NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY -- DOCUMENT EXTRACT Telephone Transcript 12/16/96 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT 09:33 Static. VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Rusty? Rusty? I'm not sure if the satellite link is working. I can't hear you. Static. VPOTUS: So let me just say, Merry Christmas. And did you get the fruitcake? Static. VPOTUS: Well, just in case you didn't, we'll send another down to Brazil. OK? Static. VPOTUS: Okay! Click. Line dead. 09:44 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hey, Al, Got a sec? VPOTUS: Sure, Bill. What's up? POTUS: Well, this is a delicate matter. You see, Jim Carville is hitting Ken Starr pretty hard, and -- VPOTUS: Bill, I understand completely. POTUS: You do? VPOTUS: Sure. You want to come out publicly and say, ``Hey! Jim's right! Ken Starr is a partisan attack dog!'' And may I say, Bill, right on! POTUS: Actually, Al, I want to do the opposite. VPOTUS: You want to come out publicly and say, ``Hey! Jim's wrong! Ken Starr is a fair-minded investigator who's about to indict my wife?'' POTUS: Something between the two. VPOTUS: Okay. POTUS: See, if we keep -- I mean, if Jim keeps -- hitting Ken Starr like we are -- I mean, like he is -- well, it's starting to backfire. The press is against us -- I mean, against him -- and it just looks like Hillary and I are scared. VPOTUS: And you're not, right? POTUS: No, we are. Very. So why keep picking on this guy and making him mad? Let him take the McDougals and Hale and Kendall and Hillary's secretary and Marceca and Livingstone and whoever else. Let him take 'em all. That's business. There's no need to make it personal, you know? VPOTUS: I guess I see your point. But, darn it, I think Ken Starr is on a partisan witch hunt. POTUS: Well, Al, I agree with you. But it's not your witch he's after. Click. Line dead. 11:23 VPOTUS: Hi, Jim. UNIDENTIFIED SOUTHERN MALE: Yeah, hey, Mr. Vice President. How'ya doin' up there? VPOTUS: I'm okay, Jim. How are you? UNSOMA: Okay, I guess. VPOTUS: How's Mary? And the baby? UNSOMA: Yeah, okay.

VPOTUS: As I know you know, the President can't publicly support what you've been saying, but between you and me, you're doing a terrific job. UNSOMA: Yeah okay, but I'm knockin' my head against the wall here like a rat in a coffee can, you know? I'm marching up and down the street all alone out here like it was Gay Pride Day in Salt Lake City, you know? VPOTUS: I'm not following you, Jim. UNSOMA: Thas jes' what I mean, sir. Not a one is followin' me. I'm out here by lonesome Jim's self. VPOTUS: Well, to be honest, Jim, the crusade -- while well meant and absolutely one hundred per cent justified -- well, it's backfiring a little. UNSOMA: Backfiring? VPOTUS: Yeah. So we thought, Hey, maybe old Jim has done his bit, let's just all back off some so that the thing doesn't blow up in our faces. You know, if we keep hitting Starr and keep hitting Starr and then he indicts, oh, just for the sake of argument, you-know-who -- UNSOMA: Who? VPOTUS: Think, Jim. UNSOMA: I am thinking. VPOTUS: Think harder. Think perjury. Think obstruction of justice. UNSOMA: The President? VPOTUS: Well, I meant Hillary, but I see your point. Look, we all appreciate your efforts, but to continue would only hurt the President. And as much as I'd like to be President myself, I'd rather win it fair and square, not by waving goodbye on the White House lawn while Marine One choppers out. That would just get really weird. I mean, Chelsea would probably have to stay with us while she finished school, and Tipper just hates what they've done to the Blue Room, and -- UNSOMA: So you want me to quit? VPOTUS: Yeah, Jim. UNSOMA: Jes' pack it in? VPOTUS: Please. For Bill. UNSOMA: Well, okay. But I'm not giving the money back. VPOTUS: What money? UNSOMA: Last week we got a check for $25,000 to keep up the heat on Ken Starr. VPOTUS: Who from? UNSOMA: Someone named Tipper Gore. VPOTUS: (coughing) UNSOMA: Say thanks to her for me. VPOTUS: (coughing) UNSOMA: Toodles. Click. Line dead. 11:32