August 3, 1994 - Part 1
August 3, 1994 - Part 1
(09:50:43) This entire issue revolves around meetings that I understood were on the issue of handling press inquiries about the Madison Guaranty referral, or on the procedures that the RTC would follow in pursuing civil claims. There are differing recollections, but they are about actions that two independent investigations tell us broke no criminal law and violated no ethical standard. I have turned the Treasury Department upside down. I have turned my memory inside out. We went through thousands and thousands of documents. And I cannot find one written briefing to me on these White House meetings, not one. It was not until March 3rd that I learned the extent of these meetings. I issued a statement about the meetings and said that I had not attended them and did not know about them. I maybe walled off from most RTC matters, but I am responsible for what happens at the Treasury Department and I accept that responsibility. And that is why I asked immediately for the Office of Government Ethics to examine these contacts. They are a nonpartisan agency. They are the experts. And preparing for this hearing, I agreed to the Committee request to avoid looking at materials regarding the case until I gave my deposition to the Committee Staff. I agreed to that request, although it sure frustrated me, because I wanted to wade into this and find out all I could. I had to wait over 4 months to start looking at these papers. After I gave my deposition last week, I sat down and began to read through the material. I saw nothing that changes my recollection. Let me lay out for you what my basic recollection is about these matters. First, I read in the press, some time in October, about criminal referrals and Madison Guaranty. Second, on February 1st, Roger Altman and Jean Hanson came to my office. Roger told me he was thinking of recusing himself. And the other subject that came up was the legislation on extending the statute of limitations, Later that month, Roger told me he decided not to recuse himself On February 23rd, I met with Roger and Jean Hanson briefly, in advance of the RTC Oversight Hearing the 24th. I again told Roger Altman the recusal issue was a personal issue for him. On the 25th of February, I learned that Roger had testified the day before as to one meeting with people from the White House, 7 I had been at that meeting. I left to go to a working lunch with some CEO's. I did not hear his testimony because I was not here at that point. On March 3rd, I read in the press about two additional meetings, It was then that I asked for the OGE examination of the contacts and issued my statement. Now I would like to review the subsequent events. Our Treasury Department Inspector General's office was asked to support the Office of Government Ethics examination. Mr. Fiske, the Independent Counsel, was already looking at this from the standpoint of criminal statutes. After I asked the Office of Government Ethics to examine the ethics issues involved, Mr. Fiske asked the Treasury Inspector General to suspend his work while Mr. Fiske's investigation was underway. And the Office of Government Ethics also independently decided it would hold off until Mr. Fiske's work was complete so as not to interfere. Now I want to point out the lengths to which Treasury Department, at my direction, went to cooperate with Mr. Fiske, with the Inspector General, and with the Congressional Committees. Every scrap of paper that remotely looked like it might conceivably have some relation to the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan or to contacts with the White House was turned over to various investigators, something on the order of 6,500 pages.