August 9, 1995 - Part 7
August 9, 1995 - Part 7
(16:45:39) Mr. NUSSBAUM. One group wanted to read the files Senator GRAMS. They didn't say they wanted to read them. Mr. NUSSBAUM. They wanted to look through the files which mean read at least a portion of each of the files to determine whether-well, they said to determine whether it was a suicide note, but also whether documents were privileged and relevant. They wanted to engage in a substantive search, a substantive examination. I understood that. Patsy Thomasson was not looking to engage in a substantive search or a substantive examination. All she was doing was looking on surfaces, not reading any documents. The others wanted to read documents and there certain obligations weighed on me, which I talked about earlier, the obligations of a lawyer to preserve the confidences of his client. Senator GRAMS. Security officials have testified just the opposite. They said White House officials were afraid that they might see something, you're saying you are afraid that they wanted to look deeper, and that isn't what they were there for. They said they were there just to look for a note or any other material. Mr. NUSSBAUM. If security officials so testified, they testified incorrectly. 1291 Senator GRAMS. Mr. Nussbaum, did you lock up the White I-louse Counsel's suite that night? Mr. NUSSBAUM. My memory is I did, I know there is other testimony perhaps inconsistent with that. But my memory is that, in accordance with my normal habit if I'm the last one leaving, I turn on the alarm and I lock the door. Senator GRAMS. Again, we're going to go back and I know this was a night of sadness, but like I still believe that it doesn't cloud memories, it might cloud decisions. But Ms. Williams testified under oath that you and she left Ms. Thomasson alone in the office. Is that true? When you left? Mr. NUSSBAUM. No, that's not my memory. Senator GRAMS. Officer O'Neill says that he is the one who secured the office that night, which the alarm records show from the White House. Mr. NUSSBAUM. It's not, that's not-I gave you my best memory. Senator GRAMS. So either Ms. Williams lied to the Committee or Mr. O'Neill has lied to the Committee? Mr. NUSSBAUM. No. Senator GRAMS. Now, in your opening statement Mr. NUSSBAUM. No. The answer is no. I want to finish that answer. The answer is I don't say-Ms. Williams certainly didn't lie to the Committee. Ms. Williams I know extremely well. Ms. Williams is a truthful person. Senator GRAMS. Maybe Mr. O'Neill. Mr. NUSSBAUM. Officer O'Neill, I do not know, but I don't believe he necessarily lied to the Committee. He's telling what he best remembers. And I am not lying to the Committee. Senator GRAMS. In your opening statement this morning, you said that Ms. Williams and Ms. Thomasson and you were in Mr. Foster's office, you said for about 10 minutes. Mr. NUSSBAUM. That's correct. Senator GRAMS. But the alarm records show that the office was open for an hour that night. Now, Mr. O'Neill testified that he came back several times to check on the office to see whether he should lock it up, and each time in that hour somebody was in Vince Foster's office. So for I hour, there were people in that office with the ability to go through files and look at things that you said they shouldn't be looking at. Mr. NUSSBAUM. I'm glad you asked that question, Senator, because you now enabled me to clear up a misapprehension and misunderstanding. Vince Foster's office is in the Counsel's suite. Senator GRAMS. That's right. Mr. NUSSBAUM. The alarm-when you shut Vince Foster's office alone, it has nothing to do with shutting the Counsel's suite. The Counsel's suite was open for an hour. Vince Foster's office was not open for an hour. Vince Foster's office was only populated that evening for 10 minutes. But the Counsel's suite, that's what triggers the records and the alarm. The Counsel's suite was open for an hour. There was somebody in the Counsel's suite, the Counsel was there, I was there, and what I was doing there is making phone calls for an hour. What the White House records reflect with respect to the office being open for an hour is the entire suite is open for an hour. Fos 1292 ter's office is only part of that suite. So it's incorrect to say that people were in Foster's office for an hour. People were in Foster's office for only 10 minutes. The only person in the suite for an hour was yours truly. Senator DODD. Could I add, was there a lock on Mr. Foster's separate office, no lock on that door? Mr. NUSSBAUM. There was DO lock on that door that night. We put a lock on the door the following night. Senator GRAMS. Mr. Nussbaum, let me tell you that Officer O'Neill said that when he checked, there were people still in Mr. Foster's office. He said as he closed the door to lock it up, Mg. Lieberman was in the doorway, then Ms. Williams came out of Mr. Foster's off-ice, came out. And then he went in, set the alarm and locked the door and he even rode down the elevator with Ms. Williams and Ms. Lieberman. He is saying for that hour there was somebody opening Vince Foster's office. Senator KERRY. If I could say to the Senator, just to clarify, he couldn't have gone into Mr. Foster's office to set the alarm, because there was no alarm in the office. Senator GRAMS. I thought that's where the switch was. He went into the suite to do it. Mr. NUSSBAUM. The switch, Senator, is in Mr. Foster's office. It's the switch that you turn on the alarm, the switch for the entire suite Senator KERRY. For the entire suite.