The White House is acknowledging that records of business deals involving President Clinton and his wife were removed from the office of deputy counsel Vincent Foster Jr. by a top administration official two days after Foster's suicide.
The White House said late Monday that White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum on July 22 took control of tax materials and records of the Clintons' dealings with an Arkansas real estate partnership known as Whitewater Development Corp. and sent them to the president's personal attorney in Washington. Foster killed himself July 20.Investigators probing Whitewater and the operator of a failed Arkansas savings and loan association were not allowed to review the materials.
White House Communications Director Mark Gearan said the files were in the possession of David Kendall, the president's personal attorney. Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said the Clintons did not plan to release the files, although they have released other personal financial records in the past. "Being forthcoming, who I think the president and first lady have been, doesn't mean you have to turn over every single file," she said.
In the presence of law enforcement officials, Nussbaum personally examined the documents and decided on their disposition, Gearan said. The law enforcement officials were not given an opportunity to inspect the papers, Gearan said.
"It was just the process," Gearan added. "Bernie categorized them."
"All the files were handled appropriately," Gearan said. "They (the Clintons) are not the subject of any investigation."
Gearan issued a statement on the papers in Foster's office after The Washington Times published a story Monday under the headline, "Clinton papers lifted after aide's suicide."
Quoting two unidentified U.S. Park Police investigators, the newspaper said Foster's office was searched by Nussbaum and two Clinton political operatives less than three hours after Foster's body was found.
The story said the documents taken from Foster's office included files he maintained on Whitewater and on James B. McDougal, a Whitewater partner and owner of a failed Arkansas savings and loan.
Questions about the Whitewater real estate venture emerged when the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan owned by McDougal. The probe is focusing on whether McDougal drained funds from the S&L to back real estate projects - including Whitewater - or to benefit politicians, including Clinton.
Gearan said files found in Foster's office were examined by Nussbaum on July 22 "in the presence of representatives of various law enforcement agencies."
Afterward, Clinton's papers were sent to his attorney, while files pertaining to Foster's White House duties were kept in the counsel's offices and files personal to Foster and his family were sent to his family's personal attorney, Gearan said.
He said the Clintons' personal papers included their personal tax returns, the filing of Whitewater Development Corp. tax returns and the disposition of their interest in Whitewater.