on the other side of the aisle have asked you about this; they've said about this that a blind person could have found the note. In answer to the question what did he say to you-this is referring to Captain Hume about the discovery of the briefcase-he said, "Well, basically, we're talking about a briefcase. We believe it was the briefcase that was in the office the morning of the search." So, in effect, he doesn't know if it was the briefcase, but he believes it; correct? Mr. HINES. That's true. Senator KERRY. He says: Mr. Nussbaum took papers out of the briefcase and looked into it and then put it down and kicked it in the back of the room. Now, he's one of 13 people who suggests that is what happened, that he looked into it or did what he did, one of 13. Then you say- And when I talked to Captain Hume in relation to this, just in conversation, I said, 'We would have found that note because we would have been looking in the office and found his briefcase.' And he said, 'Yeah, our oldest, blindest detective would have found the note,' which is true. If it had been in the briefcase the morning we were there, and we'd have looked into it, we would have found it. 200 The point is, Major, you didn't look in, did you? Mr. HINES. No, we didn't. Senator KERRY. There were files in it; isn't that correct? Mr. HINES. My understanding. I didn't look in the briefcase. Senator KERRY. The evidence shows that the note was crimped beneath the middle flap; correct? Mr. HINES. That's the way I understand it. Senator KERRY. so if the files were in it on top of the crimp and on top of the note and you were looking down at files, you wouldn't see a note, would you? Mr. HINES, Senator Kerry, if any one of the Park Police detectives would have searched that briefcase and if we would have looked in the briefcase, we would have found the note. Senator KERRY. I agree. But they didn't, did they? Mr. HINES. We didn't look into it. Senator KERRY. Correct, and we'll get to all of that later. All I'm trying to point out is that we should not permit assumptions to be drawn here that are not based on the evidence. Mr. HINES. True. Senator KERRY. Isn't that true? Mr. HINES. Yes, sir. Senator KERRY. You know that as a detective, as an investigator? Mr. HINES. That's true. Senator KERRY. The fact here is it wasn't looked into. The facts about the state of the briefcase were, in fact, different from the phraseology that you were making your assumption on; isn't that true? Mr. HINES. That's true. Senator KERRY. So, point made, it's improbable to really say that judgment you drew is, in fact, true? Mr. HINES. That was my opinion at the time. Senator KERRY. Opinion, but not a fact. Mr. HINES. It was not a fact. Senator KERRY. Thank you very much. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Hines, why didn't you or the Park Service look into the briefcase, the bag, Vince Foster's case? Mr. HINES. My understanding of the reason we did not look into it is we were not allowed to look into it. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Senator Sarbanes, do you have any other people? Senator SARBANES. Yes, I have Senator Moseley-Braun. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, Senator Sarbanes. I am going to try to be brief so we're not here on the next anniversary and we get through this process. At the outset, I want to join my colleagues in thanking all of you for your participation here. This is the second time we've done this. This is the second year, and once again for the record, Sergeant Braun, I think we should let the conspiracy theorists know we are not related in any way. We did that last year, but I think it's important to set the record straight on that.