August 2, 1994 - Part 7
August 2, 1994 - Part 7
(19:45:18) Mr. ALTMAN. I promise you I'll do my best. I believe that the testimony that you have of those who attended the February 2 meeting is fairly consistent, if not very consistent. I believe that it is. Certainly Mr. Cutler's chronology was consistent with my understanding of what happened. And the Office of Government Ethics' chronology is consistent with Senator BENNETT. Mr. Altman Mr. ALTMAN. Senator, you said you had conflicting testimony about the February 2 meeting. Senator BENNETT. Absolutely conflicting stories as to what happened. Mr. ALTMAN. You have conflicting testimony from the participants in the meeting, sir. Senator BENNETT. Yes, and we can take you through Ms. Hanson's testimony if you'd like. I thought this had been gone through a number of times. Mr. ALTMAN. I don't think that my Senator BENNETT. I'd be happy to go through that. Mr. ALTMAN. I don't think my testimony is all that different from hers. Maybe I'm wrong. I didn't watch every moment of her testi- mony. Senator BENNETT. In my opinion, your testimony is significantly different than hers. Perhaps more importantly, it is significantly different from Mr. Steiner's diaries, and you say but Mr. Steiner Wasn't even at the meeting. Correct point. But Mr. Steiner testified here in direct answer to my questions that he got his understanding of what happened at the meetings from you. So Mr. Steiner has )recorded in his diary what he understood went on, and he has testified under oath that he got it from a conversation with you. Let me read you a specific from his diary that he said he could not explain, and I will ask Mr. Altman about this because it came from Mr. Altman, and he said yes, that would be appropriate. Here's what he says. This is dealing with the recusal issue and the on the recusal issue. Of course the fateful White House you've heard about that. The White House told Altman it ,Was unacceptable and so on. Now, he goes on down and he says, "the next day, The New York Times ran a front-page story on the meeting. The heat was on. We 462 spent a tortured day trying to decide if he should recuse himself. I spoke with Podesta to let him know of our deliberations. Very frustrating that he was the chosen point of contact since he clearly was not in the complete confidence of George and Harold. After Howell Raines from The New York Times called to say they were going to write a brutal editorial, Roger Altman decided to recuse himself "Harold and George then called to say that Bill Clinton was furious." And I asked him, assuming from this writing, that Harold and George had called him, he said no, they didn't call me. They talked to Mr. Altman. Would you tell us about that call and why Bill Clinton was furious to discover that you had decided, finally, to recuse yourself because that kind of reaction is not in any way, shape, or form compatible with the tone of the meeting as you've described it here, which was so amiable and so pleasant and nobody got excited. Everybody just said yeah, fine, go ahead, recuse yourself if you want but we won't tell you what to do. That simply doesn't coincide what Mr. Steiner tells us in his diary. Can you tell us if, in fact, you got the call that said Bill Clinton was furious and if so, why he was furious? Mr. ALTMAN. Senator, I may not be right, but I believe the testimony under oath from the participants in the February 2 meeting is quite consistent. I believe it is. The accounts that I've read---! Senator BENNETT. Well, you're entitled to believe it is, and I'm entitled to believe it's not. Will you now come to the point of Mr. Steiner's diary entry when he says, "Harold and George then called to say that Bill Clinton was furious"? Did that call occur, and if so, what did they tell you about the President's state of mind? Mr. ALTMAN. I watched Mr. Steiner's testimony this morning, and Mr. Steiner said in response to the question furious with the manner of his recusal. I think that's a direct quote from Mr. Steiner. Furious with the manner of his recusal. And what they told me was they were upset that they hadn't been given prior notice, That's what Mr. Ickes and Mr. Stephanopoulos told me. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Altman, I believe we need a direct answer to the question that he asked. And that is-and maybe you said it and I didn't hear it-but did you receive a call and can you tell us what the contents of the call were?