August 4, 1994 - Part 4
August 4, 1994 - Part 4
(12:35:25) Hearing resumes: Senator D'AMATO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Williams, let me ask you as it relates to the diary of Mr. Alt man, did you ever see Altman's diary page? Ms. WILLIAMS. No, I've not seen the diary page. Senator D'AMATO. You have never seen the diary page? MS. WILLIAMS. I have not read it. Senator D'AMATO. Well, have you seen it? MS. WILLIAMS. I have seen it in the hands of my attorney, the page, but I have not read it. It appeared to be a clump of handwriting, but I did not avail myself of an opportunity to read it. Senator D'AMATO. Your attorney did not avail you the opportunity to read it? MS. WILLIAMS. Oh, he gave me the opportunity. I said I was not interested in reading it. Senator D'AMATO. OK Did you ever speak to Roger Altman about his recordings, his diary or the page? Ms. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. I did speak with Mr. Altman about his recordings. Senator D'AMATO. How did that occasion take place, if you can recall? MS. WILLIAMS, Mr. Altman called me and said that he wanted to see me. Senator D'AMATO. He called you and said he wanted to speak to you? MS. WILLIAMS. Yes, he did. Senator D'AMATO. And he wanted to speak to you in person? 325 MS. WILLIAMS. Yes, he did. Senator DAMATO. And was that sometime in July, the second week of July? Ms. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. That seems about right. Senator D'AMATO. And so he came to see you at the White House? Ms. WILLIAMS. Yes, sir. That's correct. Senator DAMATO. And what did he say to you? Ms. WILLIAMS. He said that-I'll give you the gist, I don't know exactly, but I'll give you the gist of what he said. Senator DAMATO. All right. Ms. WILLIAMS. Was that I have written some things and I want to tell you about them. Senator D'AMATO. And what did he say? MS, WILLIAMS. And he told me about them. Senator D'AMATO. What did he say, if you can recall? I mean, now this is-he feels-he's embarrassed. Is that a fair characterization? Did he say he wanted to apologize to you? Ms. WILLIAMS. Well, 1 don't want to characterize. I don't remember him saying "apologize," I have to say I was caught up in my own bad attitude. Senator DAMATO. OK. What did he say to you and what did you say to him? MS. WILLIAMS. I believe what he said to me was I want to tell you about some writings that I have written that have your name in them, and I probably said OK And I was alerted-1 mean, 1 wasn't totally unaware of this because I'd had a previous conversation with Mr. Cutler who had asked me about them. So I wasn't totally unaware of what he said. Senator DAMATO. Mr. Cutler had, in reviewing of the matters that had taken place, gone over this and informed you what the writings were about? Ms. WILLIAMS. Yes. He did tell me what the writings were about, and he asked me questions about them. Senator DAMATO, So now what did Roger say to you? Ms. WILLIAMS. At that point he said I want to tell you about them, and then he essentially told me what each of the writings or entries had said. Senator D'AMATO. What the entries were about? Ms. WILLIAMS. Yes, that's correct. Senator D'AMATO. The paralysis? What did you say to him? Ms. WILLIAMS. I said something on the order of Roger, where is this coming from? 1 don't remember any conversations that I had with you about this. Senator D'AMATO. And what did he say in response to that? Ms. WILLIAMS. Well, I believe he was kind of-I believe that he Was quiet, quite frankly, about it. As I said before and as I testified before the House Committee, I was having quite a bad attitude about this entire matter, and I was more or less caught up Senator DAMATO. You mean about the diary? Ms. WILLIAMS. The fact that what had been written about me, to the best of my recollection, there were conversations that never had taken place which would be reflected in his writings. So I was, I was upset, 326 Senator D'AMATO. At the time of the discussion, did you know that fie was scheduled to testify before the Senate? Did he indicate anything to you about that? Ms. WILLIAMS. No, I don't believe he indicated anything to me about that, but everybody knew he was going to testify before the Senate. Senator DAMATO. Let me ask you, didn't he say to you that I brought a copy of this and didn't he in fact bring a copy of the diary, the yellow page diary?