August 1, 1994 - Part 7
August 1, 1994 - Part 7
(20:30:33) Senator GRAMM. I guess I'm puzzled about your role in press releases-I mean, press leaks. You're the General Counsel. I know it's Your job to be sure that people at the Treasury are complying with the law. How did you get this job, as a key input, on this press leak issue? Ms. HANSON. As I say, I was asked-I was given this information unsolicited. I understand Mr. Altman asked Mr. Roelle to give this information to me. I gave the information to Mr. Altman. He asked me to speak with Mr. Nussbaum. Mr. Nussbaum, as I stated and as I understood,' was the appropriate contact person in the White House, with respect to investigations, so he would have been the right person to talk to. Senator GRAMM. Investigations or press leaks? Ms' HANSON. This was a press leak that also related to an investigation. Senator GRAmm. At the meeting of February 2, 1994, at which Mr. Altman was present, you talked about a lot of issues. Obviously we know of the two that have been mentioned. At that meeting , to the best of your memory, did anyone ever casually, tangen- 152 tially, or in any way mention the meeting of September 29 1 or the meeting of October 14, 19939 Ms. HANSON. On February 2, 1994? Senator GRAmm. Yes. Ms. HANSON. No, sir. Senator GRAMM. A very relevant issue, it seems to me is'' Mr. Altman wrote to us on March 2, 1994. He said, "I have' le today, of two conversations which did take place between Treasury staff and the White House." He says that in his March 2, 194 letter. Now, you tell us that he told you to go to the White House for the September meeting. You have verified that this is your memo to him, after you came back, that it has your initials on it, and the kind of memo you would have written. So there were at two contacts with Mr. Altman regarding the September meeting One, he told you to go and, two, when you came back you gave this memo. Did you ever talk to him about the meeting on Sep ber 29, 1993, or the meeting on October 14, 1993? Senator GRAMM. Yes. At any time prior to his testimony? Ms. HANSON. I don't recall ever having a conversation with him about the October 14, 1993, meeting one way or the other. I don't recall having a conversation with him about the September 29, 1993, meeting, although, as I've testified, my September 30, 1993, memorandum was located. At the time that the March 2, 1994, let- ter was written, the statement that he made was consistent with my recollection at the time. We've gone over these questions. Senator GRAmm. Ms. Hanson, let me stop you right there because this is a different issue. Mr. Altman writes, here in his letter, that he has just learned "today" of these two meetings. He just' learned "today," that's what this says. You say that be sent you to the first of the two meetings, and we have a memo that you gave him telling him that you went and, basically what happened. You saw this letter, did you ever say to him, "Mr. Altman, you told me to go to the first meeting, and I sent you a memo on that meeting. How can you write a letter to this Committee of Congress, saying you just found out about it today?" Did you ever raise that issue with him? Ms. HANSON. Sir, at the time that letter was written, that statement was consistent with my recollection. I have testified that it wasn't until after that letter that I-as I worked on the process of recalling what had happened last fall-that I recalled that I had a conversation with him about it and that he sent me. It wasn't until the search for the documents, in response to the Independent Counsel's subpoena, that the September 30, 1993, memo was located, and I have no recollection, independent recollection, as I sit here now, of having written it, although it is clear to me that I did. At the time Mr. Altman wrote that letter, it was consistent with my recollection of the matter and I will tell you, that is a good ex- ample of why trying to deal with things piecemeal, rather than dealing with them in an orderly fashion, can be a problem.