The Pentagon office that produced the now infamous tapes of White House fund-raisers presumably would have remained in happy obscurity today had it stuck to its original mission: providing safe communications between the president and his military commanders.
But since 1941, when the White House Communications Agency was organized to serve President Franklin Roosevelt, it has gradually expanded the scope of its mission. And these days - to the displeasure of some in Congress - the unit handles all White House audiovisual services, produces transcripts, operates a news wire and the presidential TelePrompter, and even staffs political events far from White House grounds.Indeed, even before the recent publicity surrounding the tapes raised questions about the agency's operations, the Pentagon inspector general had reported that the unit was suffering "mission creep" and needed tighter management oversight.
With a budget of $120 million and a staff of 851, the office reports to both White House and Pentagon officials and is under the complete control of neither.
To carry out its mission, the unit follows President Clinton on all trips, carrying equipment and setting up secure phone lines for him to every military command. Aides with the unit, called "Wocka" by presidential aides, follow him from stop to stop toting bullet-proof presidential lecterns and the familiar round presidential seal.
At the White House, they also provide the sound for all public presidential events, generate transcripts from briefings and maintain wire services so aides can follow distant news and learn how the press is playing their announcements. Also, WHCA maintains a closed-circuit television system within the White House.
(The agency did not set up President Nixon's secret taping system that came to light during the Watergate scandal, nor was it responsible for the earlier systems of presidents Johnson and Kennedy, officials say.)
One portion of the WHCA staff, a 120-member unit, videotapes all public events involving Clinton, including some - such as the fund-raisers - in which he meets with relatively small groups. They would tape, for example, a meeting between Clinton and local or state officials.
The unit doesn't tape Clinton's closed-door staff meetings, nor does it make videos of public events at the White House that involve aides but not the president.
One of WHCA's responsibilities is to record important presidential events for the National Archives and presidential libraries.
But for events of lesser importance, such as the fund-raisers, WHCA crews typically film only the opening few minutes, then turn off the camera and leave the room.