Advanced Search
August 2, 1994 - Part 1
(10:55:11) The CHAIRMAN. Senator Shelby, I don't want to be arbitrary in cutting you off, but we're holding everybody to the time limit. This is important and we'll come back to it. Senator SHELBY. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Mack. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR CONNIE MACK Senator MACK Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Steiner, I want to just continue on with a question or two. This goes back to the recusal discussion earlier. I think you were asked, a few minutes ago, why you recommended that Mr. Altman recuse himself. Mr. STEINER. That's correct. Senator MACK. I think what you said was something like the political pressure is going build. It would be better to do it now to as opposed to later. Is that close? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator, Senator MACK. Were there any other reasons, in your mind, as to why he should recuse himself? Mr. STEINER. Senator, I thought that in the absence of a recusal, it would open him to possible political accusations and I wanted to prevent those accusations from occurring. Senator MACK. What kind of political accusations? Mr. STEINER. The kind that we have seen recently, that he is somehow interfering or trying to protect people through his role as interim CEO of the-RTC. Senator MACK. So it was only the appearance that concerned you, is that correct? Mr. STEINER. Senator, Mr. Altman had made it very clear on numerous occasions, both to the Treasury staff and the RTC staff, that he wanted this case handled in identical fashion to all other cases. What that meant was that at no point did he anticipate making a decision about this case or being involved in the investigation. And in the event that a decision was brought to him, he planned to follow the advice of the General Counsel. Senator MACK. Again, your concerns were not things about confidentiality, about propriety, about conflicts of interest, it was the perception, from a political point of view, as to how it would be received? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator. As I said, Mr. Altman made it very clear that he wanted this case handled in an identical fashion. Senator MACK. I appreciate that. I just wanted to get a clear statement of what your thinking was. Mr. DeVore, I too wanted to welcome you back to the Senate, to this Committee. Calling our attention to the meeting you attended at the White House with Ms. Jean Hanson on October 14, 1993, it is my understanding that this was supposed to be a meeting to discuss press leaks, that is, stories that were likely to appear in the next few days on Madison. Is that correct? Mr. DEVORE. Senator, that wasn't my understanding. My understanding was that when I received the call from the reporter, and 345 I sent word out that the reporter had called me and what he told me, that it was a meeting convened primarily to listen to my account of what the reporter had to say. I was not aware of any stories that were imminent. Senator MACK. Did you set up the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Not in my recollection, I did not. Senator MACK. Do you have any idea who did? Mr. DEVORE. I do not. Senator MACK. This was a meeting then, to discuss a press inquiry? Mr. DEVORE. Let me not speak to the purpose of the meeting; let me speak only to why I thought I was going to the meeting. I thought I was going to the meeting to tell the White House something I didn't know the knew, and that is that this reporter for a major newspaper had a lot of information on an investigation being conducted by the RTC. Senator MACK. So you were surprised then at what you beard at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. There were one or two surprises, yes, sir. Senator MACK. What were those surprises? Mr. DEVORE. Well, one of the things I learned is that a couple of other reporters bad been talking to the White House about this matter. I had not been aware of that. Senator MACK. But you thought you were going there to give them information? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. Senator MACK. Do you remember who was at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. From the Treasury, it was Jean Hanson, Josh Steiner, and me. From the White House, it was Bernard Nussbaum, Bruce Lindsay, , Mark Geron, and there were some other people whose names I didn't know who were in and out of the meeting. Senator MACK. The point was that most of those people, as I understand it, were attorneys doesn't say anything about what the meeting was all about? Mr. DEVORE. I don't understand your question. Senator MACK. I was under the impression, frankly, that this was a meeting that was called for the purposes of discussing press inquiries. I bad just assumed that it was going to be a meeting of press types and was surprised when I saw the list of people who were there. It seemed like it was a group of attorneys.
Storms Lash Europe: wind And Floods Cause Wide Damage-+
Rains and winds of near-hurricane force sweep Europe from Scandinavia to Spain - the worst such storm in 75 years. The entire continent followed the news about a fight to save the freighter "Gertrude Luhrs". The vessel went ashore at Stade along the River Elbe and the crew battled for 12 days to save her. Salvage experts said it couldn t be done but the dedicated men safely floated their vessel. Ships docked at their berths because of the severity of the winter storm. A truck making its way through the flooded street. A flooded warehouse, packages floating in the water. A flooded building. Front door ripped off its door hinges. A tug boat "Goliath Hamburg" and cargo ship the "Gertrude Luhrs" ran a ground. High pressure hose cutting away the mud. The bow of the Gertrude Luhrs and men working around the clock to set her free from the mud and get her back into deep water by cutting a new channel beneath the ship. Man with a jack trying to lift up the bow of the ship. CU Faces of the men who worked to set the Gertrude Luhrs free as she start's to move as the tug, Goliath pulls her from her prison.
Ecuador & Galapagos Islands - Crab
(Tape One) Ghost crab, then quickly disappears sideways into hole, ditto 01:41:20 Crab with pitchers and arms full of wet sand, digging hole, another crab watches, scares away watcher 01:44:39 Crab digging hole, closer 01:46:10 Crab scurrying around picking up brown round objects and eating them, pretty cool 01:46:42 More digging, closer view
Galapagos Islands 2 - Floreana Island
(Tape One) Folks at barrel post office, Floreana Island, three women and one man stand around outdoors near two peaked roof mail boxes looking through letters, another man joins them
Galapagos Islands 2 - Flycatcher
(Tape One) Fly catcher sitting on thorny branch, flies off, on branch 01:48:10 Large billed fly catcher on sand, on rock
Galapagos Islands 2 - Sunrise at Rabida
(Tape One) Sunrise at Rabida, beautiful silhouette of the land against a stunning yellow sky and golden touched sea, closer and longer shots
Galapagos Islands 2 - Sea Lion
(Tape One) Sea lions laying in the sand and surf, tour ship anchored, zoom out
Galapagos Islands 2 - Ghost Crab
(Tape One) Ghost crab running, sand and rocks
Galapagos Islands 2 - Sea Lion
(Tape One) Sea lions playing in the water along shore, yacht coming into Galapagos Islands 01:50:48 LS of the yacht traveling, sea lions calling
Galapagos Islands 2 - Flycatcher
(Tape One) Large billed fly catcher on branch, various shots 01:52:20 Backview of fly catcher on tree branch, various other shots 01:53:44 Zoom into bird on stick, zoom out to show man holding the branch the bird is sitting on, shots of bird on different branches
Galapagos Islands 2 - Opuntia Cactus
(Tape One) MS of the yellow flower of an Opuntia cactus, tiny bees and ants on it, zoom out to show rest of cactus patch
Galapagos Islands 2 - Sea Lion
(Tape One) Sea lion sleeping with head bent back, he's in water, very strange
Galapagos Islands 2 - Flamingo
(Tape One) Flamingoes sleeping, in standing group
Galapagos Islands 2 - Lesser Yellowlegs
(Tape One) Lesser yellowlegs feeding, tide keeps washing over him
Galapagos Islands 2 - Brown Pelican
(Tape One) Brown pelican preening
Galapagos Islands 2 - Lava Gull
(Tape One) Lava gull on bow of ship, CU of preening feathers,
August 2, 1994 - Part 1
(10:55:11) The CHAIRMAN. Senator Shelby, I don't want to be arbitrary in cutting you off, but we're holding everybody to the time limit. This is important and we'll come back to it. Senator SHELBY. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Mack. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR CONNIE MACK Senator MACK Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Steiner, I want to just continue on with a question or two. This goes back to the recusal discussion earlier. I think you were asked, a few minutes ago, why you recommended that Mr. Altman recuse himself. Mr. STEINER. That's correct. Senator MACK. I think what you said was something like the political pressure is going build. It would be better to do it now to as opposed to later. Is that close? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator, Senator MACK. Were there any other reasons, in your mind, as to why he should recuse himself? Mr. STEINER. Senator, I thought that in the absence of a recusal, it would open him to possible political accusations and I wanted to prevent those accusations from occurring. Senator MACK. What kind of political accusations? Mr. STEINER. The kind that we have seen recently, that he is somehow interfering or trying to protect people through his role as interim CEO of the-RTC. Senator MACK. So it was only the appearance that concerned you, is that correct? Mr. STEINER. Senator, Mr. Altman had made it very clear on numerous occasions, both to the Treasury staff and the RTC staff, that he wanted this case handled in identical fashion to all other cases. What that meant was that at no point did he anticipate making a decision about this case or being involved in the investigation. And in the event that a decision was brought to him, he planned to follow the advice of the General Counsel. Senator MACK. Again, your concerns were not things about confidentiality, about propriety, about conflicts of interest, it was the perception, from a political point of view, as to how it would be received? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator. As I said, Mr. Altman made it very clear that he wanted this case handled in an identical fashion. Senator MACK. I appreciate that. I just wanted to get a clear statement of what your thinking was. Mr. DeVore, I too wanted to welcome you back to the Senate, to this Committee. Calling our attention to the meeting you attended at the White House with Ms. Jean Hanson on October 14, 1993, it is my understanding that this was supposed to be a meeting to discuss press leaks, that is, stories that were likely to appear in the next few days on Madison. Is that correct? Mr. DEVORE. Senator, that wasn't my understanding. My understanding was that when I received the call from the reporter, and 345 I sent word out that the reporter had called me and what he told me, that it was a meeting convened primarily to listen to my account of what the reporter had to say. I was not aware of any stories that were imminent. Senator MACK. Did you set up the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Not in my recollection, I did not. Senator MACK. Do you have any idea who did? Mr. DEVORE. I do not. Senator MACK. This was a meeting then, to discuss a press inquiry? Mr. DEVORE. Let me not speak to the purpose of the meeting; let me speak only to why I thought I was going to the meeting. I thought I was going to the meeting to tell the White House something I didn't know the knew, and that is that this reporter for a major newspaper had a lot of information on an investigation being conducted by the RTC. Senator MACK. So you were surprised then at what you beard at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. There were one or two surprises, yes, sir. Senator MACK. What were those surprises? Mr. DEVORE. Well, one of the things I learned is that a couple of other reporters bad been talking to the White House about this matter. I had not been aware of that. Senator MACK. But you thought you were going there to give them information? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. Senator MACK. Do you remember who was at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. From the Treasury, it was Jean Hanson, Josh Steiner, and me. From the White House, it was Bernard Nussbaum, Bruce Lindsay, , Mark Geron, and there were some other people whose names I didn't know who were in and out of the meeting. Senator MACK. The point was that most of those people, as I understand it, were attorneys doesn't say anything about what the meeting was all about? Mr. DEVORE. I don't understand your question. Senator MACK. I was under the impression, frankly, that this was a meeting that was called for the purposes of discussing press inquiries. I bad just assumed that it was going to be a meeting of press types and was surprised when I saw the list of people who were there. It seemed like it was a group of attorneys.
August 2, 1994 - Part 2
(10:55:00)(tape #10066 begins) a "tortured" day to describe the day? That was a tough day, was it not? 344 Mr. STEINER. It was a tough day, Senator, that's correct. (10:55:11) The CHAIRMAN. Senator Shelby, I don't want to be arbitrary in cutting you off, but we're holding everybody to the time limit. This is important and we'll come back to it. Senator SHELBY. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Mack. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR CONNIE MACK Senator MACK Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Steiner, I want to just continue on with a question or two. This goes back to the recusal discussion earlier. I think you were asked, a few minutes ago, why you recommended that Mr. Altman recuse himself. Mr. STEINER. That's correct. Senator MACK. I think what you said was something like the political pressure is going build. It would be better to do it now to as opposed to later. Is that close? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator, Senator MACK. Were there any other reasons, in your mind, as to why he should recuse himself? Mr. STEINER. Senator, I thought that in the absence of a recusal, it would open him to possible political accusations and I wanted to prevent those accusations from occurring. Senator MACK. What kind of political accusations? Mr. STEINER. The kind that we have seen recently, that he is somehow interfering or trying to protect people through his role as interim CEO of the-RTC. Senator MACK. So it was only the appearance that concerned you, is that correct? Mr. STEINER. Senator, Mr. Altman had made it very clear on numerous occasions, both to the Treasury staff and the RTC staff, that he wanted this case handled in identical fashion to all other cases. What that meant was that at no point did he anticipate making a decision about this case or being involved in the investigation. And in the event that a decision was brought to him, he planned to follow the advice of the General Counsel. Senator MACK. Again, your concerns were not things about confidentiality, about propriety, about conflicts of interest, it was the perception, from a political point of view, as to how it would be received? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator. As I said, Mr. Altman made it very clear that he wanted this case handled in an identical fashion. Senator MACK. I appreciate that. I just wanted to get a clear statement of what your thinking was. Mr. DeVore, I too wanted to welcome you back to the Senate, to this Committee. Calling our attention to the meeting you attended at the White House with Ms. Jean Hanson on October 14, 1993, it is my understanding that this was supposed to be a meeting to discuss press leaks, that is, stories that were likely to appear in the next few days on Madison. Is that correct? Mr. DEVORE. Senator, that wasn't my understanding. My understanding was that when I received the call from the reporter, and 345 I sent word out that the reporter had called me and what he told me, that it was a meeting convened primarily to listen to my account of what the reporter had to say. I was not aware of any stories that were imminent. Senator MACK. Did you set up the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Not in my recollection, I did not. Senator MACK. Do you have any idea who did? Mr. DEVORE. I do not. Senator MACK. This was a meeting then, to discuss a press inquiry? Mr. DEVORE. Let me not speak to the purpose of the meeting; let me speak only to why I thought I was going to the meeting. I thought I was going to the meeting to tell the White House something I didn't know the knew, and that is that this reporter for a major newspaper had a lot of information on an investigation being conducted by the RTC. Senator MACK. So you were surprised then at what you beard at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. There were one or two surprises, yes, sir. Senator MACK. What were those surprises? Mr. DEVORE. Well, one of the things I learned is that a couple of other reporters bad been talking to the White House about this matter. I had not been aware of that. Senator MACK. But you thought you were going there to give them information? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. Senator MACK. Do you remember who was at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. From the Treasury, it was Jean Hanson, Josh Steiner, and me. From the White House, it was Bernard Nussbaum, Bruce Lindsay, , Mark Geron, and there were some other people whose names I didn't know who were in and out of the meeting. Senator MACK. The point was that most of those people, as I understand it, were attorneys doesn't say anything about what the meeting was all about? Mr. DEVORE. I don't understand your question. Senator MACK. I was under the impression, frankly, that this was a meeting that was called for the purposes of discussing press inquiries. I bad just assumed that it was going to be a meeting of press types and was surprised when I saw the list of people who were there. It seemed like it was a group of attorneys.
Yellow-Bellied Marmots
01:00:03 Two yellow-bellied marmots fat for hiberation 01:00:29 Marmots feeding 01:00:41 Marmots on rock 01:00:52 Marmots feeding 01:01:34 Marmots sitting up right and eating 01:01:48 Marmots dashing in hole 01:01:55 Marmots feeding 01:02:17 Marmots going into den in rocks and then coming out PART TWO 01:02:42 Marmots, fat ready for hiberation 01:03:15 Marmots sitting errect 01:03:24 Marmot's right hind foot
13 Lined Ground Squirrel
(TAPE 1) 02:24:58 13-lined ground squirrel gathering seeds, pouch is full 13-lined gr. Squirrel cache seeds 13-lined gr. Squirrel standing erect 13-lined gr. Squirrel with pouches full 02:38:55 Gray squirrel in a knot hole
Muskrat
(TAPE 1) 02:40:22 Muskrat swimming with food to a den 02:40:49 Muskrat mother and young
Cottontail rabbits
(TAPE 1) Cottontail rabbits play and feed around metal garbage can.
Woodchuck
(TAPE 1) Baby woodchuck just out of its burrow
Cottontail Rabbits
(TAPE 1) 02:47:34 2 cottontail rabbits eating 02:51:10 1 cottontail rabbit grooming