Committee Letter for Compromise with Library Foundation

February 26, 2001 David E. Kendall, Esq. Williams & Connolly Washington, D.C.

Re: Subpoena to the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation

Dear Mr. Kendall:

I have received your letter of February 22, 2001, in which you refused to comply fully with the Committee's February 13, 2001, subpoena for records from the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation ("the Clinton Library"). Shortly, I will provide a detailed response to your legal arguments, which will make it clear that the Committee is legally entitled to the information sought in its February 13 subpoena. In the interim, the refusal of the Clinton Library to provide these records is unacceptable for at least three reasons: (1) the Committee needs to look at these records to determine whether any persons or entities having a possible interest in the Rich and Green pardons, other than those named in part 3 of the subpoena, made contributions to the Clinton Library; (2) particularly in light of recent information regarding questionable payments made in connection with other pardons granted by former President Clinton on January 20, 2001, the Committee needs to determine whether contributions were made by persons or entities with an interest in pardons other than the Rich and Green pardons; and (3) the Committee needs to evaluate the significance of the contributions made or promised by Denise Rich and Beth Dozoretz in comparison with those made by other large donors.

I note that the Committee's subpoena was limited to information regarding large donors only, namely those who contributed or pledged at least $5,000 to the Clinton Library. By contrast, The Washington Post recently editorialized that the "tawdriness of the facts that we do know, combined with the Clintonian ambiguity of the former president's statements about what we don't know, calls out for a fuller accounting" and suggests that the former president "[p]ublish a complete list of received and promised gifts - to the Clinton library, the Clinton households, the Clinton campaigns, the Clinton lawyer's fund."

Nonetheless, in an effort to respect the privacy interests you have asserted without compromising the Committee's ability to conduct a thorough investigation, I am prepared to offer the following accommodation. If you allow Committee staff to review the lists of individuals who have given or pledged more than $5,000 to the Clinton Library, we may be able to eliminate a number of individuals whose contributions are not relevant to the Committee's investigation. The names of individuals deemed to have no connection to the investigation by the Committee could then be redacted from the donor and pledge lists produced to the Committee by the Clinton Library. It seems that this step would be a reasonable way of fulfilling the Committee's legitimate investigative needs while protecting the privacy interests of Clinton Library donors.

If you are not willing to accept the compromise offer I have made, I intend to pursue three options to obtain the necessary information.

First, I will call Skip Rutherford, the President of the Clinton Library, to testify before the Committee at 11:00 a.m. on March 1, 2001. Mr. Rutherford will be asked to provide testimony regarding individuals who have given or raised more than $5,000 to the Clinton Library. He will also be asked to provide testimony regarding the involvement of Denise Rich and Beth Dozoretz in fundraising for the Clinton Library.

Second, I am prepared to consider requesting a vote to hold the Clinton Library and Mr. Rutherford in contempt for failing to provide these records to the Committee.

Third, I intend to subpoena Regions Bank and Bank of America, where the Clinton Library maintains accounts, for their bank records relating to the Clinton Library. These records should reveal at least some of the individuals who have contributed to the Clinton Library.

Please respond to my offer by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, February 27, 2001.

Sincerely, Dan Burton Chairman

cc: The Honorable Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Minority Member

CAN YOU SAY: IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS? :-)

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), February 26, 2001