[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 186 (Monday, November 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       VINCE FOSTER INVESTIGATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, over the past couple of years I 
and some of my colleagues and some staff people have been doing an 
investigation into the death of Vince Foster who was found at Fort 
Marcy Park a year ago July. It was in 1993, 2 years ago in July. And 
over the past couple of years we have researched, we have looked into 
the Fiske report.
  We have gone out to Fort Marcy Park. We have talked to numerous 
people who were witnesses or not witnesses to his death but were at 
Fort Marcy Park and we found some startling things. One of things that 
has really bothered a number of us in the past couple of months is that 
we found out, when we looked at the report that was filed by the FBI, 
that there is some severe inconsistencies.
  The man who found Vince Foster's body, who was called the 
confidential witness, was alleged to have said in the FBI report that 
when he found Vince Foster's body he looked directly into the face, 
specifically observing that the eyes of his body were partially open 
and slightly glazed and that traces of dry black blood were running 
from the side of the mouth and nose down the right side of his face.
  When I talked to the confidential witness, he swore under oath before 
a court reporter that there was no blood on the side of the man's face. 
You might say that might be just a mistake. But the report went on, he 
further advised that there were traces of blood stains on the shirt to 
include the upper right shoulder area, along with traces of what he 
considered to be vomit or spilled wine, possibly purplish in color. He 
says there was no blood on his shirt, that there was no blood on the 
side of his face and no blood on his shirt, and he told the FBI that. 
Yet the FBI put in a report that there was blood on the side of his 
face and on his shirt.
  Another part of the report says, he further maintained, this is the 
FBI saying this, he further maintained that he was fixated on the face 
of the body and did not pay specific attention to body extremities, 
including the hand. In this regard, he advised he could not remember 
the exact position of the thumb, stating that while he did not observe 
a gun, there could have been a gun in his hands.
  When this was read to the confidential witness, he went into orbit. 
He said there is absolutely no question whatsoever that I say the hands 
clearly, the thumbs were out, the palms were up and there was no gun in 
the hands. He said, I was right there. I looked right down in his face, 
no further than 18 inches from the body. So the FBI, according to him, 
misstated that.
  Now you would say if that was the only problem with the investigation 
by the FBI, that they may have just made some mistakes, even though 
there is some glaring ones here.
  Then we ran into another witness who was out at the park that same 
day and an hour earlier. That fellow, when he was there, his name was 
Patrick Knowlton. He said that when he went into the park he saw a car, 
a brown car with Arkansas plates, and it was a Honda and that it was an 
older model.
  Yet in the FBI report they say it is a light blue car with Virginia 
plates. He said, I never said that. I said it was a dark brown car with 
Arkansas plates and they put it down as a Virginia car with Virginia 
plates and it is light blue.
  He also saw some suspicious people in another car who were doing some 
things there and they may have been involved in the Foster case. And he 
said, in the report according to the FBI, he could not further identify 
this particular individual nor his attire and stated that he would be 
unable to recognize him in the future. He said that is an absolute lie, 
because I told the FBI agent specifically I not only could identify 
him, I could draw a picture of the guy because I would never forget his 
face. Yet the FBI says he could not identify the gentleman.

  Then we go back to the confidential witness. There is another part of 
the report that says, and the possibility does exist that there was a 
gun in or near his hands that he might have seen. The confidential 
witness said that is an absolute lie.
  Now, another lady drove up near the park and her car broke down, and 
it was a Mercedes. When she went into the park to try to find help, she 
sighted two cars and in her report to the FBI she states the cars were 
of different color than what she said. She has been contacted.
  The interesting thing about all of this is the two FBI agents that 
did the investigation, gentlemen named Larry Monroe and Bill Colombell. 
All three of these people say that the report that they gave to the 
Fiske Commission was wrong, that it was lies.
  If one of them was a lie or a mistake, you could understand it or if 
two of them. But three, these people interviewed three people and there 
are glaring misrepresentations in these reports.
  I have said to the chairman of the Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight here in the House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. 
Clinger], and to the gentleman from New Mexico [Mr. Schiff], who is 
also looking into this for the Speaker, that we ought to have those FBI 
agents come in and explain these inequities and inconsistencies, these 
inconsistencies in this report, because according to the witnesses who 
found the body, according to the witnesses who were there, according to 
the witnesses who saw the cars and the people involved, they say these 
are out and out lies in these reports.
  If the FBI lied to Mr. Fiske or if they were asked to lie to Mr. 
Fiske, that is a breach of faith. It is something that has misled the 
American people as to whether or not this may have been a suicide 
someplace else or maybe even a murder. These things need to be brought 
to the attention of the American people.
  We have, I believe, Mr. Starr, the special counsel or prosecutor, who 
has been looking into this. it has been brought to his attention. I 
hope he pursues this and finds out why these FBI agents did not write 
the report the way the people who found the body and the way the people 
who were at the park saw it. I think he should ask those FBI agents 
directly, why did you misrepresent these things in this report?
  In addition to that, I believe it is incumbent upon the Congress of 
the United States and our committee to call these FBI agents in and go 
ask them directly face to face why these things are inaccurate.

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