[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            FINAL REPORT ON THE DEATH OF VINCENT FOSTER, JR.

  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. This morning, Robert B. 
Fiske, Jr., the independent counsel for the Whitewater matter has 
issued a final report as it relates to the death of White House Deputy 
Counsel, Vince Foster, Jr.
  As we all know, there has been much speculation as to the cause of 
Mr. Foster's unfortunate death, and Mr. Fiske's report this morning, I 
think, should end, now and forevermore, all speculation, rumor, and 
innuendo as to the actual cause of this fine man's death.
  Mr. President, a statement was issued this morning indicating that 
the Washington, DC, office of the independent counsel has completed two 
separate investigations. I will quote a few paragraphs from this 
particular investigation as handed down by Mr. Fiske this morning.

       1. An investigation to determine whether the cause of the 
     death of Vincent Foster, Jr. was a suicide or a homicide, and 
     if it was a suicide, whether any matter related to the 
     Clintons' involvement in the Whitewater Development Company 
     (Whitewater), Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan (Madison 
     Guaranty), or Capital Management Service (CMS), played any 
     role in his death.

  Mr. President, I will skip the next two paragraphs and quote again.

       We announce today the results of the 2 completed 
     investigations. We are satisfied that all of the issues 
     involved in these investigations have been fully and 
     thoroughly investigated.
       In total, attorneys from this office and agents of the 
     Federal Bureau of Investigation questioned 188 persons and 
     reviewed and analyzed thousands of documents. Other 
     investigative steps were also undertaken.
       I am extremely grateful for the commitment and effort of 
     the lawyers on my staff in Washington; Roderick C. Lankler, 
     Mark J. Stein, and Carl J. Stich, Jr., and the FBI agents who 
     have worked with us.

  Mr. President, let me conclude with this paragraph, once again 
quoting from the official investigation.

       At this time we are issuing a complete report on the death 
     of Vincent Foster.

  Mr. President, this is that complete report. It is voluminous. It is 
filled with the statements of the individuals interviewed in the 
Vincent Foster case. I will not put this entire matter into the Record, 
Mr. President, but I will momentarily ask unanimous consent to place a 
summary in the Record at the ending of my statement. Quoting again:

       This report concludes that on July 20, 1993, Mr. Foster 
     committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park, Fairfax County, 
     Virginia. The report lists a number of factors that may have 
     contributed to his suicide. It finds no evidence that matters 
     relating to Whitewater, Madison Guaranty or CMS played any 
     role in his death.
       The investigation into Mr. Foster's death was not a grand 
     jury investigation. It consisted of interviews by attorneys 
     and FBI agents, working with this office, and of extensive 
     forensic and pathological laboratory analysis.
       Accordingly, there are no grand jury secrecy restrictions 
     on the public issuance of a full report and we are making 
     public such a report at this time. We will submit a copy of 
     this report to the division of the Court of Appeals for the 
     District of Columbia referred to in title 28, United States 
     Code, section 49, as part of the report required by title 28, 
     Code of Federal Regulations, section 600-2(b)1.

  Mr. President, I would like to say on a personal matter that I truly 
believe that Mr. Fiske's report today concludes that the evidence 
overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that Mr. Foster committed 
suicide at Fort Marcy Park.
  Mr. Fiske concludes in his report and I do quote, ``There is no 
evidence to the contrary.''
  The conclusion, Mr. President, was endorsed by all participants in 
this investigation in this blue book which is the report of independent 
counsel, in re Vincent W. Foster, Jr., dated June 30, 1994.
  Mr. President, the special counsel found no evidence that issues 
involving Whitewater, Madison, Capital Management Services, or other 
personal legal matters of the President or Mrs. Clinton were a factor 
in Mr. Foster's suicide.
  Mr. Fiske also concluded that while in the weeks prior to his death 
certain matters were troubling him, ``We have learned of no 
instances''--and I am quoting, Mr. President--``in which Whitewater, 
Madison Guaranty, CMS, or other possible legal matters of the Clintons 
were mentioned.''
  In conclusion, Mr. President, let me state that I think that the 
Vincent Foster matter should serve as a constant reminder of the 
excesses of the rumor mill and innuendo and those who wish to spread 
half truths and untruths. It is not just the duty and the obligation of 
public officials to the truth, it is the obligation, Mr. President, of 
every citizen to respect and to help retain the character and not to 
taint the character of those individuals by spreading falsehoods and 
perpetrate innuendos and rumors.
  We have reached a point in our society where there is almost no 
restraint in this regard, to pass on these falsehoods and to attempt in 
every way that we can to perpetuate these falsehoods until they become 
a matter of fact.
  Mr. President, all I can say is thank God, thank God that there was 
an official investigation to clear up this matter of the late Vincent 
Foster, Jr. I wonder what it would be like, Mr. President, had we kept 
on believing what some of the people on radio and television and in the 
news have stated. One claimed, and I quote, ``That Vincent Foster was 
murdered in an apartment owned by Hillary Clinton.'' That was noted in 
Newsweek, March 21, 1994, quoting an individual on the radio. There was 
a newsletter that said that Mr. Foster died in a ``safe house in 
Virginia rather than in Fort Marcy Park.'' There was an evangelist on 
television who devoted a segment of his show to the Foster death. He 
asked, ``was there a murder of a White House counsel,'' to which he 
responded, and I quote, ``It looks more and more like that.'' This 
remark was quoted in the New York Times as recently as June 26, 1994.
  Once again, Mr. President, this case should serve as an example of 
what we should and should not do.
  Finally, let us pray that the family of Vincent Foster can now grieve 
in peace, and let us hope that Vincent Foster will now be left to rest 
in peace.
  I thank the Chair.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  There being no objection, the summary was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Statement on Washington, DC, Investigations, June 30, 1994

       The Washington, DC Office of the Independent Counsel has 
     completed two separate investigations:
       (1) An investigation to determine whether the cause of the 
     death of Vincent W. Foster, Jr. was a suicide or a homicide, 
     and if it was a suicide, whether any matter related to the 
     Clintons' involvement in the Whitewater Development Company 
     (``Whitewater''), Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan 
     (``Madison Guaranty'') or Capital Management Services 
     (``CMS'') played any role in his death; and
       (2) An investigation to determine whether a criminal 
     prosecution should be brought against anyone for obstruction 
     of justice or a violation of any other federal statute for 
     conduct arising out of a series of meetings and other 
     contacts between White House and Treasury Department 
     officials from September 1993 through March 1994.
       A third investigation, to determine whether a criminal 
     prosecution should be brought against anyone for obstruction 
     of justice or a violation of any other federal statute for 
     conduct involving the handling of Mr. Foster's documents in 
     the White House immediately following his death, is in its 
     final stages and should be completed shortly.
       We announce today the results of the 2 completed 
     investigations. We are satisfied that all of the issues 
     involved in these investigations have been fully and 
     thorougly investigated. In total, attorneys from this Office 
     and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (``FBI'') 
     questioned 188 persons and reviewed and analyzed thousands of 
     documents. Other investigative steps were also undertaken.
       I am extremely grateful for the commitment and effort of 
     the lawyers on my staff in Washington; Roderick C. Lankler, 
     Mark J. Stein and Carl J. Stich, Jr., and the FBI agents who 
     have worked with us, which has enabled us to conduct and 
     complete these two investigations in a period of less than 
     four months.


                     the foster death investigation

       At this time, we are issuing a complete report on the death 
     of Vincent Foster. This report concludes that on July 20, 
     1993, Mr. Foster committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park, 
     Fairfax County, Virginia. The report lists a number of 
     factors that may have contributed to his suicide, and finds 
     no evidence that matters relating to Whitewater, Madison 
     Guaranty or CMS played any role in his death. The 
     investigation into Mr. Foster's death was not a grand jury 
     investigation. It consisted of interviews by attorneys and 
     FBI agents working with this Office, and of extensive 
     forensic and pathological laboratory analyses. Accordingly, 
     there are no grand jury secrecy restrictions on the public 
     issuance of a full report, and we are making public such a 
     report at this time.\1\ We will submit a copy of this report 
     to the division of the Court of Appeals for the District of 
     Columbia referred to in Title 28, United States Code, Section 
     49, as part of the report required by Title 28, Code of 
     Federal Regulations, Section 600.2(b)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     \1\Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 
     provides, in relevant part, ``(2) A grand juror, an 
     interpreter, a stenographer, an operator of a recording 
     device, a typist who transcribes recorded testimony, an 
     attorney for the government, or any person to whom disclosure 
     is made [pursuant to a specified exception] shall not 
     disclose matters occurring before the grand jury, except as 
     otherwise provided for in these rules. . . . A knowing 
     violation of Rule 6 may be punished as a contempt of court.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------


              white house/treasury contacts investigation

       On February 24, 1994 Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman 
     disclosed in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee 
     that he and Treasury General Counsel Jean Hanson had met with 
     members of the White House staff on the subject of the 
     Resolution Trust Corporation's (``RTC's'') investigation of 
     Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan (``Madison Guaranty''). In 
     the days and weeks that followed that testimony, disclosure 
     were made about additional meetings and contacts that 
     occurred from September 1993 through February 1994 between 
     Treasury representatives and White House staff on the subject 
     of Madison Guaranty. Following these disclosures, Members of 
     Congress, the press and other individuals raised questions 
     about what occurred at these meetings and whether there was 
     any attempt by members of the Administration to improperly 
     influence the RTC investigation.
       As a result of these disclosures and the issues that arose 
     from them, this Office conducted a grand jury investigation 
     to determine whether any Government official did anything 
     during or following these contacts that amounted to 
     obstruction of justice under the federal criminal laws.
       The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether 
     the evidence established that any of those contacts, viewed 
     individually or collectively, amounted to a violation of law 
     by anyone involved. A total of more than twenty different 
     contacts, either face-to-face meetings or telephone 
     conversations, were investigated. The investigation focused 
     on whether in the course of any of these contacts, any 
     individual obstructed justice, attempted to obstruct justice, 
     or conspired with others to obstruct justice, as defined in 
     Title 18, United States Code, Section 1505. That section 
     provides, in pertinent part:
       ``Whoever corruptly * * * influences, obstructs, or impedes 
     or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede the due and 
     proper administration of the law under which any pending 
     proceeding is being had before any department or agency of 
     the United States * * * [s]hall be fined not more than $5,000 
     or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.''
       After a review of all the evidence, we have concluded that 
     the evidence is insufficient to establish that anyone within 
     the White House or the Department of the Treasury acted with 
     the intent to corruptly influence an RTC investigation. 
     Therefore, the evidence of the events surrounding the 
     contacts between the White House and the Treasury Department 
     does not justify the prosecution of anyone for a violation of 
     Section 1505. We have also concluded that the evidence does 
     not justify a criminal prosecution for violation of any other 
     federal statute.
       Because this investigation was conducted almost entirely 
     through the use of a federal grand jury sitting in the 
     District of Columbia, we are precluded by Rule 6(e) of the 
     Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure from publicly disclosing 
     anything more than the results of the investigation. We will 
     submit a full report of this investigation to the Division of 
     the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia referred to 
     in Title 28, United States Code, Section 49, pursuant to 
     Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 600.2(b)(1).
       In reaching this conclusion, this Office is not determining 
     anything other than that the evidence does not justify a 
     criminal prosecution. We express no opinion on the propriety 
     of these meetings or whether anything that occurred at these 
     meetings constitutes a breach of ethical rules or standards. 
     Prior to the issuance of our grand jury subpoenas, Secretary 
     of the Treasury Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. had asked the Office of 
     Government Ethics (``OGE'') to conduct an investigation into 
     these meetings. That investigation was suspended, at our 
     request, when we began our investigation. We have advised 
     Secretary Bentsen that we have completed our investigation, 
     and we understand that the OGE investigation will now go 
     forward.
                                            Robert B. Fiske,  Jr.,
                                              Independent Counsel.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair recognizes the Senator from 
Arkansas.

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