Memos Suggest Obstruction Linked to Big Brother Database
By Paul M. Rodriguez
As Insight first reported last year, an extravagant
computer system at the White House is churning
up questions of fund-raising scandals,
obstruction of justice and other violations.
t was a stunning revelation: The White House intentionally
had withheld from congressional investigators a potentially
damaging document that directly linked President Clinton to
possibly illegal uses of a then-secret computer system with the
capability to mix social and political fund-raising data
concerning perquisites and events now at the heart of ongoing
criminal and congressional probes by the Justice Department
and Congress.
. . . . One of the documents, undated but presumably written in
1994 by then-White House aide Brian Bailey, mentions former
White House deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes and Debra
DeLee, the Democratic National Committee's, or DNC's,
executive director. This one-page handwritten note states that
"Harold and Deborah [sic] DeLee want to make sure
WHODB [the White House Office Data Base] is integrated
w/DNC database -- so we can share -- evidently, POTUS
wants this too," Bailey writes. "He [Ickes] wants to have a
meeting ... to discuss ways to coordinate going forward. Bobby
Watson [DeLee's then-DNC assistant] is working on her end."
. . . . POTUS refers to the president of the United States; it is
an acronym given presidents by the U.S. Secret Service.
. . . . A second document, this one dated June 28, 1994, was
from White House aide Marsha Scott to Ickes concerning an
attempt to clone for the DNC a "PeopleBase" data system of
the kind used by Clinton to coordinate favors while in Arkansas
politics. The contents of the earlier Clinton database were,
according to White House sources, merged with WHODB,
and both Clintons wanted to share them with the DNC to
encourage political donations and coordination of contacts and
events.
. . . . "This sounds promising, please advise, HRC," Hillary
Rodham Clinton wrote on one of two versions of the June 28
memo by Scott that initially was discovered in September 1996
by a White House lawyer but not released to Indiana
Republican Rep. David McIntosh's Government Reform and
Oversight subcommittee on National Economic Growth,
Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs until February 1997
when the new White House counsel, Charles F.C. Ruff,
discovered the existence of both versions of Scott's memos --
the one with, and the one without, HRC's initials.
. . . . After McIntosh berated the White House, suggesting that
withholding the memos was part of an obstructionist pattern,
Ruff responded with a fiery defense of his attempts to assist
congressional investigations of the WHODB and other probes
into Clinton scandals. In a May 22, 1997, letter to McIntosh,
Ruff argued that contrary to McIntosh's interpretation, the June
28 Scott memos did not provide "'compelling evidence that
criminal activity may have been planned'.... I submit, [that is]
completely unfounded.... I believe you will find that the [June
28 Scott] memo discusses four separate databases; the
references to 'outside' database and 'new system' are referring
to whatever campaign database -- not WHODB -- that was
under consideration at the time," Ruff said. "There is no
evidence in this memorandum or anywhere else that WHODB
was planned to be used for political purposes, nor any
evidence that it was, in fact, put to such use."
. . . . Fast-forward then to Oct. 28, 1997. Ruff again writes to
McIntosh, but this time to say that after further review of
certain "folders," newly discovered in an unnamed lawyer's
files, some more materials related to the WHODB were found
that should have been turned over earlier. "Instead, they were
placed in folders and, together with other materials, were
transferred in December 1996 to the attorney who was
assuming responsibility for responding to the subcommittee's
requests. She [the attorney] did not examine the contents of
those folders, however, until last week when, as part of her
effort to respond to your letter of October 9 [for more
documents], she undertook a review of the materials gathered
in 1996."
. . . . In addition to more copies of the June 28 Scott memo[s]
in this newly discovered folder, Ruff said, were the Bailey
memo and another written by former White House aide David
Watkins concerning uses of various "lists" maintained for
political purposes by the White House -- and in the WHODB.
. . . . As Insight has shown in an ongoing investigative series
since first revealing the existence of the database in mid-July
1996, the WHODB was the brainchild of the president and the
first lady. Both Clintons wanted a centralized and modern
computer system with which to track individuals in contact with
the White House. However, the computer system they created
at a cost to taxpayers of more than $1.7 million was far more
than just a computerized events organizer or a fancy Rolodex,
as the White House has claimed. The WHODB, nicknamed
"Big Brother" by White House insiders, also contained such
personal information as the names, birth dates, occupations,
religions, sexual preferences (only initially, claims the White
House), education and political affiliations of people in contact
with the Clintons and/or the administration.
. . . . More importantly, whether a person was a supporter of
Clinton and what favors they either were expecting and/or
receiving from the administration also were maintained in the
Big Brother computer system. Government and private-sector
sources interviewed by Insight recently confirmed that the
WHODB contains virtually all of the names and details on all of
the people who have supported Clinton's elections going back
to his unsuccessful run for the House during the 1970s. And
these include even Clinton/Gore election and reelection
campaign names, quite possibly in violation of federal laws
barring the commingling of campaign and government political
activities.
. . . . In fact, not only does Big Brother contain the names of
1996 Clinton/ Gore supporters, ostensibly for Christmas-card
mailings, but the computer system also contains thousands of
names funneled to the White House from the DNC, including
top money givers who attended the infamous coffees, slept in
the Lincoln Bedroom or enjoyed so-called "private" functions
such as watching movies in the White House with the president.
An example of the latter is Roger Tamariz, the naturalized
Lebanese-born businessman who admits to having donated
tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic coffers in return for
access to Clinton.
. . . . It is within this context that the Bailey memo must be
considered, for certainly the significance of this undated note
has not been lost on either McIntosh or Ruff, according to
congressional and White House aides interviewed by Insight.
And here's why:
. . . . The Bailey memo strips away half of Ruff's earlier
arguments that there was -- or is -- no evidence to suggest
anyone in the White House actually contemplated using the Big
Brother computer for any politically oriented operation such as
linking the list of White House perquisites to the DNC
contributor lists. In fact, it directly ties in the president, as well
as the first lady. And when coupled with previous notes from
White House staff that White House spokesmen have claimed
mean nothing, a picture emerges of a president bent on using
modern technology to link up cash support and political
advantages -- perhaps in violation of federal law.
. . . . Besides blowing a hole in Ruff's earlier denials that the
WHODB never was used or contemplated for use outside of
the White House -- a mantra heard often from other
presidential aides -- the Bailey memo and others still floating
about but not yet turned over to Congress have or will provide
ammunition to McIntosh and to Indiana Rep. Dan Burton,
chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight
Committee, to justify their ongoing probes into the Clinton
scandals.
. . . . "We have now clearly caught the White House in what we
know they were doing," McIntosh tells Insight, "and that's
concealing evidence of possible wrongful uses of the WHODB.
This [the Bailey memo] is very clear evidence of their planning
to divert government resources and/or evidence that illegal acts
were planned, whether implemented or not."
. . . . "Ultimately, it's our duty to find out if this president broke
the laws because it's our duty to reinstitute faith in the office of
the president. That's our ultimate task," the congressman
continues in an interview. If this means making criminal referrals
to the Justice Department, he adds, "so be it."
. . . . McIntosh, a former senior White House aide, further
notes that, "Obviously, each president is a political leader. But
at the same time, each is a leader of government. And that
means upholding the law."
. . . . Perhaps this concern about illegalities explains why Ruff
cryptically told McIntosh that the Bailey memo recently was
turned over to the Justice Department, too. The reason for this
could not immediately be learned. But sources suggest it's not
good news for the president.
>>>http://www.insightmag.com/ under Investigative Reports |
