    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [May 25, 1993]
    [Pages 733-734]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters on the White House Travel Office
    May 25, 1993

        Q. Mr. President, are you upset by this whole Travel Office mess?
    And who's responsible for it, sir?
        The President. Well, ultimately, anything that happens in the White
    House is the responsibility of the President. And whenever you've asked
    me a question, I've told you all I knew about it. All I knew was there
    was a plan to cut the size of the office, save tax dollars, save the
    press money. I talked to Mr. McLarty about it this

    [[Page 734]]

    morning. I said, you know, I keep reading this; I know that there is a
    feeling at least, based on what I've read, that someone in the White
    House may have done something that was inappropriate or that wasn't
    quite handled right or something. Mack and I talked about it today. He
    said he would spend some real time on and look into it, try to ascertain
    exactly what happened, make a full report to me, which I think is the
    appropriate thing to do. I simply can't tell you that I know something I
    don't. I literally don't know anything other than what I've told you.
    He's looking into it now. He's worked on it quite a bit today. And he's
    going to make a report to me, and then we will take appropriate steps,
    including saying whatever's appropriate to you.
        Q. Do you think that the White House approached the FBI improperly
    in this case?
        The President. I don't have any reason to believe that. I mean, for
    example, there are lots of cases where, historically, as nearly as we
    can determine, the White House, if something happened within the White
    House, might ask the FBI to look into it. So I don't know that. I don't
    know that. And I don't have an opinion yet. I have to wait. Mack agreed
    that he needed to really make sure that he had all the facts down; he
    needed to know exactly what had happened; he needed to report to me. I
    said, ``Look, this is just a simple case. Let's just follow the do-right
    rule here, make up your own mind, get the facts, see what you think
    happened, let me know, and we'll tell the public.'' I mean, there's
    nothing funny going on here. We really were just trying to save money
    for everybody. That was the only thing I was ever asked about
    personally. And I don't believe that anybody else had any other motives
    that I know about. And so I asked him to look into it. When we know
    more, we'll be glad to say more.
        Q. What about Dole saying it has a tinge of Watergate?
        The President. There's none of that because, you know, there's
    nothing like that going on. There's no--no.
        Q. Don't you think----
        Q. [Inaudible]
        The President. We're on top of it. We'll----
        Q. Don't you think a lot of people were hurt by the way it was
    handled?
        The President. Well, the question is whether the people that were
    hurt did anything to merit it. We'll just have to see. I mean, I want to
    get a report, and then I will be glad to tell you whatever I know. But
    let me find out----
        Q. [Inaudible]
        The President. All those decisions have been made by Mack. We talked
    yesterday. We talked again this morning. He said, ``Look, I just want to
    get on top of this. I'll tell you exactly what happened. I'll tell you
    what I think.'' So I'm waiting for a report. And I don't think I should
    say anything else until I know more.

    Note: The exchange began at 5:43 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this
    exchange.