August 2, 1994 - Part 5
August 2, 1994 - Part 5
(16:05:35) I do not believe I suggested that the White House be informed of any facts relating to this referral, but if Ms. Hanson did advise the White House of an impending press leak on it, I see nothing improper in that. Nor did the Office of Government Ethics. Mr. Roelle has testified that be advised me of a possible criminal referral as early as March 1993. 1 respect him, but I do not recall it. There have also been questions on press articles on Madison which I may have faxed to Mr. Nussbaum. He has said that he has no recollection of receiving them. I don't recall sending them either, but there would be nothing wrong with sending press articles to anyone. And there isn't a shred of evidence that I conveyed sensitive information, then or at any other time, to the White House. During our meeting at the White House on February 2, we conveyed no information on the facts, merits, or outlook for the case, or the statute of limitations decision. That would have been impossible -- that would have been impossible, because I bad no information on those matters. I never had such information on Madison or any other case and I do not have it today. The only information we provided which related to the case involved a description of the generic and procedural alternatives which face the RTC in any expiring statute of limitations situation, and indeed faced it in Madison. All of that information was in the public domain. It had previously been provided to representatives of the Congress upon request. And it was in the hands of the media. The Washington Times, for example, had already printed a summary of these procedural alternatives. During the months of December and January, there were, at least, 7 meetings or conversations between RTC officials and House and Senate staff, all requested by the latter. Three of these involved Senator D'Amato's staff. All of these centered around the statute of limitations issues and the supplying to Congress of documents related to Madison. Moreover, from December 1993 through February 1994, a series of congressional inquiries regarding the pursuit of civil claims aris- 409 ing from the Madison failure came directly to me. They included a letter on January 11 from 41 Republican Senators and a letter on January 25 from Senator DAmato and a letter from Congressman Leach. These urged the RTC to, in Senator DAmato's words: Take action to voluntarily seek agreements from potential parties to pre-initiated legal action. I can see no reason for further delay on your part. Please provide me with your conclusion immediately. The congressional inquiries directed to me, of course, required a response. Prior to receiving them, I was not familiar with the statute of limitations issues. I am not a lawyer and, for example, had never previously heard of a tolling agreement. To assist in preparing responses to these congressional inquiries, Ellen Kulka, the RTC General Counsel, briefed me on these issues. I learned that the RTC bad to make a decision by February 28. The alternatives were: No. 1, seeking a tolling agreement with the parties against whom a claim might be brought. No. 2, failing that, filing a claim in court, Or No. 3, concluding that no basis existed for pursuing a claim. This information together with the facts relating to the criminal referral was the sum total of information relating to Madison which was known to me. My responses to Members of Congress were very direct. We pledged an impartial process, a thorough review, and "if such claims do exist, the RTC will vigorously pursue all appropriate remedies using standard procedures in such cases which could include seeking agreements to toll the statute of limitations." With the volume of congressional and press inquiries rising, it seemed to me that, first, the White House should have the same information which was being provided to congressional staff and the press; and second, that it was appropriate to advise the White House of events which could affect its function. Those were my only motivations.