August 2, 1994 - Part 9
August 2, 1994 - Part 9
(21:25:34)(tape #10073 begins) Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. But you never got an opinion from anyone regarding the possible conflict between the two positions that you held even subsequent, even recently? Mr. ALTMAN. I never sought a formal opinion, no. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Did you take any steps to guard against potential ethical conflicts or the appearance of such conflicts? Mr. ALTMAN. I tried to conduct myself every single day, Senator, that way, and you know the results of the Office of Government Ethics Report which concluded, if I can say so, that there were no ethical violations. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. In your capacity as RTC CEO on February 1, 1994, Ellen Kulka, the RTC General Counsel, briefed you on Madison matters and I think it's fair to say that she briefed you on the status of civil investigation and the difficulties that the RTC would have in completing that investigation prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Is that a fair Mr. ALTMAN. No, no, it's not. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN What was the substance of the briefin ? Mr. ALTMAN. The substance of the briefing was the procedural alternatives which the RTC faced as the statute of limitations approached, as to what they were and what these terms meant. I bad never heard of a tolling agreement before that day and she took me--she didn't say a thing to me about the outlook for the case or the inner workings of the case. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. But you did understand from Mr. Kulka at the time that there was a time pressure on the completion of the investigation with regard to Madison; is that correct? ALTMAN. I knew what the then-statute of limitations dead line was. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN The very next day, Mr. Altman you went to the White House with Jean Hanson to meet with Mr. 486 Nussbaum, Mr. Eggleston, Ms. Williams, and Mr. Ickes. Why didn' you have Ms. Kulka join you rather than Ms. Hanson? Mr. ALTMAN. Perhaps I should have, but Ms. Hanson was helping me out on a variety of matters, including some RTC matters, and I asked her to come with me. I thought I should have a lawyer present. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. But there was no reason that you specifically-that you excluded Ms. Kulka from the meeting? Mr. ALTMAN. No, Senator. Senator MOSELLY-BRAUN. You've repeatedly testified that you di with, Madison case should be dealt rected Madison should be dealt with in an identical fashion relative to any other case. This is in your conversations with Ms. Kulka and others. How did you ensure that Madison would be handled like any other RTC case? Mr, ALTMAN. I instructed that it be. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. Excuse me. Mr. ALTMAN. I instructed that it be so. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. But at the same time as interim RTC CEO, it is not our custom, is it, to join with the General Counsel of Treasury to brief potential parties to civil litigation on the work of the statute of limitations, is it? Mr. ALTMAN. As I said in my statement, Senator, I was at that time receiving numerous inquiries from the Congress and from the media. We had at least 7 requests of the RTC staff from congressional staff. I had several letters directly from Members of Congress. And we were responding to those and in order to respond to them, of course, I had to understand what these procedural alternatives were. It seemed to me that since we were providing that information to the Congress and, I might say I believe, to the media, I know it had been in The Washing-ton Times, that it would be reasonable to explain the same procedural alternatives to the White House. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. But again, on that meeting on the 2nd the briefing wasn't ust about the media, it was also about the workings of the-- -of the specifies regarding the-excuse me, may I please-it was with regard to the specifies of the civil litigation and, in fact, you now discuss Mr, ALTMAN. Senator, no, it wasn't. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. You did not discuss the statute of limitations? Mr. ALTMAN. It had nothing to do with the specific-I may understand your term incorrectly, it had nothing to do with the specifies of the civil litigation, if ou mean anything case-specific. There was nothing case- specific discussed. Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. The statute of limitations was not discussed? Mr. ALTMAN. Everything we discussed on that was the same as pertains to any other case with an expiring statute of limitations, Senator MOSELEY-BRAUN. All right, then, I will-why did you have those discussions, then, with regard to the statute of limitations and tolling agreements in this meeting at the White House? Mr. ALTMAN. Senator, I was getting increasingly fierce inquiries from the Congress including from Senator D'Amato. I had a letter from 41 Republican Senators and those letters were demanding 487 and it was perfectly OK to do that. Those letters were demanding that we take steps to extend the statute of limitations deadline. They're on the record, they're night there. I had to respond to them and I did respond to them, and frankly, I'm proud of how I did. I remember assuring Senator DAmato that it was an impartial process, an arm's length process, and if the basis existed for seeking a tolling agreement we would do it.