[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        THE CLINTON WHITE HOUSE

                                 ______


                           HON. NEWT GINGRICH

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 24, 1994

  Mr. GINGRICH. Mr. Speaker, yesterday there was an article in the 
Washington Post, entitled ``The White House's Outside Insiders'', in 
which our colleague, Frank Wolf, made some excellent observations. I 
would like for all of my colleagues to take some time to read this 
article as it sums up the Clinton White House in a very accurate 
manner.

                   The White House's Outside Insiders

       Their paid employment includes working for corporations, 
     political candidates and even foreign political parties in 
     Greece and South Africa. One of them even managed to snag two 
     multimillion-dollar accounts on the North American Free Trade 
     Agreement and health care. But you can regularly find them at 
     1600 Pennsylvania Ave. working for their top client, Bill 
     Clinton.
       This team, which includes James Carville, Paul Begala, 
     Mandy Gunwald and Stan Greenberg, operates (with the approval 
     of the White House) without the restrictions that apply to 
     the rest of the White House staff. This policy gives them the 
     best of both worlds--constant access and policy input with no 
     limits or accountability on their finances or conflicts.
       Last week I offered an amendment to the FY '95 Treasury 
     appropriations bill to rein in this situation. The amendment 
     would require that these individuals, who have more influence 
     with the Clintons than many, if not most, senior staffers, 
     file the same financial disclosure information required of 
     their campaign colleague, George Stephanopoulos, for example. 
     The amendment is simply about accountability. The recent GAO 
     Travelgate report noted that the access that Hollywood 
     producer and Clinton friend Harry Thomason had to the White 
     House during the White House travel office debacle conveyed 
     ``the appearance of influence and authority . . . 
     unrestricted access of nongovernment employees creates an 
     opportunity for influence without the accountability.''
       No one is accusing these individuals of any wrongdoing; we 
     are just asking them to provide the same financial 
     information required of other senior advisers with 24-hour a 
     day White House access passes. I was disappointed that the 
     subcommittee failed to recognize that this issue is not a 
     partisan maneuver, but a responsible, good government action. 
     We are trying to make public policy to ensure public 
     accountability for this White House and any White House in 
     the future, whether occupied by a Democrat or a Republican.
       In recent news reports on these ``outside insiders,'' Chuck 
     Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity has said: ``You have 
     an adjunct kind of shadow government that is exploiting a 
     gray area. There is this yuppie arrogance: `We're the good 
     guys, don't bust our chops.''' Ellen Miller, the director of 
     the Center for Responsive Politics says, ``The fact that they 
     have a close relationship with the White House while 
     maintaining outside clients raises the specter of conflict of 
     interest.'' A Democratic activist identifies the bottom line: 
     ``People are buying a name and a connection.''
       The White House ensures that these individuals have been 
     advised on conflict matters. But why the secrecy? Mandy 
     Grunwald has said, ``We asked for information from the White 
     House and * * * governed us. . . .We found out there were 
     very few. So we decided to make our own rules.'' Why not 
     just follow the same rules an everyone else at the White 
     House instead of making up non-binding rules in secret?
       Furthermore, there may in fact be rules that do apply to 
     this situation, and they are not ``do your own thing'' 
     conflict rules. Title 18, United States Code, Section 202(a), 
     defines the term ``special Government employee'' as an 
     officer of employee of the executive or legislative branch of 
     the United States or of the District, who is ``retained, 
     designated, appointed, or employed to perform, with or 
     without compensation, for not to exceed one hundred and 
     thirty days. . . temporary duties either on a full-time or 
     intermittent basis.''
       Carville and friends could in fact, be special government 
     employees (if they work fewer than 130 days per year at the 
     White House) or regular government employees (if they work 
     more than 130 days). If they are regular government 
     employees, they are not allowed to earn outside income. The 
     White House argues that because these individuals have not 
     been formally appointed, the rules don't apply to them, and 
     the White House refuses to respond to inquires regarding how 
     many days these advisers work at the White House. Yet as the 
     statute clearly indicates, appointment is not dispositive.
       During Lloyd Cutler's previous Democratic administration, 
     the Carter Justice Department issued a memorandum opinion for 
     the attorney general stating that ``an identifiable act of 
     appointment may not be absolutely essential for an individual 
     to be regarded as an officer or employee in a particular case 
     where the parties omitted it for the purpose of avoiding the 
     application of the conflict of interest laws.''
       The significant criteria cited in the Carter era memo 
     regarding an individual's status as a special government 
     employee or regular government employee include: Is the 
     person's advice solicited frequently? Is it sought by one 
     official, who may be a personal friend, or impersonally by a 
     number of persons in the government agency that needs expert 
     counsel? Do meetings take place during office hours? Are they 
     conducted in the government office? The Office of Government 
     Ethics has stated that the status of an employee depends upon 
     ``the specific facts of if, and how, the White House 
     officially requested his services and for what purposes.''
       Thus far, the only guidance the White House has provided 
     about what these four do is the following broad statement: 
     ``whatever issues on which the president, the vice president, 
     the First Lady or members of their staffs request them to 
     consult.'' Given this broad portfolio, don't the American 
     people at least have a right to know the outside interests of 
     the ``outside insiders'' before they consult on ``whatever''?
       So far the White House has been short on the facts when 
     Congress has asked questions about these matters. Admittedly, 
     more information is needed to determine the actual status of 
     these advisers. I will continue to move this issue forward in 
     the House. As a top Democratic consultant stated in a 
     Business Week article. ``They should disclose their clients 
     and their fees . . . that's a common-sense way to avoid 
     potential problems in the '90's.''
       In addition, the status of these individuals as special 
     government employees or regular government employees heeds to 
     be determined based on facts--facts, thus far, the White 
     House has refused to disclose. Sunshine is the best 
     disinfectant to clean up this problem. This amendment could 
     very well reduce headaches for this and future 
     administrations. Those who claim to ``work hard and play by 
     the rules'' should have no problem with it.

                          ____________________