Some info on the "missing FBI files" found in the White House, and other matters....as long as some on the board were quoting articles in the early to mid 90's...thought it might be interesting to see an actual US Government Report...(this report is 113 pages long, so these are just a few portions....) It is well worth looking over....and remembering.....and hopefully not revisiting this arrogance ever again in our Nation's Home....
KLP
house.gov
Investigation of the White House Travel Office Firings and Related Matters Dated Sept 26, 1996
By the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
We learned that a long-hidden memo by a key figure in the Travel Office affair, David Watkins, disclosed that Hillary Clinton, based upon information provided by Harry Thomason, pressured senior White House aides for the firings.(19) Despite President Clinton's misleading press accounts that he knew little about the firings, we learned Bill Clinton actually was briefed on the firings 2 days before they occurred.(20) And then-Assistant to President Clinton for Management and Administration, David Watkins reluctantly became the designated fall guy for the firings in order to protect the higher-ups who had directed his actions.
We learned of the long-hidden notebook kept by Vincent Foster had been in the office of White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum following Mr. Foster's death. The notebook chronicled Mr. Foster's anguish over Hillary Clinton's role in the firings, Harry Thomason's potential criminal liability, and whether the White House scandal containment strategy could be maintained to stop at the level of David Watkins.
We learned that Mrs. Clinton directed President Clinton's Chief of Staff, Mack McLarty not to tell President Clinton about the torn up ``suicide'' note found in Vincent Foster's briefcase on July 26th, 6 days after his death. Mrs. Clinton instructed the President's senior aides to wait until a ``coherent position'' was developed before informing the President.(21) The note was essentially an outline of a defense of the Travel Office firings. When it took more than a day to turn the note over to the proper law enforcement authorities, both the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General were so concerned that the Deputy Attorney General immediately initiated an FBI investigation into the delay in turning over the note.(22) In the investigation of the delay, no one mentioned Mrs. Clinton's involvement in reviewing the note or recommending a delay in turning it over.(23)
We learned of the existence of a letter long withheld from all investigators which David Watkins wrote to ``Hillary.'' In that letter, Watkins lamented that the GAO revealed conversations that Watkins had with Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Watkins assured Mrs. Clinton that he knew who his ``client'' was and regretted revealing that Mrs. Clinton told him she wanted ``those people out'' and ``our people in.''(24)
After a long battle to obtain responsive subpoenaed documents, White House Counsel to the President Jack Quinn finally turned over documents one of which led us to discover that hundreds of FBI files of Reagan and Bush officials, including that of former Travel Office Director Billy Dale, were wrongfully requisitioned from the FBI in 1993 and 1994 by two political operatives, Craig Livingstone and his sidekick Anthony Marceca, who had specialized in opposition research for the Democratic Party.
We now know that the individual placed by President Clinton in charge of the FBI files was the very same individual whom the White House had put in charge of securing the Travel Office records on the day of the firings_the now infamous security officer, Craig Livingstone.
We learned that the White House Counsel's office withheld Billy Dale's FBI background file for months misrepresenting it to the committee as a personnel file, effectively keeping the lid on the Filegate scandal.(25)
The fact that Craig Livingstone held the fate of Billy Dale and his colleagues in his hands, however, came as no surprise to Mr. Dale. He and his family were subjected to inexcusable, unending indignities by the Clinton White House, hounded by the servile Justice Department and the IRS. Mr. Dale was denied the opportunity to defend himself by a Department of Justice prosecutor who opposed Dale's defense motion to present facts detailing the missing Travel Office records. We know that the prosecutor himself told IRS investigators that records were missing, most likely removed by Presidential cousin Catherine Cornelius, who had designs on running the Travel Office.(26) Why didn't the Justice Department's prosecutor feel he had the same disclosure responsibilities to Mr. Dale as to other Government investigative units? This question never was answered.
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THE WHITE HOUSE ENGAGED IN A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE OF THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE FIRINGS FROM THE VERY FIRST DAYS. IT DID SO FOR DAMAGE CONTROL PURPOSES
o President Clinton denied knowing anything about the Travel Office firings even though he had been briefed on the matter 2 days before the firings. This was known to at least Bruce Lindsey and Jeff Eller. Such statements by the President had to have sent a chilling message to all those individuals who were aware of President Clinton's prior knowledge of the firings, in effect creating a conspiracy of silence. The fact that President Clinton was briefed prior to the firings was not disclosed publicly until this investigation.
PRESIDENT CLINTON ESTABLISHED A COVER-UP SITUATION WHEN HE INAPPROPRIATELY PLACED THE PERSON WHO HAD APPROVED THE FIRINGS_MACK McLARTY_IN CHARGE OF THE MANAGEMENT REVIEW AND McLARTY WITHHELD INFORMATION IN THE COURSE OF THE INVESTIGATION. IT IS INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE TO INVESTIGATE ITSELF IN MATTERS OF CONFLICTS
o It was inappropriate for Mack McLarty, the individual who both pushed Watkins to fire the Travel Office employees and approved the firings pursuant to ``pressure'' from Mrs. Clinton, to oversee the subsequent White House Management Review announced on May 25, 1993, in the wake of a firestorm of media criticism and the embarrassing upbraiding of the White House by Attorney General Reno about the misuse of the FBI.
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However, a new White House document_1 of the 2,000 over which the President had claimed executive privilege until August 15, 1996_indicates that Livingstone arrived at the White House that morning between 7:15 and 7:20_not 8:14 a.m. as Livingstone has contended.(649) Thus, the White House had information that was consistent with the account of the Secret Service agent_not the account of Craig Livingstone. Nonetheless, throughout the past 3 years the White House has bolstered Livingstone's position and given him a 40 percent raise in the process.(650)
Given Livingstone's highly suspect role in the FBI Files matter, the committee is skeptical of Livingstone. For example, Livingstone testified before this committee that he was not Anthony Marceca's supervisor. Mr. Marceca was a political operative who helped gather FBI files with Livingstone in 1993.
Mr. Livingstone's history as a former bar bouncer and political operative who boasted of such accomplishments as ``deploying Chicken George'' at President Bush campaign events made him a highly dubious choice for heading up the White House Office of Personnel Security. The extensive documents the committee has obtained about Craig Livingstone raise serious questions: Why was he able to demand substantial raises in the face of so little experience and a checkered background? What prevented the White House from firing Livingstone?
Linda Tripp, a secretary in the Counsel's suite provided testimony that Livingstone was not a regular presence in their office but ``became more a presence thereafter than prior. Bernie used to call him `Cliff '.''(651) Mr. Livingstone reported directly to Bill Kennedy not Vince Foster or Bernard Nussbaum. Mr. Kennedy's office was in the Old Executive Office Building, not the West Wing as were the offices of Foster and Nussbaum.(652) Why did Livingstone become more of a presence in the Counsel's office after Foster's death? Why did Bernie Nussbaum ``promise'' him a raise that subsequent counsels felt compelled to pay? Why couldn't anyone fire Craig Livingstone?
The committee believes there is far more to the Craig Livingstone story than anyone has disclosed to date.
F. Evidence of Mrs. Clinton's involvement in the response to the finding of Foster's ``suicide'' note. Her direction not to tell the President about the note, on July 26, 1993, was withheld from investigators
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White House Counsel's Office
Several attorneys affiliated with the White House Counsel's Office played key roles at the time of the White House Travel Office firings. Others have been central to the White House response to the committee's requests for documents. They have every reason to be very fully aware of the details of the White House Travel Office matter. Yet their individual memories also come up short.
Neil Eggleston, who prepared First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's responses to a series of GAO questions after interviewing Mrs. Clinton and who handled all of the various document productions for Travelgate matters, could not recall, did not know, could not remember or recollect on some 250 occasions. Bill Kennedy, former Associate White House Counsel, who summoned the FBI to investigate the Travel Office at the behest of ``the highest levels'' could not recall 233 times in his April deposition and 116 in a June deposition related to the FBI files matter and the hiring of Craig Livingstone. Beth Nolan, who reviewed SGE and ethics issues in the Travel Office matter, registered 179, while Cliff Sloan tallied 173.
Bruce Lindsey, a long-time Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor turned Deputy White House Counsel, scored some 161 lapses. Bernard Nussbaum, whose claims that all who watched him divide Vince Foster's papers into three stacks were contradicted by all those alleged witnesses, registered 158 memory outages, and another 60 lapses in a subsequent FBI files-related deposition.
Memory or knowledge failed current White House Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes some 148 times; Senior Advisor to the President George Stephanopoulos some 142 and 102 times in two separate depositions; former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Roy Neel some 135 times; and, Assistant to the President for Special Projects Rahm Emanuel on some 102 occasions. Again, given the position of these individuals and their access to White House colleagues and records, the committee believes they had every reason to be cognizant of far more than admitted in their depositions. Mrs. Clinton's Chief of Staff Maggie Williams had some 82 lapses, and particularly couldn't recall anything related to conversations she had with Mrs. Clinton about the Travel Office.(718) |
