Bruce Lindsey At The Crossroads
Investor's Business Daily
06/09/98 Editorial
Not for commercial use
E D I T O R I A L
Bruce Lindsey At The Crossroads
Date: 6/9/98
Bruce Lindsey usually works behind the scenes. Bill Clinton trusts him because he's quiet, resourceful and knows how to fix problems. And that's exactly why the White House is fighting so hard to keep him out of court.
Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr wants to know what the deputy White House counsel knew about Bill Clinton's alleged dalliance with then-intern Monica Lewinsky and when he knew it.
The issue? Lindsey debriefed grand jury witnesses in Starr's probe and talked strategy with their lawyers. Starr wants to know whether those debriefings crossed the line into subornation of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Lindsey won't say. And the White House is backing him 100%.
At first, the administration claimed the conversations were protected under executive privilege. But U.S. District Court Judge Norma Holloway Johnson thought differently. She ruled last month that Starr's need for Lindsey's testimony outweighed any such claim.
Now the stonewallers at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. say Lindsey is really covered by the attorney-client privelege.
But that won't hold up, either. Lindsey is the deputy White House counsel. He serves the office of the president. In other words, he works for the American people, not the man in the Oval Office.
Lindsey is in an interesting position. He could vindicate the president. Or he could bury him.
Neither is likely. Although Lindsey has a history of being deeply involved in Clinton's damage control efforts, he's loyal and keeps his mouth shut. Lindsey is another of those people whose memory tends to fade under the interrogator's hot lights.
Just look at Lindsey's deposition last year to Senate Governmental Affairs Committee lawyers. His 246-page sworn statement is a sea of ''I can't recalls'' and ''not to my recollections.'' Strangely, though, he was able to describe in minute detail internal White House operations and other such trivia.
With a memory that choosy, Lindsey is either incompetent or lying. His record in the Clinton camp suggests the latter. And his friendship with Clinton goes back 30 years.
In just the last five years, Lindsey has had a hand in almost every scandal touching this White House.
Lindsey helped arrange - at Clinton's behest - John Huang's move from the Commerce Department to a fund-raising perch at the Democratic National Committee. Huang is a key player in the alleged plot by Communist China to subvert the '96 presidential elections.
Lindsey kept tabs on convicted felon and Arkansas friend Webster Hubbell. Lindsey's contacts with Hubbell, say published reports, took place after Hubbell pleaded guilty to defrauding clients in '94. We now know from prison phone call recordings that Hubbell's wife, Suzy, felt pressure from other White House minions.
Lindsey acted as the White House's information sponge on press inquiries into the Resolution Trust Corp.'s criminal referrals that named the First Couple, writes reporter James Stewart in ''Blood Sport.'' The White House's knowledge of those referrals led to Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman's ouster in '94.
Starr named Lindsey as an unindicted co-conspirator in campaign finance charges stemming from the '92 election.
Those are just for starters. Lindsey knows where the bodies are buried. But will he tell?
Even the president's most ardent backers doubt Lindsey can hold out forever. If White House stewards, Lewinsky's mother and Sidney Blumenthal must testify, so must Lindsey.
Of course, there's always the possibility of a pardon. But even he can't count on it. Bill Clinton is notorious for deserting people who lent him a hand when they're no longer useful.
Lindsey's memory is the one thing the deputy White House counsel can count on. It's up to Starr and the courts to force the truth from this all-too-reluctant witness.
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