Posted on 06/05/2003 7:20:56 AM PDT by dukeman
What Did Hillary Know And When Did She Know It?
Two questions emerged amid the emotional hand-wringing over Bill Clinton’s dalliances with Monica Lewinsky: How could the president do such a reprehensible thing to his family and how can a strong, intelligent woman like Hillary Clinton stand by such a lout? The first question was easy- Hello, we’re talking about Bill Clinton!
The second question was a tougher nut to crack. Hillary Clinton’s defenders were legion during the height of the Lewinsky scandal. Columnists and TV talking heads cited various combinations of marital devotion and political ambition in explanation for Hillary’s stance. Hillary herself said the “real story” was the vast right wing conspiracy at work against her husband- Of course she would stand by her man!
One of the more interesting theories on Hillary’s allegiance to Bill was that she simply did not know about Bill’s illicit relationship with Monica. As the story goes, Bill only fessed up to the truth during the weekend prior to his August 17, 1998 grand jury testimony. Prior to that, Hillary accepted Bill’s explanation that he was merely “ministering” to a troubled youth and that right wing enemies were out to get him.
This “no knowledge” defense (aka, the Sgt. Shultz Defense) raises the Watergate-era question, “What did Hillary know and when did she know it?” Several excerpts from the OIC Supplemental Documents are instructive.
Several grand jury witnesses discussed a 1997 Christmas party at the White House and the consternation caused by Monica's attendance. Monica had long before left the White House for her Pentagon job, but her re-appearance there apparently threw the staff into fits.
Uniformed Secret Service Officer Gary Byrne begins at page 328 from the vantage point of his post at the East Visitors' Gate:
"A: ....I saw Monica in line. And as soon as I saw her, I made some comment about, you know, "what are you doing here?" You know, "You're not supposed to be here," or something to that effect.
Q: Is this the first time you had ever seen her since she left the White House?
A: I honestly don't recall, but it's the one that sticks out in my mind.
Q: All right.
A: So I said to her, you know, "You're not supposed to be here." She--
Q: Why did you say she wasn't supposed to be here?.....Did you feel that she had left under unfavorable circumstances, left the White House?
A: Without revealing any privileged information, yes, I do believe that she did, and I can't comment any further than that. But, yes. The way she was transferred, from what I heard was, it was like almost overnight.
So she or the guest, the person she was with, it was a man. I don't remember who it was. I remember he was about five-foot-five, dark hair in, you know, an evening suit type.....But anyway, he handed me both their IDs. And as he was handing me the IDs, I said to her, especially-- I was a little embarrassed. I probably embarrassed her in front of this guy. You know, as far as I know, this could have been her boyfriend or something.
So, as I was looking for his name and her name, you know, I, I didn't actually apologize, but I made light of the situation, and I felt like I had put them both at ease, and felt like I was probably going to get through the night without having to write myself up, you know, write something. So.
And, the truth is, I really didn't care because it was her, and I'm sure nobody that I worked with, knowing, you know, our history [Monica and Byrne didn't like each other], would even care. But, anyway, she still was a guest of the President's. She was on the guest list. She was a guest of the function of the President's, and I was a little bit out of line. So, anyway, I let them in. And they were both on the list. I checked them off. They go into the security room.
You know, five to 15 minutes later roughly, somewhere in that neighborhood, a White House employee, her name was [redacted], and I believe she worked for the Social Office at the time.....She came walking down, her and this assistant, and I don't remember the assistant's name, but she was a short girl with black hair.
And she said, "You guys screwed up. You let Monica in." And I started laughing. And I walked away from the gate what I was doing. Somebody covered me. There was quite a few of us out there. And I walked in. And I believe the person standing there with me was Uniformed Division Sergeant Henry Sargent..... And she starts, "You guys"-- she wasn't even-- Kim might have pointed at me and said, "You let her in," or something to that effect.
And I said, "I didn't let her in, you let her in." She goes, "What do you mean by that?" And I flipped through the thing. I found Monica's name on it with her escort, and then I flipped back to the front page where Kim had signed off on it. And I said, "You okayed it, you let them in, not me."
We hear next from Jamie Beth Schwartz, an assistant to the White House Social Secretary who was charged with monitoring the guest list for the Christmas party. Her FBI interview summary is found at page 3531:
"SCHWARTZ advised that SCHWARTZ saw MONICA LEWINSKY at a White House Holiday reception on either December 4 or December 5, 1997. The reception began at 6:00 p.m., and SCHWARTZ was the guest list manager. As such, SCHWARTZ was stationed at the East Visitors' Gate of the White House to allow the guests to enter.
SCHWARTZ advised that as she waited for the guests to enter, [Uniformed Secret Service Lt. Bryant] WITHROW approached SCHWARTZ and asked her if she had put LEWINSKY on the guest list. SCHWARTZ replied, "No, she is the guest of someone." WITHROW then said, "We'll see what happens," and walked away.
....LEWINSKY entered as the guest of First Name Unknown [redacted] or [redacted], a white male, whom SCHWARTZ believed was some type of Chief of Staff at the Pentagon. SCHWARTZ stated that approximately 400 people entered to attend the holiday reception in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. SCHWARTZ stated that after about an hour of checking guests in, SCHWARTZ left the East Visitors' Gate and went to the ground floor of the West Wing, outside of the Diplomatic Reception Room.
Shortly after SCHWARTZ arrived, she was approached by WITHROW, who asked SCHWARTZ if she had seen "her." SCHWARTZ told WITHROW that SCHWARTZ had just arrived and had not seen LEWINSKY. WITHROW then left without saying anything else. Minutes later, SCHWARTZ was approached by a member of the Presidential Protection Detail (PPD) of the Secret Service. This unnamed white male asked SCHWARTZ if SCHWARTZ had seen "her." SCHWARTZ asked, "MONICA?" The PPD Agent replied, "Yes." SCHWARTZ told him that SCHWARTZ had just arrived. The PPD Agent then said, with fervor, "we have to find her before MRS. CLINTON sees her." The PPD Agent then "raced" away.
............
SCHWARTZ did not find out what happened with LEWINSKY at the reception after this. Some weeks later, WITHROW asked SCHWARTZ if SCHWARTZ had gotten in trouble because of LEWINSKY being at the reception, and SCHWARTZ told WITHROW she had not. WITHROW stated to SCHWARTZ that he had not gotten in trouble either.
Bryant Withrow's accouht of the incident, found at page 4573, is noteworthy for its brevity:
"WITHROW recalls seeing LEWINSKY at a Christmas party this past December. WITHROW believes he saw LEWINSKY outside the visitor's entrance. WITHROW believes it was a Christmas party for the military. One of the Uniformed Division personnel may have mentioned to WITHROW that LEWINSKY was at the gate. SCHWARTZ may have been working at that party, but WITHROW has no recollection of her being there. WITHROW does not recall saying anything to SCHWARTZ about LEWINSKY.”
Friends, as well as White House employees, were looking out for Hillary’s interests. Hillary’s circle of wealthy friends included a woman named Norma Asnes. The world truly being a small place, in 1997 Asnes came to befriend none other than Linda Tripp. Asnes refused to discuss this curious relationship after it was unearthed by the media in 1998. A transcript of a taped phone conversation between Tripp and Lewinsky illuminates the nature of the Asnes-Tripp relationship and suggests its purpose. At page 786, Lewinsky is asking Tripp about a recent weekend visit to Asnes'home:
"LEWINSKY: Were there any single men there?
TRIPP: No.
L: Okay.
T: Uh, the bottom line is, she wants me to come up-- this is such a riot. Well, first of all, it was once a month. Then I told her how unrealistic that was. So she wants me to commit to coming up once everry eight weeks to either Greenwich or New York to stay with her so she can get me out.
L: Yeah. Good.
T: She has servants at each location.
L: Oy vey.
T: Four at the house. Everything-- your bed is turned down. Your bed is made up. Your slippers, your bathrobe is cleaned. The-- you know, they give you the bathrobe, um, the waiters serve the-- the food at the dinner table and continually walk around.
L: How did she make all her money? [Good 'ol Monica!]
T: I have no idea. Um, she has a full-time caretaker on the property in a house bigger than mine, and then outside workers and four full-time staff on the inside. And the inside's huge.
L: Oh, my God.
T: It's either 12 or 14 bedrooms.
L: Oh, my God.
T: Like ten bathrooms.
L: She reminds me of my shrink a little.
T: Oh, my God. this place-- tennis courts, pool--
L: You had fun?
T: Oh, it was wonderful. And she's great, you know?
L: Yeah.
T: I mean-- but let's not forget whose best friend she is or at least one of her inner circle.
L: Ooh, did you get any poop?
T: Um, she asked me a lot about what I thought about Debbie Schiff and Marsha Scott.
L: Are you serious?
T: Mm-hmm.
L: You've got to be kidding me.
T: Uh-uh. She told me--
L: What did she say?
T: --that in the beginning, Marianne and somebody-- Carolyn Huber--
L: Mm-hmm.
T: --and somebody-- and Norma were told to try to get rid of Debbie and that it didn't work. And she said so she's convinced that Hillary doesn't think she's a threat because she's still there.
And I said, "Well, I don't believe she is a threat anymore, anyway." And she-- you know, she made it very clear to me, she said, "You know what I did once?" I said, "What?" So, now, her-- one of her sons-- two of her sons were there. One son, 35, married to this absolutely stunning girl who's an executive at Goldman Sachs...... The girl's 34, looks 22, and she's incredibly gorgeous...... And Norma said, "I did a little test on our friend," the big guy?
L: Yeah.
T: She said they were at an event, something. And she brought Regan, the girl.
Her son was away on business. And she said to Regan-- it was during the holidays. She said Regan had on a red suit. And she said, "Why don't you go up to him, shake his hand, and I'm going to take a picture as he shakes your hand." She said, "When I'm done taking the picture, you can tell him you're Norma's daughter-in-law." And she caught both pictures.
L: Yeah.
T: And she said it was instant letch, instant correction. Then Regan was a little taken aback....”
So, it seems that Hillary’s intelligence web extends beyond the White House grounds. The American public is repeatedly reminded of Hillary’s superior intelligence. She could have saved the country’s health care system if it hadn’t been for those pesky Harry & Louise ads and let’s not forget her skill at trading cattle futures. Assuming Hillary learned of the special attention paid Monica, could such a brilliant woman really accept the explanation that Bill was merely “ministering” to Monica? And if Hillary came to believe that Bill was having an affair with Monica, what would she likely do about it?
These same questions occurred to the grand jury. After listening to days of testimony from Clinton’s secretary, Betty Currie, about Clinton's special relationship with Monica, a male grand juror asked the following at page 656 with regard to Monica’s abrupt job transfer to the Pentagon:
"A JUROR: In my lifetime, I've worked for several employers. Generally speaking, all of these associates would know if the person who was at the top [Bill] had a favorite that he or she liked [Monica]. And very seldom would I think that an employee would ever let it be known that somebody [Monica] should be eliminated and incur possibly the wrath of the top person.
Who is at the White House that is so influential that could incur possibly the wrath of the President in saying that Monica Lewinsky should be gone?
A: I don't know the answer to that, sir.
A JUROR: Somebody had to make arrangements for her to be moved out of the White House.
A: According to what I know, Tim Keating had her transferred, promoted to the Defense Department. I didn't know that someone had forced her out. And I still don't know if that-- what happened. She was transferred/promoted out.
THE FOREPERSON: Can I ask you a possibility and you may not know this, but I have to ask.
A: Fine. THE FOREPERSON: Because Evelyn Lieberman had worked in the past with the First Lady and they knew each other very well, is it possible that Evelyn shared her fears of Monica stalking to the First Lady who then facilitated her removal from the White House?
A: I am totally unaware of that.
THE FOREPERSON: I just had to ask. A: Yeah, that's a good question." . Incidentally, Keating told the grand jury Monica was let go for substandard performance. Currie says Keating told her Monica was shipped to the Pentagon because she was a stalker.
Did Hillary have full knowledge of Monica and oversee her banishment to the Pentagon? In the words of Betty Currie, “That’s a good question,” but a question which will probably remain unanswered. It will more likely remain on the list of great political questions with the likes of the identity of Watergate’s “Deep Throat”, how Hillary’s Rose law firm billing records turned up in the Map Room, and who hired Craig Livingstone.
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If Hillary didn't know anything about Monica and "her husband", why did they care if Hillary saw Monica?
Thanks for the post.
By the way, good to see you here again, Dukeman.
Great to see you.
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