August 4, 1994 - Part 8
August 4, 1994 - Part 8
(18:00:15) Mr. STEPHANOPOULOS. It was a very brief conversation, sir, but what I do remember as, I said earlier, was I know that I asked how Jay Stephens came to be hired and I was very angry about it. And I mean, since I'm under oath I can admit I'm still angry about it. I'm mystified at how Jay Stephens, who is such a public opponent of the President, a man who had accused the President of obstruction of Justice, a man who along with 93 other U.S. Attorneys had his resignation asked for and instead of accepting it like all the other 93 U.S, Attorneys, went on a public attack against the President. A man who is using fundraising letters, the lure of disclosing Grand Jury testimony in fundraising letters. A man who had been accused of disclosing Grand Jury testimony in public. I thought that that was just unfair to the President. I couldn't understand how he could have been hired by an impartial board to prosecute this case. And I was very angry about it, I'm still angry about it. Senator CAMPBELL. Well, I believe as Senator Bryan does, that's certainly understandable. Did the President and the First Lady have any concerns Mr. STEPHANOPOULOS. I didn't discuss this with them. Senator CAMPBELL. They never asked you to call the Treasury Department about him or asked you to put any pressure on anyone Mr. STEPHANOPOULOS. No, sir, they did not. 393 Senator CAMPBELL [continuing], To remove him from the Madison investigation; correct? Mr. STEPHANOPOULOS. No, sir, Senator CAMPBELL. Mr. Podesta, I know what a Secretary does. I know what an Assistant Secretary does. And I know what an Under Secretary does. But I'm not quite sure what a Staff Secretary does. Would you tell me what is your role at the White House, please? I mean, I read part of your job description, it says something about controlling the paper flow to the President. Mr. PODESTA. That's pretty accurate, Senator. I think that in many agencies, the role is described as the Executive Secretary. Any paper, memoranda, et cetera, that are coming into the President are forwarded through my office. I coordinate senior staff response to that and forward it to the President and take care of it when it comes back out from him. Senator CAMPBELL. Well, how did you get stuck with making a call to Mr. Altman? Is that also part of the job description, the mail and the calls, too? Mr. PODESTA. I ask myself that question quite often, Senator. I think that in the context of the-my assignment from Mr, McLarty, as I said which was limited, but I had the assignment of watching this hearing and then in the wake of the meeting we held in my office and perhaps in- particularly, I'm having a little trouble with the mike and seeing you also. Perhaps particularly because one of the issues was of such personal concern to Mr. Nussbaum which is how the meeting was set up, I think it just-I drew the straw and as I said, I was there not only with Mr. Lindsey but with four members of the White House Counsel staff, but we agreed that I would be tasked to do it and I did it. Senator CAMPBELL. "We agreed," meaning who? Mr. PODESTA. Mr. Nussbaum, Mr. Mein, Mr. Eggleston, Mr. Sloan, Mr. Lindsey and myself Senator CAMPBELL. We also heard a lot about the discussions among the White House staff about correcting Mr. Altman's February 2nd testimony. Did anyone argue for not correcting them or postponing correcting them or anything of that nature? Mr. PODESTA. The February 24th testimony? Senator CAMPBELL. Yes. Mr. PODESTA. Quite the contrary. I think it was a strong concern that the testimony be corrected and be corrected promptly. Senator CAMPBELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will yield the rest of my time. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Campbell. Senator Faircloth, Senator FAIRCLOTH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Ickes, on March Ist, you forwarded a memo to Hillary Clinton regarding the Resolution Trust Corporation. You attached a copy of a February 17th FDIC report about possible conflicts of interest regarding the Rose Law Firm, Hillary Clinton's old law firm, representing the FDIC against Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. We were given that confidential document to prepare for this hearing. I was interested in it for several reasons, well, one was I was mentioned in it. But Mrs. Clinton worked for the Rose Law Firm before her husband was elected 394 President. She says there was no conflict of interest even though she represented Madison Guaranty before it was closed, then her law firm represented the FDIC against Madison Guaranty_ against Madison Guaranty after it was closed. So my question is this, why would White House staff send Hillary Clinton a memo about something that happened before she was the First Lady and about something in which they say and she says nothing is wrong? Mr. ICKES. It's not clear, Senator, that that memorandum