August 3, 1994 - Part 2
August 3, 1994 - Part 2
(11:25:26) Senator SHELBY. But they were shared prior to his testimony yesterday, were they not? Secretary BENTSEN. Well I would assume so. Senator SHELBY. OK. Secretary BENTSEN. The point is, I have forgotten your experience as a trial attorney, if you were. I have never been, but my understanding is that this is comparable to a trial. And my understanding is these depositions are not something that are then held in secret but they are shared. Senator SHELBY, Swapped. Secretary BENTSEN. And that is not something like sprung on them as a surprise. Gotcha, for example. Let me further state that this Committee asked me to share with them the deposing of our witnesses and that these sworn depositions then come back to this Committee. 29 I do not think the law requires that of me. But I did that because I want to comply and I want to cooperate with this Committee. And as I understand it, this Committee still has those and has them under lock and key. Senator SHELBY. Mr. Secretary, do you recall when Mr. Cutler requested these depositions? Secretary BENTSEN. No, I do not recall. I would be happy to get you the date. Senator SHELBY. Would you furnish that for the record? Secretary BENTSEN. I would be happy to. Senator SHELBY. I want to now go to the diary or parts of the diary of Mr. Steiner, who is your Chief of Staff, and get back into something that is been asked many times, and that is the recusal of Roger Altman. Did you ever recommend to Roger Altman that he should recuse himself? Secretary BENTSEN. I do not recall that I did, but I must tell you, Senator, I was very sympathetic to him, because I thought he was in a tough spot, and he well might have interpreted that. I do know that I emphasized over and over that the decision had to be his, that he knew the facts, that I did not. Senator SHELBY. Was he in a tough spot because of the wearing of two hats? I mean, it was inevitable? Secretary BENTSEN. What? Senator SHELBY. Was he in a tough spot because of the wearing of two hats, or was he in a tough spot because of the wearing of two hats plus the connections to the White House? Secretary BENTSEN. Well I think that he was in a tough spot because the question, he was being charged by some Members of Congress, of having a conflict there that had to be resolved. On the other hand, there was a decision to be made, and whether or not to recuse himself was, from his standpoint, a difficult call. I must say that when he did recuse himself, I was quite relieved, and I might say further that if I had known all the facts that I now hear, I would have certainly recused myself. Senator SHELBY. Secretary Bentsen, did you ever have a conversation that you recall in bits or pieces or in whole, where Mr. Altman talked with you about the problem of recusal? Secretary BENTSEN. Oh, yes. Senator SHELBY. He talked with you about it? Secretary BENTSEN. Yes, he did. Senator SHELBY. But you do not recall whether you recommended at that time that he recuse Secretary BENTSEN, I do not recall recommending him to do it. But once again, I very much sympathized with his problem, and he might have interpreted it that way. Senator SHELBY. Could you have recommended it to him and not recalled today? Secretary BENTSEN. I do not have total recall, and I do not really know anyone that does. Senator SHELBY. So the answer is, you do not know whether you recommended that he recuse himself or not? Secretary BENTSEN. I told you I do riot recall that. 30 Senator SHELBY. You just remembered a conversation regarding this? Secretary BENTSEN. Yes. Senator SHELBY. Are you familiar- The CHAIRMAN. Senator Shelby, excuse me, your time has run, and I do not want to cut you off. Senator SHELBY. I am sorry. I did not know my time was up. The CHAIRMAN. Excuse me. Senator Faircloth. OPENING COMMENTS OF SENATOR FAIRCLOTH Senator FAIRCLOTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to yield one minute of my time to Senator Mack, and then I have some brief questions. Senator MACK. Mr. Secretary, I kind of diverted you off into another direction after I asked you a question, and it had to do with, what are you going to do as an administrative matter to resolve the conflicts between Mr. Altman's testimony and that of many other officials. There are lots of people who are saying different things, which you are well aware of, and I was interested in how are you going to proceed with that as an administrative matter in solving those problems?