August 3, 1994 - Part 2
August 3, 1994 - Part 2
(11:30:27) Secretary BENTSEN. Well I am going to try to get better lines drawn insofar as what can and what cannot be done, what authority is in each of these two different institutions, Treasury and the Resolution Trust. I think that the Office of Government Ethics makes some good points in that regard, and what I get is a feeling in the Senate Committee that those things should be done. Senator MACK. I guess what I was really referring to in dealing with the specific issue, though, of the very different opinions and recollections of Mr. Altman, Ms. Hanson, Mr. Steiner, and Mr. Roelle? Secretary BENTSEN. Well let me say, Senator, if the question is, you know how do you get them to work together and the rest of it, and I look at you folks here and I think of my own time in the Senate, and I think of the times I was on the Senate Floor arguing with one or the other of you on the different side of an issue and really going at it, and the next day, we would find we were on the same side of a different issue. So I think they will be able to work together. Senator MACK. Well Mr. Secretary, I have a different point of view. I do not have any more time to pursue it at this time. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for being with us this morning. And I have a few brief questions and not really concerning you. But my concern is the lack of aggressiveness on the part of Mr. Fiske that I feel in pursuing the Whitewater and his many, multiple ties to the various members of the Administration. I feel very strongly that he maybe represents more the problem than the solution to clearing up the Whitewater problem and getting to the bottom of it. 31 And that is what I feel, and so I had one or two questions con cerning him. Had you ever met Robert Fiske prior to his appointment by Ms. Reno as Special Counsel? Secretary BENTSEN. Not to my knowledge. You know I am like you. I have met an awful lot of folks. But I do not ever remember having met him, and if I did, I apologize to him. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Are you aware that, you know of course you do know that Ms. Reno is the person that appointed him as a Special Counsel? Secretary BENTSEN. That is right. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Are you aware that Bernard Nussbaum recommended Mr. Fiske for a job with the Iran-Contra prosecutor, Lawrence Walsh? Secretary BENTSEN. No, I am not aware of that. I do know that various Members of this Committee and on both sides of the aisle, made some very commendatory statements about Mr. Fiske at the time he was chosen, and I understand he is a Republican, Senator FAIRCLOTH. I am aware of that too, and I thought more highly of him before he started the investigation than I do after he has been in it awhile. Are you aware that the Robert Fiske law firm represented the company that sold the land to the Whitewater Partnership? Secretary BENTSEN. That what? Senator FAIRCLOTH. That the Robert Fiske law firm represented the company that sold the land to Whitewater Partnership? Secretary BENTSEN. No, no. I do not know that, did not know that. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Were you aware that Nussbaum served on the same side of at least two legal cases with Robert Fiske? Secretary BENTSEN. No, I do not know that. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Were you aware that Nussbaum consulted with Robert Fiske on at least two high level appointments to the Clinton Administration? Secretary BENTSEN. No, I did not know that. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Were you aware that Robert Fiske worked with Robert Bennett, President Clinton's current lawyer on his Paula Jones problems, in a case involving the First American and BCCI? That they worked together, Bennett and Fiske? Secretary BENTSEN. Senator, you know a lot more about that than I do. Senator SARBANES. Mr. Chairman, there is no reason why the Secretary should be aware of these things. I know Senator Faircloth wants to put it in the record, and he maybe should go ahead and read it, but I do not know why he should keep dragging the Secretary, I mean, the Secretary had nothing to do with pickling. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Senator Sarbanes, if I need you to critique my questions, I will ask you to. Secretary Bentsen, this morning on the CBS morning news, Senator Bob Dole said that after watching the hearings yesterday, two things were obvious. 32 First, somebody is not telling the truth. And second, it is obvious that Robert Fiske did not do a very thorough job. Secretary Bentsen, did Robert Fiske talk with you specifically about the accuracy of Robert Altman's testimony at the January 24th RTC Oversight Hearings? Secretary BENTSEN. No, he did not. Senator FAIRCLOTH. So Robert Fiske did not talk with you about the discrepancies between the number of White House RTC contacts that he found and the number that Robert Altman reported at the hearing?