[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 133 (Wednesday, September 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: September 21, 1994]
{time} 1750
ACTIVITIES OF THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stupak). Under a previous order of the
House, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] is recognized for 30
minutes.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, over the past several months I
have been talking about the activities of Bill Clinton and members of
his administration regarding Whitewater, Monroe Savings and Loan, their
relationships with other people who were involved in drug trafficking.
I think some of this bears repeating before I go into my special order
tonight.
One of the very close friends of President Clinton was a gentleman
named Dan Lasater. Mr. Lasater was an entrepreneur who started out in
Indiana, my home State, started a company called Ponderosa Steak
Houses. He went down and started an investment firm down in Little
Rock, AR. Mr. Lasater was a very big supporter of President Clinton
when he was running for Governor of Arkansas on several occasions. They
partied together, they flew around in Mr. Lasater's plane, they dined
together. They were very close friends.
Mr. Lasater received millions and millions of dollars in bond
contracts.
Mr. HANCOCK. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. HANCOCK. I wonder if they ever slept together on a hunting trip.
Maybe we got something going here.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I do not have any idea. But anyhow, Mr.
Lasater was a very close friend of the President's and was one of his
big financial supporters. Mr. Lasater was known to use cocaine and
distributed cocaine freely at many parties. And he was convicted,
convicted by the Arkansas authorities of trafficking in cocaine. He
received a prison sentence, and his prison sentence was partially
reduced. After he got out of prison, he was in a halfway house for a
few months, he was pardoned, exonerated by then-Governor Clinton, his
friend. During the time that he was incarcerated in this halfway
house--he really was not in a penitentiary, he was in a halfway house
most of the time--during the time he was incarcerated, a lady named
Patsy Thomasson, who is his chief financial officer, took over control
of his businesses, and she ran his businesses as the chief financial
officer while Mr. Lasater was away at prison. When he got out and was
pardoned by President Clinton, Ms. Thomasson continued to be the chief
financial officer of his companies, and she also became the chief
officer of what was called the Phoenix--the Phoenix Group. A subsidiary
of the Phoenix Group was the Phoenix Mortgage Co., and Mr. Lasater
became the president of the Phoenix Mortgage Co. So the relationship
between Patsy Thomasson, and Mr. Lasater, and Bill Clinton was of long
duration and continued even after he went to jail and was out. As a
matter of fact, Mr. Lasater paid an $8,000 drug debt, drug bill for
cocaine use that Bill Clinton's brother had incurred. So he paid off a
drug bill for Bill Clinton's brother. So there was a very close
relationship between the Clintons and Mr. Lasater.
Now, Patsy Thomasson, to give you some more background, my
colleagues, now is one of the chief officers at the White House. She is
the personnel director at the White House. She conducts, quote unquote,
the drug testing of personnel at the White House.
Now, yesterday the people of Albuquerque, NM, awoke to another tale
of corruption that may involve the President, President Clinton. The
front page of Tuesday's Albuquerque Journal reports that a joint
Federal/State narcotics investigation of the President's friend, Mr.
Dan Lasater, was called off before it was completed. A former Arkansas
State police investigator, J.N. ``Doc'' DeLaughter, told two Journal
investigative reporters that the investigation included Lasater, a
close friend of the President and high-dollar contributor to Mr.
Clinton's campaign, and the President's brother, Roger Clinton.
DeLaughter said the investigation was cut off prematurely for political
reasons.
The State police investigators say he briefed the Clinton-appointed
Arkansas State police director, Tommy Goodwin, twice by telephone about
the Lasater/Clinton investigation. On both occasions Tommy Goodwin, the
State police investigator, was using a phone in then Governor Clinton's
personal office. Mr. DeLaughter, who was then on the force, was not
sure whether or not Governor Clinton, now President Clinton, overheard
the conversations. But it is very clear that Governor Clinton, now
President Clinton, was very close to the Arkansas State Police
director, who was getting the information about the investigation.
DeLaughter said, and I quote, ``Moneys could have been seized and
planes could have been seized because we had evidence that cocaine was
being used on planes,'' used by Mr. Lasater. As I said before, Mr.
Lasater quite frequently flew then Governor Bill Clinton around in
these planes.
DeLaughter told the newspaper that he and another investigator were
barred from interviews with Lasater, Roger Clinton and another Lasater
associate. In other words, his superiors on the State police said,
``You can't go and investigate this.'' They stopped him cold in his
tracks. Eventually Lasater was convicted of possession and distribution
of cocaine, as I said before. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison
but served only 10 months, most of which was in a halfway house, before
being released on parole. Lasater was later paroled by his friend,
then-Governor Bill Clinton.
Now, right in the thick of all this is Patsy Thomasson, who is now
the personnel director at the White House. She took over the day-to-day
operations of the Lasater companies while Lasater was in prison. As I
speak to you tonight, she is responsible for the daily administration
of the Clinton White House.
The newspaper is careful to point out that there is no evidence to
support any indictment of Ms. Thomasson or establish a direct
connection between the illegal activity that led to the conviction of
Lasater and the President's brother.
Now harkening back to an earlier Washington scandal, one has to
wonder what did Ms. Thomasson know about the illegal activity which
surrounded her, and when did she realize that her boss, Lasater, was a
large-scale drug pusher?
The Albuquerque Journal found no one in that firm, no one in that
firm other than Ms. Thomasson, the chief financial officer, had any
doubt about what was going on in the Lasater companies. I quote the
newspaper's story:
Former Lasater employees interviewed by the FBI said they
left or joined the firm between 1982 and 1985 because of its
reputation for cocaine use.
As the chief financial officer for Lasater during that period, are we
to believe that Ms. Thomasson, now the chief personnel director at the
White House, had no clue about what was going on in the company? The
Albuquerque Journal reported that the FBI received sworn statements
from Lasater employees there--that were there at Christmas parties at
which cocaine was available in ashtrays. Cocaine was freely available
at Lasater Company outings in Lexington. KY, Hot Springs, AR and
elsewhere, according to Lasater employees. Reporters Dick Lynch and
Mike Gallagher quote Federal grand jury testimony which said that,
``Cocaine was served like hors d'oeuvres.'' But we are asked to believe
that the chief financial officer, even though everybody else in that
firm knew about it, knew nothing of this. And we are talking about Ms.
Thomasson. Ms. Thomasson, Patsy Thomasson, was a key player in the
Lasater operations.
The newspaper cites numerous public and court records which show her
as president of the various Lasater enterprises, including New Mexico's
Angel Fire Corp., which Lasater purchased in 1984 and sold in 1987.
Articles of incorporation show that Thomasson as an incorporator of the
Phoenix Group, which was the successor to Lasater & Co.
Records of the sale of Angel Fire in 1987 to a Texas investment
partnership bear Patsy Thomasson's signature. She was tied to Mr.
Lasater all the way through all of his operations. At the time of this
sale, the Customs Service and the FBI were busy investigating money
laundering and drug trafficking.
She signed the partnership agreement. The two agencies formed an
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and named Lasater as the
chief target of the probe. Pasty Thomasson was given power of attorney,
power of attorney by Mr. Lasater in January 1987 while he was in prison
and, surprisingly, appears to still be acting as a registered agent for
Lasater's Phoenix Mortgage Co.
Calls by the newspaper to Patsy Thomasson at the White House were not
returned. I understand Ms. Thomasson has taken leave of absense from
her position as the director of administration for the President. I
continue to be concerned about the President's association with people
like Mr. Lasater, pardoning him after he was convicted of dealing in
drugs, giving him $65 million, I believe, in State bonds during the
time he was being investigated and later indicted by the Arkansas State
Police and the Federal authorities for drug trafficking. I continue to
be concerned about his association, President Clinton's, with people
like Mr. Lasater and Ms. Thomasson. In the very limited hearings that
we had on Whitewater----
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will suspend for just a
moment.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. For what purpose, Mr. Speaker?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the gentleman suspend for a moment?
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Yes.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair must remind Members, all Members,
that it is a breach of order in debate to level personal innuendo at
the President of the United States.
{time} 1800
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Well, I do not believe I am saying anything
that is innuendo, Mr. Speaker. I think I am talking about what has been
reported in the media and is, in fact, publicized by the media all
across this country, and I would take issue with the Speaker by saying
that the President did pardon Mr. Lasater after he was convicted of
cocaine use. That is as a matter of fact, it is not innuendo, and for
the Speaker to interrupt my special order by saying I am inferring,
this is a misuse of the Speaker's power.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Stupak). The Chair is merely reminding
Members that it is improper during debate to level personal innuendo,
at the President, and the fact that others have already done so in the
media is not material to this rule of decorum.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I request that that be read back, Mr. Speaker,
so I could check that out.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman may proceed in order. The
purpose of the Chair's comment was to caution the gentleman against a
breach of order.
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I appreciate that, Mr. Speaker. I will proceed
and say:
If you find that I'm using innuendo instead of fact, I hope you will
remind me, but I don't think I have.
The fact of the matter is the President of the United States, Mr.
Clinton; fact, not innuendo; pardoned Mr. Lasater after he was
convicted of cocaine trafficking in Little Rock, AR, and during the
time that he was under investigation by the Arkansas State Police, the
Arkansas bonding agency down there gave Mr. Lasater, I think, I
believe, $65 million in State government contracts, and I think that is
something that is of great question by Members of this body and
deserves a full hearing in congressional hearings.
So, I do continue to be concerned about the President's association
with people like Mr. Lasater and Miss Thomasson. In the very limited
hearings on Whitewater which have been held so far, Mr. Speaker,
witness after witness told us what they did not know. I believe someone
at the White House does know the answer to many of these questions
which have been left unanswered.
I have taken the floor of this House many times over the past several
months during this session to raise questions about a number of
incidents connected to this White House. In every instance the Clinton
White House has not responded, and we need full congressional hearings
on many of these issues, not these limited parameters that are being
set by the Democrat leadership and the Democrat chairmen of these
committees which would limit us in our questioning of White House
employees and people who have relevant information to these questions.
When we had the Whitewater hearings, the members of the Committee on
Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs had 5 minutes to question 10 members
of the White House staff and get answers, not 5 minutes to question
each one of them, 5 minutes to question all 10 of them and get a
response. That in my opinion smacks of a whitewash and certainly was
not full congressional hearings.
The thing that bothers me is during the Reagan and Bush
administrations there were 23 full-blown hearings on everything from
Iran-Contra, to the October Surprise, to everything else, and something
as important as the Whitewater investigation is being swept under the
rug, and I believe for political purposes, and it is unfortunate.
Now the smoke is starting to clear around the Clinton White House. I
think the American people are not being fooled by a lot of this, and,
as Clinton loyalists continue to resign, the pattern of distortion is
continuing to change.
We need a full investigation of the President's association with Mr.
Lasater and Miss Thomasson. We need a full investigation of possible
obstruction of justice in the investigations of drug use and drug
trafficking by Mr. Lasater and the President's brother. And there are
other questions that need to be answered, like Mr. Vince Foster. We
still have not gotten all the answers concerning his mysterious death
and finding him at Fort Marcy Park.
So, Mr. Speaker, this is another in a series of special orders I will
be taking over the next few weeks until we adjourn, and, when we come
back in January, if we have not had an agreement by both the majority
and minority to have full-blown hearings on many of these issues
relating to Whitewater and other mysterious things that have been going
on, like the special order I took last night regarding two savings and
loan associations in the State of Illinois who had the Rose law firm
and Hillary Rodham Clinton representing the government in going after
Mr. Lasater himself at a time when they were friends, which smacks of a
conflict of interest, I am hopeful that we will be able to get a
bipartisan agreement so that we can actually have full-blown hearings
and get to the bottom of it. The questions need to be answered. If the
President and the White House has nothing to hide, then they should be
very happy to answer the questions that the Congress will raise at
these hearings.
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