August 1, 1994 - Part 2
August 1, 1994 - Part 2
(12:45:37) Senator BOXER. How about anyone in the Treasury, outside of Mr. Altman, who wore the two hats, and Ms. Hanson, did anyone else try to influence you on this case? Mr. RYAN No. Senator BOXER. Did you get asked by Senators or Members of Congress to brief them on this case? Mr. RYAN, Not that I recall, no, I did not, Senator BOXER. Did you ever go to any Senator's office or Congressperson on's office to discuss either this case or the statute of limitations surrounding this case? Mr. RYAN. I went to Senator D'Amato's office along with Peter Knight, our legislative liaison. Senator BOXER. What was the purpose of that meeting? Mr. RYAN. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss informational requests. We met with Senator D'Amato's staff and there was discussion about how we were going to respond to questions from Senator D'Amato regarding information. During the course of that meeting, there was a discussion about the statute of limita-tions with Counsel on the Senator's staff. We didn't get into the substance of the discussion because neither Peter Knight nor I are lawyers-it's my understanding that subsequent to meeting, Mr. Knight arranged a telephone call in which there was a discus-sion with lawyers at the RTC and Senator D'Amato's Counsel re-garding the statute of limitations. Senator BoxER. So information on the statute of limitations on, as I understand it, January 24, 1994, was the meeting which you attended with Senator D'Amato's staff? Mr. RYAN. I believe that's correct. senator BOXER. And follow-up conversations. That was prior to the information that was given to Mr. Nussbaum and others at the White House that Senators, or at least we know one Senator's staff, were briefed on the statute of limitations, and you were cooperative, as you should be, in giving all that information to him. Is that correct? . Mr. RYAN. The discussion dealt-my part of the discussion dealt primarily with the information that was going to be requested and how we were going to Senator BOXER. Can I ask you, was it typical for you to leave --Your office? What was your title at that time? Mr. RYAN. I was the Deputy CEO. Senator BOXER. Was that a usual and customary practice for you, Personally, to go to the Hill and go to a Senator's office? Mr. RYAN. No, it wasn't. I was specifically requested by Senator D'Amato's office to attend. Senator BOXER. But no one bad ever asked you at the White House to brief them on this matter? Mr. RYAN. No. 42 Senator BOXER. Mr. Katsanos, I'm looking at this Early Bird here. What was the purpose-was this your idea, this Early Bird? Mr. KATSANOS. Yes, Senator, it was. Senator BOXER. R. What was the point of it? Mr. KATSANOS, It was started very early on in the RTC's existence as a vehicle for communicating with our top managers about stories they should anticipate. Senator BOXER. How many top managers are there in the RTC? Mr. KATsANos. Are you asking what the distribution was? Senator BOXER. No, I'm asking you bow many top managers there are in the RTC? Mr. KATSANOS. I would say there's probably about six. Senator BOXER. Six. So you found it necessary to communicate with six people and put out what I consider to be, basically, press leaks. I mean, here's one. The RTC's use of the law firm Holland & Hart in a suit against Deloitte and Touche for its involvement with Otero Savings & Loan, Colorado Springs, is being explored by Westward, a Denver newspaper. According to Deloitte's Counsel, Holland & Hart may have represented Otero Savings on transactions that caused losses to the institution. That's signed by Felisa Neuringer. Who is Felisa Neuringer? Mr. KATSANOS. Felisa Neuringer is a member of my staff. Senator BOXER. So the purpose was to brief six people. Who got this Early Bird? Mr. KATSANOS. The Early Bird was sent to approximately six managers at the RTCs Washington office. It also was sent to our field office heads, which at one time included 19 officials. It was sent, during the period Roger Altman was CEO, to his office at the Treasury Department. It was sent to the Treasury press office and it was also sent to the General Counsel at Treasury-all at their request. Senator BOXER. And the purpose was to brief managers? Mr. KATSANOS. The purpose was to alert them to stories that we anticipated could appear based on what the reporters were telling us they were working on. It was not a vehicle for announcing press leaks. it was intended to show what reporters were coming to us to discuss. Senator BOXER. "The opposition of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Stanley Tate's nomination will be reported tomorrow in The Washington Post." What's the point of letting the managers know that? Mr. KATSANOS. Senator, I'm sure there are many times when you would wake up in the morning and you would see a story which you wish you would have known the night before was going to appear. Senator BOXER. I guess what Fm Mr. KATSANOS. It's nothing more.