August 2, 1994 - Part 5
August 2, 1994 - Part 5
(15:55:46) Three independent investigations have addressed these questions. First, we had the results of the legal investigation by the Independent Counsel, Mr. Fiske. All issues involved in his investigation were fully and thoroughly investigated including a review of my testimony -before this Committee. And we are all familiar with his conclusions. There was also the report of the Office of Government Ethics, which Secretary Bentsen released on Sunday. This concluded that there bad been no unethical activities on the part of any Treasury personnel, The Office of Government Ethics is an independent body. As with Mr. Fiske, it had access to all documents and took testimony under oath from all those involved, including your witnesses. There is also the report of Mr. Cutler, White House Counsel, on the question of any unethical behavior by White House staff, He concluded there was none. These investigations have confirmed that the Clinton Administration did not interfere in any aspect of the Madison Guaranty case. There is no evidence, Mr. Chairman-I repeat-no evidence that either the criminal or civil aspects were compromised, delayed, or altered in any way. Simply none. I believe that the conclusions of these three separate investigations are absolutely correct. And I ask the Committee to bear in mind the larger context of my involvement in the handling of the Madison matter by the RTC. Most importantly, I never made any decisions of any kind with respect to the Madison case. I was committed, as I told the White House staff and others, to have the RTC General Counsel, Ellen Kulka, make whatever determination was necessary with respect to any civil claims arising from Madison. My meeting with the White House staff on February 2 was cleared by both Treasury General Counsel and the Designated Treasury Ethics Officer. I obtained two written ethics opinions stating that my recusal was not required, and I recused myself from the Madison matter on February 25 without ever having made any decision in that case. Second, let me turn to what I believe is the most important issue between this Committee and me, namely my testimony before you on February 24. Mr. Chairman, I do not have perfect recall, and I may have heard or understood questions in a way that was not intended by the Senator asking the question. And if I did so, I sincerely apolologize to all Members of the Committee. But I do want to be clear. In no way did I intend to mislead or not to provide complete and 407 forthright answers. I have too much respect for this Committee, for our system of Government and for the need for full and forthright communications between the Executive and the Legislative Branches. Let me add here that I understand how a reasonable person reading my testimony and listening to all the testimony which has come before this Committee could believe I was not as forthcoming as I should have been. The burden is mine to explain that I was doing the best I could at the time and I intend to do that today. Let me turn to describing the interaction between the Clinton Administration and the RTC. First, when Mr. Casey resigned as CEO in March 1993, the Administration had only taken office 5 or 6 weeks beforehand and had not yet chosen its nominee for this position. Indeed, only two U.S. Treasury officials had even been confirmed, Secretary Bentsen and me.