July 29, 1994 - Part 3
July 29, 1994 - Part 3
(12:53:54) (Beginning of tape #10053) is of an intense media interest, at the particular time Mr. Foster was going through this depression, the spring and summer of 1993, it was not a media interest and was not according to our investigation, an interest of White House officials. Senator BOXER. But my question was simply do you feel you did a thorough enough investigation of this connection, of this possible connection? Mr. MONROE. Yes, ma'am. Senator BOXER- Or do you think you need to do more of an investigation? Mr. MONROE. No. I believe that we've done a thorough investigation. 49 The CHAIRMAN. Senator D'Amato. Senator D'AMATO, Mr. Monroe, on the day that Vince Foster took his own life, a search warrant obtained for David Hale's office in Arkansas, I believe, was issued; is that correct? Mr. MONROE. That's correct. Senator D'AMATO. Do you know when the paperwork for that search warrant was undertaken and how long it took? Did you interview people in the U.S, Attorney's Office to ascertain how long that took? Mr. MONROE. I'm not familiar with exactly how long it took, Senator. Senator D'AMATO. Did you interview people down there to see if there was any leak as it relates to that information being put out? Mr. MoNTRoE. I don't recall, Senator, how many people we interviewed but we uncovered no evidence to the effect that Mr. Foster was aware of the issuance of that particular search warrant. Senator D'AMATO. Mr. Hale's attorney called the White House or called Mr. Foster. There was some talk about that. If you have any information, I'd like to know about it. Mr. MONROE. I do not, Senator. Senator DAMATO, Has that been looked into? Mr. MONROE. Yes, sir. Senator D'AMATO, And we have no information with regard to that call from Mr. Hale's attorney? Mr. MONROE. I have no information in our investigation that there was any contact between Mr. Hale and Mr. Foster, Senator. (12:55:40) Senator DAMATO. Let me ask this.- There's a question about the manner Mr. MONROE. Senator, excuse me. There were two parts to that. Of course, the search warrant was issued, as you know, sir, on July 20, but the warrant was not effected until July 21, which would have been the day after his death, sir. Senator D'AMATO. The question is would that have come to anybody's knowledge? Did he get a phone call from Mr. Hale's lawyer? I don't know. Did the FBI ever attempt The CHAIRMAN. Do you want to answer that question? Mr. MoNRoE. Yes, I would, Senator. We have no information or evidence that Mr. Foster received any telephone call Senator DAMATO. Did any White House personnel get a phone call from Mr. Hale's lawyer. Mr. MONROE. I'm not aware of that, sir, but, of course, we are still continuing the investigation as to the follow-up in the White House after Mr. Foster's death, sir. Senator DAMAT0. You'll let us know, then? Mr. MONROE. Absolutely. Senator DAMATO, I'll leave that an open question. Did the FBI ever attempt to determine what time Mr. Foster de parted the White House and do we know if the Secret Service keeps a vehicle exit log? Mr. MONROE. Sir , of our information right now suggests that Mr. Foster departed the White House on July 20 at approximately 1 p.m. Whether or not that departure time was based on interviews or a log by the Secret Service, I am not aware of that, sir, but we know that he left about that at time. 50 We were unable to do that Senator D'AMATO, Would you be able-I mean, this investigation, as it relates to the circumstances surrounding Mr. Foster's death ' wouldn't you look at the vehicle departure log to determine what time be may have left? Is that a routine thing? Mr. COLOMBELL. Senator, I don't believe the vehicle was logged out of the White House. I don't believe it was parked in an area where it would have been logged out of the White House. We confirmed that be left around 1 to 1:15 p.m. I can assure you that I personally and a number of other agents made every effort to try to determine his activities after that point in time up, until the point in time that his body was discovered at Fort Marcy Park. We had witnesses who possibly might have placed him at the park at an earlier time. (12:58:24)(End of tape #10052) But because of the passage of time we could not confirm through interview of those witnesses that that was, in fact, Mr. Foster's car that was observed going into the park at an earlier point in the day The CHAIRMAN. Could you pull the mike a little closer for any further responses. Thank you. Mr. COLOMBELL. Certainly, Senator. Senator D'AmATO, Although it's not mentioned in the report of the Independent Counsel, a pager was found on Mr. Foster in Fort Marcy Park. The record also shows that the Secret Service arranged to remove the pager from the Park Police custody the night of Oster's death before any analysis of the pager could be done by Park Police investigators to see whether any numbers were retained in the pager's memory. Do you 'know why the pager was recovered so quickly by the White House after the death of Mr. Foster? Could the pager have contained some numbers called in previously? Did you learn if usual Park-was this the usual Park Police---procedures were followed or were they circumvented? Mr. COLOMBELL. Our investigation confirmed that there bad been pages that went out to Mr. Foster from staff members of the White House, and I stand corrected, but I believe it was either Mr. Nussbaum or members of his office that might have attempted to page him. I would like to-rather than provide information that I'm not absolutely sure of-provide ythe Committee with a supplemental follow-up on information that might be pertinent with regard to that question, Senator.