Posted on 07/22/2007 4:36:02 AM PDT by GFritsch
14 yers ago today, on July 20, 1993, the body of Vincent Walker Foster, Jr. was found in a Virginia park, next to a civil war cannon, with an unidentified revolver lodged in the right hand. Vincent Foster died of a small-caliber gunshot wound to his head.
Vince Foster was not only deputy White House counsel but also the personal attorney to Bill and Hillary Clinton. On the night of Foster’s death, top Clinton aides made a frantic effort to enter and remove documents from his West Wing office. In the days that followed, federal investigators were stymied in their investigation of Foster’s office and strange death.
The following happened within weeks of his death. Vince Foster finally files the missing Whitewater tax returns. On July 19, FBI director William Sessions is fired. Clinton personally orders him by phone to turn in his FBI property and leave headquarters.
That evening, Clinton security aide Jerry Parks' wife Jane says she overhears a heated telephone conversation with Vince Foster in which her husband says, "You can't give Hillary those files, they've got my name all over them."
On July 20, Clinton names Louis Freeh as Sessions' successor.
That same day, the FBI raids David Hale's Little Rock office and seizes documents including those relating to Capital-Management.
Just hours after the search warrant authorizing the raid is signed by a federal magistrate in Little Rock, Vince Foster apparently drives to Ft. Marcy Park.
Foster was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound to the head in Ft. Marcy Park. His unoccupied car, a 1989 Honda, was found in the park's parking lot. Several witnesses - before and after the arrival of the park police - have claimed they saw a briefcase in Foster's car.
A so-called suicide note was found in an office briefcase that had been searched and found to be empty after Foster’s death. The note was torn into 27 pieces. Yet an FBI examination found no trace of Foster’s fingerprints on the note and three independent handwriting experts determined that Foster's suicide note, was a forgery.
The Raid of Vince Foster’s Office While the U.S. Park Police studied the body, Foster's office at the White House was being looted.
Secret Service agent Henry O' Neill watched as Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, Margaret Williams, carried boxes of papers out of Vincent Foster's office before the Park Police showed up to seal it, yet the official identification of Vincent Foster's body by Craig Livingstone did not take place until 10PM!
Another Secret Serviceman saw Craig Livingston remove items from Vincent Foster's office in violation of the official seal. Witnesses also saw Bernard Nussbaum in Foster's office as well. Three witnesses noted that Patsy Thomason, director of the White House's Office of Administration, was desperate to find the combination to Vincent Foster's safe. Ms. Thomason finally opened the safe, apparently with the help of a special "MIG" technical team signed into the White House in the late hours. Two envelopes reported to be in the safe by Foster's secretary Deborah Gorham, addressed to Janet Reno and to William Kennedy III, were never seen again. When asked the next day regarding rumors of the safe opening, Mack McLarty told reporters Foster's office did not even have a safe, a claim immediately shot down by former occupants of that office.
The next day, when the Park Police arrived for the official search of Vincent Foster's office, they were shocked to learn that Nussbaum, Thomason and Williams had entered the office. Conflicts channeled through Janet Reno's Department of Justice resulted in the Park Police merely sitting outside Foster's office while Bernard Nussbaum continued his own search of Foster's office. During this search, he opened and upended Vincent Foster's briefcase, showing it to be empty. Three days later, it would be claimed that this same briefcase was where the torn up suicide note was discovered.
The boxes of documents removed from Foster's office by Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, Margaret Williams, were taken to the private residence area of the White House! Eventually, only 54 pages emerged.
One set of billing records, under subpoena for two years, and thought to have originated in Foster's office, turned up unexpectedly in the private quarters of the White House, with Hillary's fingerprints on them.
So, who ordered the office looting?
Bill Clinton was unavailable, being on camera with Larry King. But Hillary Clinton, who had only the day before diverted her planned return to Washington D.C. to Little Rock, was on the phone from Little Rock to someone at the White House in the moments before the looting took place.
The death of Vince Foster is very unsettling. There is an amazing amount of inconsistent information surrounding his death, the investigation and the autopsy. And, of course, his close relationship with Hillary was intriguing. Many books have claimed that the two were lovers for several years.
To date, several unanswered questions still remain. What did the White House know and when did they know it? Another question: If Foster was not identified as a White House official until at least an hour and a half after police arrived, why were police officers associated with an elite federal unit on the scene within 45 minutes? Evidence suggests that White House officials were informed of Foster's death, at least an hour before they claim to have been initially notified.
The FBI never officially investigated the case but simply signed off on the Park Police "probe." The bureau had little choice.
Later, Robert Fiske, selected by Clinton’s counsel Bernie Nussbaum and Janet Reno, quickly confirmed the Park Police probe as a suicide. Yet, no fewer than three of the paramedics on the scene indicated in reports or testimony that the crime scene was consistent with a murder scene, not a suicide.
? A careful FBI microscopic investigation of Foster’s shoes found not a trace of soil or grass stains on them, though he supposedly walked several hundred yards through wooded Fort Marcy Park to where his body was found. [Years later, Starr’s investigation found plenty of soil and grass stains. Rodriguez charged that the shoes were tampered with to produce such "evidence."]
? Foster was found with little blood around his body – and despite claims that he fired the gun into his mouth, practically no blood was found on the front of his shirt.
? Foster was found with a 1913 revolver no one in his family could claim, with two serial numbers, made from the parts of three or more guns. None of Foster’s fingerprints were found on the gun. The bullet that supposedly killed Foster was never found, despite intensive searches.
? The first witness to find the body insisted that there had been no gun near the body. The memory in Foster's pager had been erased. Critical evidence began to vanish. Many witnesses were harassed. Others were simply ignored. There were even suggestions that the body had been moved, and a Secret Service memo surfaced which reported that Foster's body had been found in his car! The official reports were self-contradictory.
? All of the X-rays taken during the autopsy are missing. Complete crime scene photos don’t exist. The Park Police said all the photos were "accidentally" overexposed. A series of close-up Polaroids, which Favish is suing for, remain.
? A briefcase in the car of Vincent Foster was removed after U.S. Park Police arrived at his death scene. The briefcase, which may have carried important documents, was never listed on official evidence reports compiled by park police who conducted the first investigation into the White House deputy counsel's death.
Hillary Clinton was trying to gain leverage over her husband, possibly in relation to future divorce proceedings. It is possible Mrs. Clinton wanted to get to the bottom of persistent rumours about her husband's philandering before subjecting herself and her daughter to the media glare of a presidential campaign. At the time, Mrs Clinton and Vince Foster were partners at the Rose Law firm.
Did Hillary Clinton have an affair with Little Rock lawyer Vincent Foster? According to retired Arkansas State Trooper Larry Patterson, "There is no doubt in my mind that there was a long, ongoing sexual relationship between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster."
Patterson, who guarded the Clintons for more than six years, made the new disclosures on the audiotape set "More than Sex: The Secrets of Bill and Hillary Clinton Revealed"
Patterson said that on one occasion, at a birthday party for Hillary Clinton, he saw Foster touch Hillary in private areas of the body twice. Patterson said his belief about Hillary and Vince was formed after years of observation during the frequent meetings between the two, when Bill was out of town, and the stories of other troopers.
Patterson gives eyewitness details of several occasions upon which he saw Vince and Hillary in compromising situations.
On the day of Vince Foster’s death, Patterson said he learned about the death before the Park Police even found Foster’s body and hours before the White House said they were informed. Patterson’s information, corroborated by another trooper, exposes a cover-up bigger than Watergate.
A case arose from an overall conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with federal investigations into the death of deputy White House counsel Vincent W. Foster.
Patrick Knowlton was in Ft. Marcy Park the afternoon that Vincent Foster died. What Knowlton saw and what happened to him afterwards is one of the most disturbing stories of the whole Clinton saga. You can read the testimony here
Miguel Rodriguez was a prosecutor on the staff of Kenneth Starr. His attempts to uncover the truth in the Vincent Foster death case were repeatedly foiled, and he was the subject of planted stories undermining his credibility and implying that he was unstable. Rodriguez eventually resigned.
After learning of Fosters death, Jane Parks, the wife of Jerry Parks claims that her husband said, "I'm a dead man". Parks had collected detailed data on Clinton's sexual escapades, including pictures and dates. His wife claims federal agents subsequently removed his files and computer, and that Bill Clinton still owed him $81,000.
(Note. Two months later, Jerry Parks is found murdered gangland-style )
Getting a detail like that wrong kind of calls the rest of this article into question, doesn’t it.
Thanks. I knew he was depressed but I didn’t know the whole story. I also didn’t know he was so involved with the travel office which might have started his downfall.
A couple of years ago, I had the sad duty of "puting down" a large dog that had been paralyzed when a car hit her and broke her back. Her only reaction to the 9mm round applied intracranially via the foramen magnum was deflection of her head due to the jolt of the bullet strike.
But I was amazed at the huge and rapidly ejected volume of blood produced by a bullet to the brain while the heart is still beating and blood pressure is normal!
The mammalian brain has a massive blood supply. I have seen forensic photos of suicides where a bullet entered the brain through the roof of the mouth -- and there was blood spattered everywhere.
Foster supposedly "shot himself in the roof of the mouth with a .38" -- yet, There was virtually no blood on his white shirt or around/under the body when found.
If Vince Foster was shot through the roof of his mouth -- it was after his heart had stopped beating! (i.e. he was already dead from another cause...)
Suicide as stated? I ain't buying that lie !
COLUMBO: CASE OF THE FOSTER “SUICIDE”
By P.J. Gladnick
Note: the following sketch was posted to alt.tv.snl on December 31, 1997 as a possible sketch for Saturday Night Live. P. J. Gladnick was given me permission to reprint it on this page. The following is a parody and is not intended as a challenge to any existing copyright or trademark.)
(President Clinton is sitting at his desk in the Oval Office. A voice is heard on his intercom. It is his secretary.)
SECRETARY: Mr. President, Lieutenant Columbo is here to see you.
(The Oval Office door opens a bit. Columbo peeks in tentatively.)
COLUMBO: I hope I’m not disturbing you, Mr. President.
CLINTON (smiling broadly): Not at all! I heard that you were visiting the White House. That’s why I had my people take you off the tour line to see me. I’ve always been a big fan of yours.
(Columbo, puffing on a cigar and wearing a wrinkled raincoat, walks in a slouching manner up to Clinton. A beaming Clinton stands up from behind his desk and heartily shakes Columbo’s hand.)
COLUMBO: Mr. President, this is indeed an honor. Let me tell you, my wife is a big fan of yours. Sir, I don’t mean to impose but do you think you can autograph a photo for my wife?
CLINTON: Heck, that’s no problem. I’ll be happy to oblige.
(Clinton pulls a photo of himself from his desk, signs it, and hands it to Columbo.)
COLUMBO: This is terrific! You don’t know what this will mean to my wife...Uhh, before I go, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?
CLINTON: Huh? Okay, sure.
COLUMBO: Could you tell me how much you paid for your suit? I really admire the material.
CLINTON: I, umm, think it cost about $500.
COLUMBO: And so clean too. With a suit like that you must send it out to the cleaners after each time you wear it.
CLINTON: Of course.
COLUMBO: Well, this is what’s bothering me. I heard that your good friend, the late Vincent Foster, was also a nice dresser yet there were carpet fibers discovered all over his suit when they found him after his tragic suicide in Fort Marcy Park.
(Clinton’s smile turns a bit tense.)
CLINTON: So?
COLUMBO: So it seems like a mystery how all these fibers ended up on his suit. You might pick up a few carpet fibers around the bottom of the pants but not all over the suit.
CLINTON: I think the FBI determined that the carpet fibers probably came from his home.
COLUMBO: That is only an assumption because the FBI never actually took samples from the carpet fibers at his home. With all those fibers on his suit, you would think that they would make a comparison.
CLINTON (Slightly exasperated): Look, Lieutenant Columbo, there have already been three investigations into this matter and they all ruled that Vince Foster committed suicide.
COLUMBO: Oh, I’m not questioning the investigations. I’m sure Mr. Foster died just the way they said but there are still a few loose ends.
CLINTON: Such as?
COLUMBO: Such as the autopsy X-rays.
CLINTON: What about the X-rays?
COLUMBO: Dr. James Beyer, the Deputy Medical Examiner for Northern Virginia, conducted the autopsy but no X-rays were taken.
CLINTON: No X-rays were taken? That’s absurd! They must have been taken in a case of this importance.
COLUMBO: Dr. Beyer checked off a box on the autopsy report stating that he took X-rays yet he later claimed the X-ray machine was inoperable.
CLINTON: Aren’t you forgetting the suicide note that Foster left behind?
COLUMBO (slaps forehead with his hand): That’s right! The suicide note! Obviously it must have been suicide if Foster left behind a suicide note.
(Clinton looks cheerful again.)
CLINTON: I guess that closes the case then.
COLUMBO: It sure does! Mr. President, you don’t know how relieved this makes me feel. I’m sorry to have taken up your time with this matter.
CLINTON: Think nothing of it.
(Columbo leaves through the door and Clinton returns to his desk. A few moments later the door opens again and Columbo leans just inside the doorway.)
COLUMBO: Uhh, there’s just one little point that I overlooked.
CLINTON (looking irritated): What is it, Lieutenant Columbo?
COLUMBO: How do we know that the suicide note was actually written by Mr. Foster?
CLINTON: The suicide note’s handwriting was analyzed and judged to be authentic.
COLUMBO: Yes, by a Capitol police sergeant who only studied handwriting as a hobby. The fact of the matter is that three renowned handwriting experts including Reginald Alton of Oxford University determined that the note, supposedly written by Mr. Foster, was an obvious forgery.
CLINTON: Lieutenant Columbo, are you one of those conspiracy kooks? The autopsy report, even without the X-rays, proved it was a suicide.
(Columbo reaches inside his raincoat and pulls out a couple of sheets of paper.)
COLUMBO: The strange thing is that the official finding says it was a mouth to head wound yet take a look at the report of the Fairfax County Medical Examiner, Dr. Haut. It came from the National Archives and placed on the Internet from where I downloaded it.
(Columbo hands the papers to Clinton.)
CLINTON: Hmm?... .It says that the wound was “mouth-head” just like the official report.
COLUMBO: Yes but look at the word “head.” It’s obvious that was typed in after another word just to its left was whited out. Then if you look on the second page of Haut’s report it actually says the wounds were “mouth to neck.” I submit, sir, that the first page was altered to change the wound location.
CLINTON: The bottom line is that, despite these discrepancies, the investigators have determined that Vince Foster committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park.
COLUMBO: Oh, sir. I’m not disputing their expertise. It’s just that professional police officers are trained to treat every death as a homicide until suicide is proven. In this case, however, Cheryl Braun, the senior Park Police Officer testified that they determined that Foster had committed suicide before they had even inspected the body.
CLINTON: This is all very interesting theory but the fact is that the Foster case has been ruled a suicide...Case closed.
COLUMBO: I’m sure you’re right about that. After all, if those in authority say it was a suicide then it must be so. Well, good day, Mr. President. Sorry for troubling you about details that must have some logical explanation.
CLINTON: Thank you for visiting, Lieutenant Columbo, and goodbye.
(Columbo leaves the room. Clinton returns to his desk and begins writing on some papers. A little while later we see Columbo looking from the outside into the Oval Office through a window just behind Clinton. Columbo begins tapping on the window. At first Clinton doesn’t hear him. Then he turns around and opens the window.)
CLINTON: Columbo! What is your problem?
(Columbo bends over and then stands back up again holding his shoes.)
COLUMBO: See all that dirt on the soles of my shoes?
CLINTON: Okay, they’re dirty. So what?
COLUMBO: It’s just like when my cousin Guido visits me. He likes working in my yard which is great but my wife throws a fit when Guido tries to walk into the house because of all the dirt on his shoes.
CLINTON: Will you please get to the point, Columbo!
COLUMBO: Well, the FBI scraped Mr. Foster’s shoes thoroughly but found no traces of soil. Everybody else who walked in the area of Fort Marcy Park where Foster was found came away with lots of dirt on their shoes.
CLINTON: You’re wrong, Columbo. A forensic expert found soil on Foster’s shoes.
COLUMBO: Oh yes. Henry Lee thought he found microscopic quantities of the soil on the shoes long after the FBI carefully went over them. Lee was the same fellow who determined that OJ Simpson must have been innocent because he thought he saw another footprint which never existed at the murder scene. Somehow I don’t think Mr. Lee is the most reliable expert in this regard.
CLINTON: Are you trying to say that Foster did not commit suicide in Fort Marcy Park?
COLUMBO: I think that could be a distinct possibility, sir. I’m sure that you, having been a friend of Mr. Foster, would want to leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of this matter.
CLINTON: Just what do you expect me to do?
COLUMBO: It would be helpful if you could make the videotape from the White House parking lot surveillance camera available. We need to see Mr. Foster entering his car on the day he died.
CLINTON: That tape is missing from the White House vault where it was stored.
COLUMBO: Then how about the videotape from the vault surveillance camera? Maybe we can find out who removed the parking lot video from the vault.
CLINTON: The vault video is missing too. Perhaps the parking lot camera never caught Foster entering his car?
COLUMBO: At the most guarded building in the world? Not likely. As a matter of fact I’m sure that cameras are watching me right now and that Secret Service guards should be apprehending me at any moment.
(Suddenly several uniformed guards grab Columbo and haul him away.)
COLUMBO (shouting from the distance): This has been a really enlightening conversation, Mr. President! I hope we can pick up where we left off in the near future!
(Clinton slams the window shut.)
He was also “left-handed”.....yet the gun was found in his right hand.
Do you see any blood on that hand or shirt cuff? (See #66...)
It’s possible. The thumb is inserted into the trigger guard and the rest of the fingers hold the grip.
Usually resulting in pretty good powder residue on the wrist, It’s been so long now that I’d have to go back and read the reports.
Someday the truth will out.
I think suicide by gunshot would nearly be eliminated if the shooter could only pull the trigger with his thumb. It is a very difficult and awkward way to shoot a gun let alone kill one’s self.
You bet she is.
What’s there to figure?Hillary gave him an a love letter from her heart.[That’s a bullet from a gun for those not familiar with the movie Blue Velvet.]
I also found this to be odd: It was on such a weekend in Lisa’s sophomore year that she met Vince Foster, a sopho- more at Davidson, on a blind date. “We had an absolute ball” she recalls, “I kissed him on the first date — I’d probably never done that in my life. I took one look at him and I thought, Oh, my God, you’re the best-lookin’ thing I’ve ever seen. I just went head over heels in love with him.” Vince seemed so smart, and so interested in the world; Lisa, want- ing to impress him, ordered a subscription to TIME. When Vince told his mother about Lisa, he said, “She’s a math major and she’s a Catholic. She’s not pretty, but she’s kind of cute.” Vince brought her home to Hope, and there his father, waiting outside the family’s big white house, pegged his future daughter-in-law exactly right, and won her for- ever. “Well, I think she’s beautiful,” he said. “She looks just like Doris Day.”
I guess it means he was brutally honest.
Initial news stories are often wrong, but it was apparently an old handgun that belonged to his father.
With all due respect, unless you saw the crime scene, have reviewed the photographs, etc., you really have no idea what you are talking about.
Read the interview with his wife which is posted on this thread. It’s an eye opener.
Should have checked expensive carpet stores in the area to see who purchased a replacement.
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