[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 25, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H6725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         BUCK DOES NOT STOP WITH CRAIG LIVINGSTONE ON FILEGATE

  (Mr. CHABOT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Speaker, the buck on Filegate does not stop with 
White House political hack Craig Livingstone, who is now being paid not 
to work. As William Safire has pointed out, the problem extends to a 
White House counsel's office bent on stonewalling. But the obstruction 
goes even higher. On May 9 President Clinton directed his counsel to 
invoke Executive privilege and thereby conceal certain documents, 
including the White House request for FBI files on Billy Dale, months 
after he was fired.
  Now, get that, Mr. Speaker. By his own admission, the President knew 
about the smoking gun document at least as early as May 9, when he 
invoked Executive privilege for the first time since Watergate, yet he 
did absolutely nothing at that point to surrender the improperly 
requested FBI files. They remained in the custody of the White House 
for weeks after that time.
  Of course, Mr. Speaker, there was no justification whatsoever for the 
assertion of Executive privilege with regard to the FBI file request. 
And although that document eventually was turned over to the Committee 
on Government Reform and Oversight, the President continues to assert 
the privilege with regard to some 2,000 additional documents.
  Mr. Speaker, the buck does not stop with Mr. Livingstone, not by a 
long shot.

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