August 3, 1994 - Part 6
August 3, 1994 - Part 6
(17:55:34) And frankly, sir-I know at some level, it's not much of an excuse-but on the afternoon of March 4th, the grand jury subpoenas showed up from Mr. Fiske and it really-and actually even the day before, I think, Mr. McLarty-I think that is right, Mr, McLarty, the day or so before, had issued an edict that there will be no more communication with the Treasury Department, that we had gotten in far enough, and we were going to drop a curtain and we just weren't going to do this anymore. And so, first, I think with Mr. McLarty on the 3rd and with the arrival of the Grand Jury subpoenas on the 4th, the White House was 'then really completely out of it. So I really can't-and the series of letters sort of after the first one even the first one, I just can't tell you how they came to be. Senator BRYAN. Am 1 correct that, in effect, as you alerted the White House to this problem that you saw, the ball then gets lateraled to Mr. Podesta; is that correct? Mr. EGGLESTON. Yes, Mr. Podesta is an Assistant to the President. I'm an Associate Counsel to the President. Mr. Podesta was essentially the person who was the point person and he was the one who was leading the discussion and the person who made the Phone call. Senator BRYAN. Mr. Klein, you actually called Ms. Nolan, as I understand, to inquire, essentially of what the ethical obligation 126 was in terms of correcting the record. That's my understanding. If I'm mischaracterizing it, please correct me. Mr. KLEIN. I don't think that is correct. I would have been well advised to call her about that but I don't think I did, Senator BRYAN. You did not call Ms. Nolan. Was there any conversation at all with Ms. Nolan? I thought somebody had called Mr. KLEIN. I did have a conversation with Ms. Nolan, that is one of the questions that I-when we were talking about sort of the White House response and how many meetings or nonmeetings or conversations. I had recalled a staff meeting that Ms. Nolan referred to in her testimony or that she had made a call to the Treasury, and I called her to ask her about that. Senator BRYAN. "About that." Let me just be a bit more precise, Mr, Klein , because I've obviously misunderstood some part of it, Did this not deal with the testimony of Mr. Altman on the 24th? Mr. KLEIN. It came in response to the testimony because the question was, Senator, how many White House contacts there were with Treasury. And as I recall, Ms. Nolan had brought up at a morning staff meeting this question that she discussed in her testimony about a contact with Dennis Foreman, and so I had called Ms. Nolan to ask her about that because one of the questions I be- lieve, was how many contacts had occurred. That's the context, sir. Ms. NOLAN. Senator Senator BRYAN. Could I-and I want to give you a chance, but let me just indicate the highlight of the deposition indicates that on February 28th, you, Mr. Klein, "called Ms. Nolan and raised concerns and wanted to discuss with me"- that's you speaking now-"whether the White House had an obligation to correct Mr. Altman's testimony that he gave on the 24th." Let me, with that, lead in. And if I've mischaracterized your testimony, I apologize, but that seems, at least as Ms. Nolan understood it-let me defer to you to respond to that, Ms. Nolan. Ms. NOLAN. Yes, that was my testimony, and Mr. Klein may have forgotten this because he was in several conversations, as I understand his testimony, about the matter and I was only in one, so I might remember it more explicitly. But he did call me, and I went over to his office; it was, as I understood it, early in the discussions of whether there would be some obligation to correct the testimony. Senator BRYAN. Is it fair to say that the question, as you understood it, was the context of ethical obligation because you served that function, or were they just asking you as another lawyer what your view was? Ms. NOLAN. As I understood it, he was looking for my judgment on the matter, but I don't know that we were precise about that. Senator BRYAN. But your responsibility within the White House deals with questions of ethics; (17:59:31)(tape #10081 ends)