July 29, 1994 - Part 3
July 29, 1994 - Part 3
(13:10:15) Depositions were scheduled for Tuesday, July 26, 1994, to conduct simple telephone interviews of members of the U.S. Attorney's Office. We had been advised in preparation that one of the witnesses said there was a reporter from The New York Times who said be bad a source in the Little Rock U.S. Attorney's Office. We wanted to inquire whether any of these people might have been contacted or might have had knowledge of that. When we were notified at the last moment-after the court reporter had been sent to the office, after the representative of the Department of Justice bad been sent there--that there was some problem. There was a delay. All of a sudden, the depositions were beyond the scope of the Senate bearings. The depositions were not Allowed to go forward and finally at 3:45 p.m., on Tuesday afternoon, Minority Counsel was informed that the depositions could not be taken. Mr. Chairman, this raises questions as to why the depositions "Were not allowed, after you and the Ranking Member had agreed we should be able to take these depositions by telephone, and the Department of Justice bad concurred and sent a representative to Little Rock and even arranged for a court reporter. I will provide a full account of this incident, because in the investigation of this matter we continue to run into areas where all of a sudden normal investi ative channels are precluded. We're very much concerned as to why these telephone depositions could not go forward. I would 54 urge you, as part of your investigative responsibility, to pursue questions as to what people in the U.S. Attorney's Office might have known and who might they have contacted. I have other questions, but Mr. Chairman, I will submit this interview with Mr. Fletcher Jackson for the record. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, we will make it part of the record. Mr, MONROE. Can I respond to the Senator? While I'm not aware of the problems you've described of the telephone deposition, let me assure you, sir, that we will supply to you the interviews of all the people that were contacted relative to the issuance of that search warrant, sir. Senator BOND. I appreciate that, Mr. Chairman. And my own great concern is-if it was a normal course of interviews, why our interviews scheduled for Tuesday were not permitted to go forward, The CHAIRMAN. Let me examine that question, but in response to the earlier question you've raised as to the assurance you've asked for from these other individuals that there was no leakage of this information Mr. Monroe has offered to nail that down, as I understand it, and so that will be done. Mr. MONROE. That's correct, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. As you sit here today, having reviewed this previous load, your testimony is that you found no evidence, you and Mr. Colombell found no evidence, whatsoever that this information did get out? Mr. MONROE. That's correct. The CHAIRMAN. That's where it stands today and you're going to go ahead and answer those questions that Senator Bond has just posed in that area. Mr. MONROE. That's correct, Senator. Senator BOND. Mr. Chairman, just to be clear, this interview with Fletcher Jackson is the only interview that has come to Mr. Monroe's attention. Thus, is this the only interview that was submitted to the Independence Counsel's Office in preparation of the report? Mr. MoNROE. No, sir, there are other interviews. I just don't know bow many or who they are, pertaining to this particular matter Senator BOND, To the U.S. Attorney's Office? Mr. MONROE. I'm not sure. Senator BOND. There are other interviews, yes. We have other interviews of Mr. Buck, Mr. Rather, Mr. Lyons, but are there other interviews that you have? Mr. MONROE. I'm not familiar with exactly who was interviewed relative to this issue as to whether there were other people in the U.S. Attorney's Office. But we can make available to you all of the people who were contacted or interviewed regarding this matter, Senator. Senator BOND. Would you have not submitted to us other interviews of the U.S. Attorney's Office if they were in our possession? Mr. MONROE. I guess they should have been, Senator. I'm not aware of that aspect of the investigation.