[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 23 (Monday, March 7, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: March 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
WHITE HOUSE POLITICS
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, as the Whitewater controversy grows, it is
not surprising that the political charges are heating up as well.
Last week, President Clinton himself made the unfortunate claim that
Republicans are somehow responsible for the latest Whitewater woes,
stating that we have acted in a ``fairly blatant, bald, and totally
political way.'' And yesterday, White House aide George Stephanopolous
forgot the presidential campaign was over, suggesting on national
television that Republicans are somehow ginning up Whitewater for our
own political advantage.
Mr. President, notwithstanding these charges, which I reject, it is
the Democrat Congress that continues to block Whitewater hearings. It
was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee who played
``political tough guy'' when he tried to intimidate Senator D'Amato
with a threatening letter notable only for its clumsiness. It was not a
Republican National Committee newsletter that ran editorials with
titles like ``Slovenly White House Ethics,'' ``White House Ethics
Meltdown,'' and ``Mr. Nussbaum Goes--Not the Mess.'' That is the New
York Times and the Washington Post.
And, Mr. President, the biggest political players in town are
apparently in the White House itself: In travelgate, and now in
Whitewater, White House staff have played with fire, showing a brazen
willingness to mix politics with law enforcement.
The bottom line is: Whitewater is a case study in self-immolation--
omissions, misstatements of fact, negotiated subpoenas,
behind-the-scenes meetings--have all created the impression that there
is something to hide, that there is something unseemly lurking in the
Whitewater bog.
I may be wrong, and I hope I am wrong.
Mr. President, last week, 43 Senate Republicans sent a letter to the
distinguished majority leader stating that we will hold up the
nomination of Ricki Tigert, President Clinton's nominee to head the
FDIC, unless the Senate Banking Committee has the opportunity to
thoroughly examine the recently revealed White House-RTC-Treasury
meetings. It is my hope that the Democrat leadership in Congress will
work with Republicans to schedule these hearings so that the American
people can get a full accounting of the Whitewater mess.
Again: if there has been no wrongdoing, there should be nothing to
hide. As I pointed out last week, the Congressional Research Service
has prepared a memorandum listing more than 20 congressional hearings
and investigations into alleged executive branch wrongdoing during the
Reagan and Bush administrations. The Democrat-controlled Congress has
never been shy about exercising its oversight responsibilities--and
there is no reason to make an exception for Whitewater.
If Congress fails to exercise its oversight responsibilities, if we
do not hold hearings, then we expose ourselves to the charge of being
willing accomplices to whatever wrongdoing may have occurred.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that editorials from
yesterday's New York Times and Washington Post be printed in the
Record. I also ask unanimous consent that the memorandum from the
Congressional Research Service be printed in the Record, as well.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the New York Times, Mar. 6, 1994]
Repairing the White House Mess
Robert Fiske has stepped into the Whitewater mess with
precisely the authority and integrity that the White House,
particularly in the person of Bernard Nussbaum, has so
conspicuously failed to exhibit over the last few months.
By serving subpoenas on 10 senior White House and Treasury
Department officials, Mr. Fiske, the special counsel
appointed to look into the Whitewater case, has also served
notice that he is expanding his inquiry to include the three
extraordinary White House meetings at which the Resolution
Trust Corporation's probe of a failed savings and loan
association with close ties to the President and Mrs. Clinton
was discussed.
The members of the Congressional banking committees,
including reluctant Democrats, clearly have an interest in
this matter. There are, for example, numerous regulatory
issues involving the failed Arkansas savings and loan,
Madison Guaranty. Moreover, senior officials at the agencies
for which the committees have oversight responsibility have
behaved improperly--notably Roger Altman, the Deputy Treasury
Secretary, and Jean Hanson, Treasury counsel. They gave
private briefings at the White House to keep Mr. Nussbaum,
the White House counsel, and others posted on the R.T.C.'s
investigation into Madison and the bank's dealings with the
Clintons and their friends.
There is certainly a public value in having Congress
conduct a carefully targeted examination of the incestuous
relationships between the White House and Federal
investigatory bodies. Nevertheless, Congress should think
twice before launching a parallel investigation of the whole
history of Madison and the Whitewater development deal back
in Arkansas. Such an inquiry, especially in the current
partisan environment, could easily turn into an unpending
political circus, and even worse, jeopardize Mr. Fiske's
independent inquiry and his ability to bring prosecutions, if
warranted.
As for President Clinton, he has finally moved to repair
the damage by his amateurish White House operation by
persuading Mr. Nussbaum to return to private life. Mr.
Nussbaum played a prominent part in other White House
embarrassments, including the misuse of the F.B.I. in the
Travelgate affair, the failure to properly vet various
Presidential nominees and the apparent interference with the
Park Service's investigation of the suicide of Vincent
Foster, the deputy White House counsel. Given those past
indiscretions, it was not surprising that Mr. Nussbaum was a
central figure at all three of the improper White House
meetings on Whitewater. It remains to be learned whether he
was acting at Mr. Clinton's request.
There are two immediate lessons here. One is that Mr.
Clinton desperately needs to get some good strong people
around him to provide the White House with sound management
and an ethical compass. The second is that the special
prosecutor, Mr. Fiske, may have an even more challenging job
than he, or anyone else, originally imagined.
____
[From the Washington Post, Mar. 6, 1994]
Mr. Nussbaum Goes--Not the Mess
Neither Bernard Nussbaum, who resigned yesterday as White
House counsel, nor Treasury Deputy Secretary Roger Altman and
seven other senior White House and Treasury Department
officials will be spending March 10 in their offices engaged
in the duties that brought them to town. Mr. Nussbaum and the
others will be queued up before a federal grand jury in
Washington, compelled by subpoena to testify under oath about
the circumstances under which they discussed the status of a
federal probe of the Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, a
failed Arkansas institution with ties to the Clintons. That
date with the grand jury will be a day of public disgrace for
the administration.
But more than humiliation is involved in this case. Since
the Madison failure and the abortive Whitewater land venture
erupted as issues, White House staff have been nothing but a
problem. Their clumsy and sophomoric attempts at political
damage control have only added to the impression that there
is something not quite right about the Clintons' Arkansas
political and business dealings and that the First Family has
something to hide. That may turn out not to be true--the
president says not--but his staff haven't helped him with his
case at all.
They are giving the grand jury much to sort out. We
especially have in mind the September get-together between
Mr. Nussbaum and Treasury General Counsel Jean Hanson. In
that meeting, Ms. Hanson reportedly disclosed that the
Resolution Trust Corp. was poised to ask the Justice
Department to conduct a criminal probe into Madison, and that
the Clintons were named as possible beneficiaries of the
S&L's illegal activities. The grand jury will undoubtedly
want to know whether Mr. Nussbaum or any other White House
staff members with knowledge of the coming RTC action shared
that information with the Clintons. (If so, Mr. Clinton's
criticism of the Treasury-White House meetings will ring a
little hollow.) But in either case, with questions like this
staring at the president, and with Republicans accusing the
administration of trying to manipulate an independent
regulatory agency, it's hard to imagine a worse way for staff
to protect the boss's interests.
That explains the anger many of the more seasoned figures
in the administration have for Mr. Nussbaum. Though the
president accepted Mr. Nussbaum's resignation ``with deep
regret,'' many of Mr. Nussbaum's senior associates apparently
aren't shedding many tears. They see him as having allowed
the White House to slip and slide into improprieties that a
child of 4 could have figured out. Mr. Nussbaum said he was
taking his leave because of the ``controversy generated by
those who do not understand, or wish to understand, the role
and obligations of a lawyer.'' We offer another possibility.
Mr. Nussbaum not only failed to keep his principal client out
of trouble; he also generated much of the controversy and
troubles himself. Going back to Travelgate, when Mr. Nussbaum
saw nothing wrong in having the FBI announce there was
evidence of criminal wrongdoing--in violation of bureau
policy--to his mishandling of key nominations and the
aftermath of Vincent Foster's suicide, to the current White
House-Treasury encounters, this has been the case. Whatever
he thinks of himself as a lawyer, Mr. Nussbaum was truly
miscast as White House counsel.
____
[From the Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC, Jan. 26,
1994]
Memorandum
Subject: Published Hearings and Reports Concerning
Congressional Investigations of Alleged Improprieties by
Administration Officials or Their Family Members, 1981-1992
Author: George Mangan, Paralegal Specialist
In response to Congressional requests on the subject, the
following list has been prepared. It was assembled by
consulting indexes of Congressional documents compiled by
Congressional Information Service [CIS], Inc., a private
company which reproduces Congressional publications on
microfilm. CIS produces an annual index of Congressional
documents and a companion volume of brief abstracts of each
document, in the case of hearings giving a citation, dates,
witnesses, and a brief summary of the subject matter covered.
Index entries checked for this survey were: Conflict of
Interests, Corruption and Bribery, Ethics in Government Act,
Financial Disclosure, Iran-Contra Affair, Lobbying, and
Political Ethics.
In cases in which a large number of hearings were held on
the same matter, only one report or hearing has been listed.
Documents appear in chronological order by year of
publication, not necessarily the year hearings were held or
investigations conducted. When discussion of allegations of
improper or unethical behavior occurred on only one day in a
series of hearings, only that date has been given.
Descriptive summaries are quoted in relevant part from the
CIS abstracts of the publications.
1981
Report of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on
the Casey Inquiry. December, 1981. S. Rpt. 97-1. Staff
investigation of allegations concerning CIA Director William
J. Casey, ``. . . including the propriety of his private
business dealings and previous Government service and
circumstances surrounding the appointment of Max Hugel as
Deputy Director of Operations, CIA.''
1982
Environmental Protection Agency: Private Meetings and Water
Protection Programs. House Government Operations Committee
Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources.
Hearing. October 21, 1981. Concerned, in part, ``. . . 1981
EPA private meetings with chemical industry representatives
to discuss pending regulation. . . .''
EPA Enforcement and Administration of Superfund. House
Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations. Hearing. April 2, 1982. ``. . . [A]llegations
of White House interference with EPA enforcement programs.''
1983
Office of Management and Budget Control of OSHA Rulemaking.
House Government Operations Committee Subcommittee on
Manpower and Housing. Hearing. March 19, 1982. ``. . .
[C]harged improper intervention by Office of the Vice
President. . . .''
Southland Corporation Investigation. Senate Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on
Securities. Hearing. June 28, 1983. ``Hearing . . . to
investigate the conduct of John M. Fedders (Dir, Enforcement
Div, SEC) while employed as a legal counsel by the Southland
Corp. to assist in a 1977-78 internal business ethics
investigation into alleged company illegal payments.''
1984
Nonconsensual Recording of Certain Telephone Conversations
by USIA Director Charles Z. Wick. Senate Foreign Relations
Committee. Report. February, 1984. S. Prt. 98-147. ``Staff
report examining the purpose, extent, and legality of
unauthorized 1981-83 recording of telephone conversations by
U.S. Information Agency Director Charles Z. Wick.''
Recording of Telephone Conversations by Charles Z. Wick,
Director, USIA. House Foreign Affairs Committee. Report.
February 3, 1984. ``Staff report examining the purpose,
extent, and legality of unauthorized 1981-83 recording of
telephone conversations by U.S. Information Agency Director
Charles Z. Wick.''
Oversight on the National Labor Relations Board. House
Education and Labor Committee. Joint hearings before the
Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations and the House
Government Operations Committee Subcommittee on Manpower and
Housing. June 29, 1983. Involvement of witness, Hugh L.
Reilly (Solicitor, NLRB) ``. . . in private labor relations
litigation after entering Government service; implications
for Solicitor's Office of NLRB enforcement proposals.''
1985
Oversight of the U.S. Information Agency. House Foreign
Affairs Committee Subcommittee on International Operations.
Hearings. May 10, 15, 1984. ``. . . [A]lleged maintenance of
a so-called `blacklist' of persons not desired for overseas
speaking engagements, and Director Charles Z. Wick
unauthorized recording of telephone conversations.''
Synthetic Fuels Corporation. House Energy and Commerce
Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Hearings. April 3, June 27, 1984. ``. . . [A]lleged
improprieties involving SFC officials.''
Synthetic Fuels Corporation Oversight. House Government
Operations Committee Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and
Natural Resources. Hearing. May 16, 1984. ``Examination of
SFC Board actions and perceptions regarding alleged conflict
of interests and eventual resignation of former SFC Board
Member and President Victor M. Thompson, Jr. . . .''
1986
Management of Livestock Grazing on Federal Lands by the
Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. House
Government Operations Committee Subcommittee on Environment,
Energy, and Natural Resources. Hearing. December 13, 1985.
Robert F. Burford, Director, Bureau of Land Management,
responded to ``. . . questions regarding conflict of
interests issues relating to Burford family ownership of
grazing permits.''
Textile Imports and Investigation Into Activities of Former
Textile Official. House Government Operations Committee
Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs.
Hearing. July 31, 1986. Investigation of Walter C. Lenahan,
former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Textiles and Apparel,
Department of Commerce, ``. . . regarding compliance . . .
with conflict of interest, postemployment, and foreign agent
registration laws . . .''
Investigation of the Role of the Department of Justice in
the Withholding of Environmental Protection Agency Documents
From Congress in 1982-83. House Judiciary Committee. 4 vols.
Report. December 11, 1985. ``Report examining Justice Dept.
role in 1082-83 confrontation between Congress and EPA
regarding disclosure of documents subpoenaed by the House
Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations and the House Public Works and Transportation
Committee Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight in
connection with oversight EPA alleged mismanagement of
Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Superfund) program
for financial cleanup of uncontrolled hazardous waste
sites.'' Report discusses actions of EPA Administrator Anne
M. Burford (formerly Anne M. Gorsuch), EPA Assistant
Administrator Rita M. Lavelle, and Theodore B. Olson of the
Justice Department.
HUD Inspector General Report. House Committee on Banking,
Finance and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing and
Community Development. Hearing. February 4, 1986. Hearing
concerned, in part, ``. . . alleged influence peddling by
former HUD officials . . .''
1987
Document Related to the Subcommittee Investigation of the
Activities of Michael K. Deaver and Associates. House Energy
and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations. Committee Print. June 1987. ``Compliance of .
. . notes on interviews with various individuals relating to
May 16, 1986 subcommittee hearing and investigation into the
activities of Michael K. Deaver and Associates.''
Additional Documents Related to the Subcommittee
Investigation of the Activities of Michael K. Deaver and
Associates. House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee
on Oversight and Investigations. July 1987. See above.
Matters Relating to Joseph R. Wright, Jr., Deputy Director
of the Office of Management and Budget. Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee, Hearings, May 13, November 5, 6, 1985.
``Hearing to examine the background and propriety of
telephone contact between Joseph R. Wright, Jr. (Dep Dir OMB)
and the Economic Regulatory Administration (ERA) relating to
proceedings involving charges of oil price control violations
by two Wright family-owned firms. . . .''
Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the
Iran-Contra Affair. House Select Committee to Investigate
Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select
Committee On Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the
Nicaraguan Opposition. H. Rpt. 100-433, S. Rpt. 100-216.
November 1987. A number of preliminary hearings and
investigations culminated in this report issued jointly by
the House and Senate Iran-Contra Select Committees.
1988
Investigation of the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland. House
Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommittee on International
Operations. Hearing. March 10, 1987. Hearing ``. . . to
investigate allegations that U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland
Faith R. Whittlesey misused a gift fund and implemented
inappropriate personnel policies. . . .''
Filing and Review of Attorney General Edwin Meese's
Financial Disclosures. House Post Office and Civil Service
Committee Subcommittee on Human Resources. Hearing. August 5,
1987. ``Hearing . . . to examine irregularities in the
preparation and filing of 1985 personal financial disclosure
reports by Attorney General Edwin Meese III. . . .''
Office of Government Ethics' Review of the Attorney
General's Financial Disclosure. Senate Governmental Affairs
Committee Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management.
Hearing. July 9, 1987. ``Hearing . . . to consider the
adequacy of Attorney General Edwin Meese III compliance . . .
regarding financial disclosure reports of executive
personnel.''
1989
Trading on Position and Conflict of Interest by Former HUD
Official. House Government Operations Committee Subcommittee
on Employment and Housing. Hearing. April 26, 1989.
Examination of possible violations of conflict of interest
provisions of Ethics in Government Act by former HUD
Assistant Secretary June Koch, specifically relating to ``. .
. her establishment of a consulting firm to represent U.S.
business in the Soviet Union while acting as a consultant to
HUD on U.S.-Soviet housing and construction trade.''
Trading on Position and Conflict of Interest by Former HUD
Assistant Secretary June Koch. House Government Operations
Committee Subcommittee on Employment and Housing. ``. . .
[R]eport, based on April 26, 1989 hearing and GAO
investigation.'' November 17, 1989. See above.
1990
Department of Justice Oversight Hearing. Senate Judiciary
Committee. Hearing. July 26, 1988. ``Hearing to review the
Mar. 29, 1988 resignations of two senior Department of
Justice officials during the independent counsel
investigation of Attorney General Edwin Meese III.''
Testimony and exhibits concerned ``. . . [d]etails of Meese
relationship with Attorney E. Robert Wallach, including
possible role of Meese in securing Government contracts for
Wedtech Corp. . . .''
Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association, Part 1.
House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee. Hearing.
May 23, 1990. ``Perspectives on Silverado failure;
clarification of Neil Bush business relations with real
estate developers . . . focusing on possible conflict of
interest problems. . . .''
1991
No relevant items found.
1992
``October Surprise'' Allegations and the Circumstances
Surrounding the Release of the American Hostages Held in
Iran. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Report. November
19, 1992. ``. . . [F]indings of investigation of `October
Surprise' allegations that Ronald Reagan campaign aides
negotiated an Oct. 1980 secret agreement with the Iranian
Government assuring Iran of future arms sales by the Reagan
administration if Iran would delay the release of U.S.
hostages held in Iran until after the Nov. 1980 Presidential
election in order to assist in Reagan defeat of incumbent
President Jimmy Carter.''
Joint Report of the Task Force to Investigate Certain
Allegations Concerning the Holding of American Hostages by
Iran in 1980 (``October Surprise Task Force''). House Report.
January 3, 1993. Same subject as above.
Clean Air Act Implementation (Part 2). House Energy and
Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health and the
Environment. Hearings. November 14, December 10, 1991,
February 7, 1992. ``This volume focuses on allegations of
interference in the rulemaking process by the Council on
Competitiveness chaired by Vice President Dan Quayle.''
Review Allegations of Misconduct or Wrongdoing on the Part
of Certain Individuals Associated With the Christopher
Columbus Quincentenary Commission. House Post Office and
Civil Service Committee Subcommittee on Census and
Population. Hearings. November 20, 21, 1991. Investigation
and review of a range of alleged ethical transgressions by
officials of the Quincentenary Commission.
Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I know there is talk about, ``Well, we can't
do this because of Iran-Contra,'' but there were a lot of speeches made
on this floor in 1991, one by now Vice President, then Senator, Al
Gore, who said, with reference to the 1980 October Surprise:
The evidence which has thus far trickled into the public
domain is still fragmentary. Much of it is circumstantial,
but it is compelling. If the allegations are not true, the
country needs to know they are not true. If they are true,
the country needs to know that as well. * * *
I believe the air needs to be cleared. * * * So, I am today
calling for a formal investigation of these charges and
allegations without prejudging what that investigation might
find, but believing deeply that it needs to take place in
order to establish the truth or falsehood of the allegations
that have been made.
That was all about a bunch of rumors and some guy named Gary Sick who
came down here and convinced Democrats that we ought to have a hearing
on whether or not President Reagan was engaged in some kind of
conspiracy back in 1980 with reference to hostages.
We had hearings on that. Nobody said, ``Oh, we can't do that because
of Iran Contra,'' or whatever, because of what Mr. Fiske or Mr. Walsh
may have said.
So, we can all be quoted. I notice that the Democrat National
Committee said in 1973, I believe, that I wanted to stop the Watergate
hearing. Well, I dug out that speech. We were not trying to stop the
hearings. In fact, I think we were suggesting that they were probably a
good thing to have. We were just trying to stop the live coverage so we
could do other things. We are not asking for live coverage. We were not
trying to keep out the press. We just thought live coverage day after
day after day was not necessary.
So we think a case will be made, and I hope that we could have some
response soon.
I reserve the remainder of my time.
____________________