From Correspondent Bob Franken
November 2, 1995
Web posted at: 6:55 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Appearing for a second time before the Senate Whitewater Committee, two associates of Hillary Rodham Clinton repeated Thursday that they knew of no effort by the first lady to discourage a search of Vincent Foster's office after the White House deputy counsel's death in 1993. Foster's office contained some of the Clinton family papers on their Whitewater real estate investment.
Republicans on the committee believe there are discrepancies in testimony given over the summer by the first lady's chief of staff, Margaret Williams, and a friend, Susan Thomases.
Phone records turned over to the committee by the White House last week provided what Republican Sen. Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina called "new information of a triangle" involving Mrs. Clinton, Williams and Thomases. The records go back to July 22, 1993, two days after Foster's death, which investigators ruled a suicide. The phone records show the three women engaged in a series of early morning calls.
First, Williams called Mrs. Clinton at her mother's home in Little Rock, Arkansas. The first lady then called Thomases in Washington. Then, according to previously disclosed records, Thomases immediately paged Foster's boss, chief White House lawyer Bernard Nussbaum. Republicans think the chain of calls may suggest Mrs. Clinton directed that Nussbaum hinder access to Foster's papers.
In her testimony last August, Thomases said she did not remember having any conversation with Mrs. Clinton about the documents. She repeated that recollection on Thursday. (128K AIFF sound or 128K WAV sound) Williams, who testified last July that there was "not some big plot," gave similar testimony Thursday.
The latest appearances by the two women grew heated at times, with Committee Chairman Alfonse D'Amato saying it was unusual that Williams and Thomases didn't remember the flurry of calls with the first lady. In response, Williams challenged committee members to remember all the phone calls they make on any given day. She also said she wasn't going to argue with Republican Senator Connie Mack of Florida, who tried to pin her down on her inability to recall a particular conversation in detail.
At Thursday's hearing, some Republicans suggested that Mrs. Clinton, herself, should testify and should be subpoened if she doesn't appear voluntarily.
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