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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LesX who wrote (4582)	9/22/1998 10:13:00 AM
From: Les H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 67261

Drug use probed in White House Reports say 25 percent of staff has history By David M. Bresnahan Copyright 1998, WorldNetDaily.com As heads are still spinning over sex, perjury, abuse of power and security scandals in the White House, trained dogs brought in by the Secret Service detected drug use in and around the Oval Office, sources tell WorldNetDaily. While Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr is said to be aware of the drug problems in the White House, no mention of such problems were in his report to Congress. But reports indicate as many as 25 percent of the White House staff have a history of illegal drug use, say the sources. According to security protocols, White House clearance is supposed to be denied those with significant illegal drug use. Past administrations welcomed FBI checks to weed out applicants and avoid scandal. But the Clinton administration has stymied FBI efforts to keep known drug users off the White House staff. A security clearance is required to gain access to various parts of the White House and to see certain documents. Yet, even as an intern, Monica Lewinsky had a top-level security clearance which enabled her to gain access to the White House at any time, day or night. Such access for an intern was not unusual, just questionable, say FBI sources. Several sources have reported independently of each other that Monica Lewinsky's dress not only had evidence of a sexual encounter with Bill Clinton, but also traces of cocaine. "There was a significant amount of cocaine residue," said one source close to the FBI. Another source with ties to the White House Secret Service confirmed the allegations and was astonished the Starr report does not mention more about the dress. "The dress is not the only evidence Starr has regarding drugs in the Oval Office," said the source. Former FBI agent Gary Aldrich, who was stationed at the White House during the Bush and early Clinton years and who was responsible for background checks of prospective employees, confirmed reports that drug users have the run of the chief executive's offices. Allegations of drug use have long followed Bill Clinton throughout his political career. He is known to have had regular social activity with Dan Lasater, a convicted cocaine dealer, in Arkansas during the 1980s. Lasater was arrested for illegal drug trafficking, along with Roger Clinton, the president's brother. While Lasater was in jail, Patsy Thomasson was given power of attorney to run Lasater's investment business. That business was suspected of laundering illegal drug money, according to a former investigator involved with that case. Lasater was later pardoned by Gov. Clinton. The fact that Thomasson was placed in charge of the White House employee drug-testing program alarmed Aldrich, who voiced his concerns of White House security problems in his book "Unlimited Access." Previous administrations used the FBI background investigation as a type of screening process for potential White House employees. The Clinton administration looked at the FBI as an obstacle to be overcome, charged Aldrich. "They took a totally cavalier attitude towards security clearance investigations and totally disregarded what the FBI brought to them by way of evidence of serious wrongdoing in a persons past," said Aldrich. "They kept the Secret Service from even knowing the results of these investigations. Which of course is absurd. They're the ones that are supposed to protect the White House and the president from unsuitable people in the first place. But they didn't want the Secret Service to know that upwards of 25 percent of their staff members had serious experience with significant illegal drugs, for example." Drug use was not just by low-level staff. It included "Cabinet-level people too," said Aldrich. "It was like a circus side show in the Clinton White House, except it wasn't funny and it certainly wasn't entertaining," he added. His investigations turned up other problems that should have also prevented a large number of the Clinton staff from getting security clearances. He found many violations of federal laws, failure to pay student loans, previous employment dishonesty that resulted in dismissals, refusal to pay federal income taxes, and some had serious mental disorders requiring medication to function and maintain emotional stability. Aldrich says his information and evidence points to continued drug use and security problems in the White House to this very day. "They treated drug use as a normal part of their lifestyle activity," he said. "This was the scary thing. There was no evidence that they felt inclined to stop using drugs once they became a White House employee." The use of drugs in the White House may be shocking, but not as shocking as other evidence Aldrich and other sources claim Starr has not yet reported to Congress. There is evidence involving abuse of power surrounding the White House Travel Office scandal, and the misuse of FBI files. National security may also have been compromised when favors were done for Red Chinese agents in exchange for multimillion-dollar campaign donations. Aldrich and other sources speculate that the failure of Starr to release information on these scandals may be a deliberate effort to spare the country the agony of dealing with such difficult subjects. "Perhaps as a country we would have difficulty going there to determine that the president, or some of his people in fact were involved in treasonous matters," said Aldrich. "So maybe it's just easier to let him off the hook on a sexual escapade matter. I don't know. Ken Starr's had four years and lots and lots of FBI agents to look into all these things, but I don't think Ken Starr's empowered to make these kinds of lofty huge decisions on how to proceed. If in fact these reports are softballs on Travelgate and Filegate, then I'm going to be suspicious that somebody or somebodies have sat down and decided that it's just not politically digestible to report what Clinton has actually done." Aldrich speculates that Starr may be hoping Clinton resigns rather than face the music of more serious wrongdoing. But the former FBI agent does not believe that strategy will work. He says Clinton thinks he can overcome such scandals. "I don't believe he's going to go easily," says Aldrich. "It's going to be a long, dirty battle that will be destructive to the country in many ways."