August 1, 1994 - Part 6
August 1, 1994 - Part 6
(19:15:23) Senator KERRY. I understand that. My question to you, was it appropriate? What, in your mind, strikes you as appropriate in the various parties that were present discussing that particular issue at that moment in time? That's what I'm having difficulty with. Maybe you can tell me. Ms. HANSON. If you recall, duriin~ that period of time, Senator D'Amato and I believe eight other congressmen had written a letter to Janet Reno, the Attorney General, with a copy to Mr. Altman ' relating to the statute of limitations with respect to Madison Guaranty, on the criminal side and on the civil side and pointing out that the civil statute of limitations bad been extended for a period of 5 years but was going to expire soon. Over a period of several weeks, those latter weeks in January, there were increasing there was increasing interest, press attention, and congressional interest in what the statute of limitations was, when it expired. As Senator D'Amato said-I heard him earlier today-there was some discussion as to whether it expired in August, and why this had all become an issue. It was not clear to anyone, other than someone who sat down and studied it, why it was that this had, all of a sudden, become an issue and was-there was such a sense Of urgency about it. It was misunderstood. It was misunderstood by most people who were involved in the process. The sole reason for talking with the White House people about the statute of limitations issue was to make sure that they understood it, that there were going to be decisions that were going to have to be made. There were going to be actions taken, in a relatively brief period Of time, that were going to have repercussions. 134 Senator KERRY. My time is up. I don't want to abuse the time again. I would just say to you, that the kind of meeting that took place ace still strikes me as somewhat excessive and even strange. There are ways to communicate that information that would not raise the kind of questions we are now here trying to answer. I think, in terms of antenna-the antenna on this was either not up or very finely tuned or we wouldn't be here. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Kerry. I think, for the record, I should just include one item that we touched on a moment ago, and that's on viewing the videotape of the hearing after the hearing. I our deposition, Ms. Hanson, you were asked the ques- tion, was there ever a time you remember sitting with Mr. Fore- man with a videocassette recorder playing a videotape of the C- you Span hearings of the record," to which you, answered, "It was immediately after the conversation with Mr. Altman that I've just recounted." That was over on another page but it indicates that happened early the following week after the hearing This is what Mr. Foreman said. He was as asked the question as well, and he said: I believe that some of the hearings. were replayed that night and I made a tape of it. I think it was that Thursday night. I think I watched some portions of it. I replayed it the next morning, in the Ace, and Ms. Hanson was particularly focused on Senator Bond's questions. In response to your question, sometime Friday morning. I guess I either heard from her what the question and answer was or perhaps saw it on the tape sometime Friday. I don't want to get hung up on this, but I think the record should clearly show that, after the hearing, there was some interval in which you reviewed all this, you were able to refresh yourself as to what was said, what the questions were, and what the responses were. I think, if we lay those aside, Mr. Altman's letters, clarifying in letters, the four of them that came, that there really-I don't think there's a plausible explanation as to why this record wasn't corrected very, very promptly. In fact, it should have been given in its complete form at the time, because he had the knowledge, you had the knowledge, the briefing material was there. It a all been gone over just ahead of time, but, certainly, after the fact, to have that kind of a delay occur. Then, all of these partial and incomplete letters come in. There's really no satisfactory explanation for that, that I can see, based on everything we've seen so far. I yield to Senator D'Amato. Ms. HANSON. May I respond? The CHAIRMAN. Yes, briefly. Ms. HANSON. I believe that Mr. Foreman-I know Mr. Foreman is mistaken about watching the video on Friday. I recall that it was the following week, I believe on March 1, 1994, and we were, specifically, looking for Senator Bond's questions. The CHAIRMAN. Here's my point to you, then. That's March 1, 1994. The first letter from Mr. Altman clarifying his testimony comes on March 2, 1994. A period of 10 days elapses when there was not only an incomplete but, I think, a misleading set of responses on record,