THE REAGAN INFORMATION INTERCHANGE

TRAVELGATE CONTINUES:

MORE WHITE HOUSE MISUSE OF THE FBI?

Throughout the Travelgate saga, the White House has had shifting stories and accounts of their interactions with the FBI. Over the past week, the White House has put out a changing story, First they said obtaining Billy Dale's background file was part of "routine'' background checks on White House employees. This was false. Then the White House tried to say the GAO was responsible for the request but the GAO said they were not. Finally they claimed this was part of an "innocent mistake" wherein they were seeking over 300 FBI background files of Reagan and Bush officials. The White House initially clained nobody reviewed the files but now we know somebody did and reported on "derogatory" information. The story continues to be in flux and questions abound.

It's time for Bill Clinton to do some explaining about who he put in charge of these highly sensitive security matters and what they did with that power, How much incompetence does President Clintun tolerate and if this mistake was unexcusable why hasn't anyone been fired?

The person Bill Clinton placed in charge of the White House Security Office, Craig Livingstone, worked on the Clinton/Gore campaign. His supervisor at the White House was former Rose Law firm partner Bill Kennedy. And the White House says no one should be worried about political people having access to their records?!

These are the same Clinton Administration people who fired Travel Office Director Billy Dale citing that "gross mismanagement" and shoddy record-keeping necessitated an immediate dismissal -- so that a 24 year-old cousin of Bill Clinton and his Hollywood pal Harry Thorrlason could take over the travel office.

The name of another Travel Office employee, Barney Brassleux, whose file was requested by the White House has not shown up on his list. The White House says it is still trying to find another list! They continually can't get their story straight!

Who else at the White House knew about these records being obtained in December, 1993, and when did they know it?

This is the same White House that didn't get backgrownd checks on its own political appointees for over a year and a half, yet they were gathering files on Reagan and Bush political appointees?

The so called "list" the White House has produced indicating whose files were pulled includes both Reagan and Bush political appointees. No explanation of this list has been provided.

Why didn?t anyone at the FBI raise any red flags when files of former Secretary of State James Baker, Bush Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater, and Reagnn White House Counsel A,B. Culvahouse were requested by the Clinton White House?

Why didn't the White House send the records back when they learned of the mistake? Who has seen them? FBI Director, Louis Freeh is already taking steps to change the process by which they disclose FBI files.

Why is the President still claiming executive privilege over 2000+ other pages of Travelgate documents? What other so called "innocent "mistakes" are they hiding?

Where are the missing notes that White House lawyer, Neil Eggleston, took of the Travelgate interviews with the First Lady and other White House officials? The President still hasn't explained this matter. What other "innocent mistakes" might these notes reveal?

We still don't have the real facts. The White House dripped out its usual half-truths last week and in fact floated allegations that the GAO or some other agency requested Billy Dale's FBI file before admitting the While House "inadverteutly" requested over 300 other files.

If Chairman Clinger hadn't brought this to light, we wouldn't have known about this incredible breach in security procedures at the White House, We don't" know who had access to these files, if any copies were made, and what happened to the "derogatory information" that the military aide was directed to pull from these files for Craig Livingstune?

Billy Dale has every reason to be uncomfortable and upset about this. We know that the White House was trying to dig up dirt on him - this premise is supported by other documents the Committee has obtained during the course of its investigation.

President Clinton's First Friend, Harry Thomason, made the allegations that got BiIIy Dale fired and then the White House worked hard to try to back up Mr. Thomason's allegations to no avail. Mr, Dale has been acquitted of all wrongdoing but at a significant cost to himself and his family. Now we find out that thirty years of his confidential FBI background information was in the very hands of the people who ran him out of the White House in a windowless van without any chance to respond to allegations of criminal wrongdoing being made about him by the White House.


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