August 2, 1994 - Part 1
August 2, 1994 - Part 1
(10:55:11) The CHAIRMAN. Senator Shelby, I don't want to be arbitrary in cutting you off, but we're holding everybody to the time limit. This is important and we'll come back to it. Senator SHELBY. Thank you. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Mack. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR CONNIE MACK Senator MACK Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Steiner, I want to just continue on with a question or two. This goes back to the recusal discussion earlier. I think you were asked, a few minutes ago, why you recommended that Mr. Altman recuse himself. Mr. STEINER. That's correct. Senator MACK. I think what you said was something like the political pressure is going build. It would be better to do it now to as opposed to later. Is that close? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator, Senator MACK. Were there any other reasons, in your mind, as to why he should recuse himself? Mr. STEINER. Senator, I thought that in the absence of a recusal, it would open him to possible political accusations and I wanted to prevent those accusations from occurring. Senator MACK. What kind of political accusations? Mr. STEINER. The kind that we have seen recently, that he is somehow interfering or trying to protect people through his role as interim CEO of the-RTC. Senator MACK. So it was only the appearance that concerned you, is that correct? Mr. STEINER. Senator, Mr. Altman had made it very clear on numerous occasions, both to the Treasury staff and the RTC staff, that he wanted this case handled in identical fashion to all other cases. What that meant was that at no point did he anticipate making a decision about this case or being involved in the investigation. And in the event that a decision was brought to him, he planned to follow the advice of the General Counsel. Senator MACK. Again, your concerns were not things about confidentiality, about propriety, about conflicts of interest, it was the perception, from a political point of view, as to how it would be received? Mr. STEINER. That's correct, Senator. As I said, Mr. Altman made it very clear that he wanted this case handled in an identical fashion. Senator MACK. I appreciate that. I just wanted to get a clear statement of what your thinking was. Mr. DeVore, I too wanted to welcome you back to the Senate, to this Committee. Calling our attention to the meeting you attended at the White House with Ms. Jean Hanson on October 14, 1993, it is my understanding that this was supposed to be a meeting to discuss press leaks, that is, stories that were likely to appear in the next few days on Madison. Is that correct? Mr. DEVORE. Senator, that wasn't my understanding. My understanding was that when I received the call from the reporter, and 345 I sent word out that the reporter had called me and what he told me, that it was a meeting convened primarily to listen to my account of what the reporter had to say. I was not aware of any stories that were imminent. Senator MACK. Did you set up the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Not in my recollection, I did not. Senator MACK. Do you have any idea who did? Mr. DEVORE. I do not. Senator MACK. This was a meeting then, to discuss a press inquiry? Mr. DEVORE. Let me not speak to the purpose of the meeting; let me speak only to why I thought I was going to the meeting. I thought I was going to the meeting to tell the White House something I didn't know the knew, and that is that this reporter for a major newspaper had a lot of information on an investigation being conducted by the RTC. Senator MACK. So you were surprised then at what you beard at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. There were one or two surprises, yes, sir. Senator MACK. What were those surprises? Mr. DEVORE. Well, one of the things I learned is that a couple of other reporters bad been talking to the White House about this matter. I had not been aware of that. Senator MACK. But you thought you were going there to give them information? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. Senator MACK. Do you remember who was at the meeting? Mr. DEVORE. Yes, sir. From the Treasury, it was Jean Hanson, Josh Steiner, and me. From the White House, it was Bernard Nussbaum, Bruce Lindsay, , Mark Geron, and there were some other people whose names I didn't know who were in and out of the meeting. Senator MACK. The point was that most of those people, as I understand it, were attorneys doesn't say anything about what the meeting was all about? Mr. DEVORE. I don't understand your question. Senator MACK. I was under the impression, frankly, that this was a meeting that was called for the purposes of discussing press inquiries. I bad just assumed that it was going to be a meeting of press types and was surprised when I saw the list of people who were there. It seemed like it was a group of attorneys.