July 29, 1994 - Part 3
July 29, 1994 - Part 3
(13:35:40) Senator MACK. I was thinking about his wallet, for example, since it was mentioned earlier. Mr. COLOMBELL. Could I possibly Senator MACK. Were the personal belongings under continuous control so you know all of the information contained there when it was finally turned over to you? Mr. COLOMBELL. Could I possibly assist in responding, Senator? Senator MACK, Sure. Mr. COLOMBELL. The Park Police are colleagues of ours that we work with frequently, they didn't have 20/20 hindsight and we didn't have 20/20 hindsight and we're being subjected to quite a bit of criticism with regard to our investigation, But I think the nature of your questions, the Park Police concluded fairly quickly, I would say a matter of 20 to 24 hours, that it was clearly a suicide and bad substantial evidence I believe, to support that conclusion and once they had reached that conclusion. I think some of the ques 61 tions that you're asking now could best be directed to them, but the Senator MACK. Mr. Colombell, I'm of the impression Senator DODD. Can I answer the question? Senator MACK. It's my time. You use your time the way you want to use it. Senator KERRY. Your time has expired. The CHAIRMAN. Go ahead, Senator Mack. Your time is up, but I think you should be allowed to complete this question, so do so. Mr. MONROE. Excuse me, Senator Mack., as Mr. Colombell said, the determination by the Park Police as to the cause of Mr. Foster's death was one that was made fairly quickly by the Park Police. Senator MACK. What time was that? Mr. MONROE. I can't recall, Obviously, it wasn't as long as the 31/2-4 months we took. Senator MACK. The issues I'm raising happened In the first 24 hours. Mr. MONROE. I can't tell you an exact time when that determina- tion was made. can say during our interviews that the Park Police insisted that the investigation be conducted as a homicide investigation as you would do in any equivocal death, sir, as you know, but the period of time- the time that they made a decision, I, don't know the exact time, but it wasn't too far past the time of death. And therefore, some of the evidence could very well have been returned to its owner which we probably wouldn't have done based on the hindsight that' we have right now, Senator. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Mack. I might say we will have the Park Police investigators here in the afternoon, so you'll be able to put those questions to them. Senator Kerry. Senator KERRY. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. You know, I mentioned in my opening about bow I thought it was really important that we don't sort of fantasize and not exaggerate or create things that don't exist here. We just spent a lot of time about this magical pager. It is a fact, is it not, Mr. Monroe, that the pager was found by the first investigator to arrive at the body to be turned off; is that accurate? Mr. MONROE. That is correct. Senator KERRY. And a turned-off pager doesn't receive messages? Mr. MONROE. It does not. Senator KERRY. I have one of the White House pagers right in front of me here. This precise pager, when turned off, cancels all messages, does it not? Mr. MONROE. I'm not aware whether or not it canceled all prior messages. KERRY. It does, just like Senate pagers, when 'you turn if off, you start anew when you turn it back on. Fairly fundamental I think. But the most important ingredient is when en Vincent Poster's body was found, the pager was off; is that accurate? Mr. MONROE. That's correct. Senator KERRY. With respect to the mystery of this potential leak, there's no allegation, is there, at this point, that anybody Made a leak with respect to Judge Hale; is that correct? Mr. MONROE. There is no indication of that whatsoever. 62 Senator KERRY. No evidence whatsoever that there was ever leak; is that accurate? Mr. MONROE. That's correct. Senator KERRY. And the procedure of the FBI when a warrant is signed is that the opposing attorney does not learn of the existence of a warrant until it is served?