July 29, 1994 - Part 3
July 29, 1994 - Part 3
(13:45:35) The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Senator KERRY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Faircloth is next in the order, Senator FAIRCLOTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The first question is to Special A gent Monroe. I notice there's &en a number of questions that you have not been able to answer. Do you know or could you tell me why Robert Fiske isn't here today to talk about the Fiske Report himself? Mr. MONROE. Let me respond to the first comment as to the questions I could not answer. I am able to answer, Senator with all due respect, those questions that pertain to bow did Mr. Foster 'die, what was the cause of his death, and did Whitewater play any role, sir. So with all due respect, I'm able to answer those questions to the best of my ability. The second question you asked as to Mr. Fiske not being here, and I do not know, but my sense is that was situation or an issue that Mr. Fiske dealt with with the Chairman as to his appearance. I would say that his not being here, with 'ill due respect also, should not be any indication of the leadership that he has exerted on this particular aspect of the Whitewater issue, Senator. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Thank you, Mr, Monroe, and I have several questions so the briefer you would be, the more I will be able to get to. Fiske claims because of scandals collectively known as Whitewater were used, there's no evidence Whitewater played any role ,in the depression that led to the suicide. Were you made aware before his death Vincent Foster had prepared and filed 3 years of delinquent tax returns for the Clinton's Whitewater partnership? MONROE. I was not personally aware of that. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Well, be did file 3 years delinquent tax re- Mr. MONROE. Thank you, sir. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Are you also aware Foster bad finished the work to place the Clintons' assets into a blind trust? 64 Mr, MONROE. Yes, I was aware of that, sir, but his responsibility there, to the best of my knowledge, was simply as an intermediary to get the President to sign a form, That was being handled by another party. Senator FAIRCLOTH. In 1992, the Whitewater issue surfaced in the Clinton Presidential campaign and the Clintons hired an attorney who, of course, cleared them of any wrong. Later Whitewater resurfaced in the so- called Lyons report and was thoroughly discredited. Are you aware of the Whitewater report and the fact that James Lyons was to meet with Vince Foster the day after he died? Could that have affected his state of mind? Mr. MONROE. I was aware of his scheduled meeting with Mr. Foster the day after his death. Whether or not that had any impact on his state of mind would be mere conjecture on my part, Senator. Senator FAIRCLOTH. At the end of last month, Robert Fiske said be would have his report in the Whitewater phase complete, shortened I believe he said, in 10 days. Then he said it would be delayed. We have just recently learned that Robert Fiske had not even subpoenaed the White House documents, How was he planning to. so shortly have his report when he hadn't even seen the papers in the White House? Mr. MONROE. Two parts of your question. Those documents had already been subpoenaed, sir. Senator FAIRCLOTH. When were they subpoenaed? Mr. MONROE. The exact date, I don't know. Senator FAIRCLOTH. I mean, this week or in March? Mr. MONROE. I'm not aware of when they were subpoenaed, sir. Senator FAIRCLOTH. According to what we've been able to find out he had not even subpoenaed them fairly recent, but-does he know when? Mr. MONROE. I don't know the exact date of the subpoena. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Does the man who's prompting you know when? Mr. MONROE. I'm sorry, no. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Does the man prompting you know better The CHAiRmAN. Senator Faircloth, if you will permit me to interrupt you for a moment. I don't want to knock you off the line of questioning, but there is a concern as to whether that line of dis cussion starts to move into the active phase of the investigation that Mr. Fiske may still have ongoing that he's asked us not to, cross into, and so I think, Mr. Monroe may, in fact, not be in a position to do that without us getting outside our scope as we've laid it out.