10/19/00 1:10 p.m.
Liar, Liar
The Independent Counsel on Hillary.

By Mark R. Levin, president of the Landmark Legal Foundation

t's now official: Hillary Clinton, like her impeached husband, is a liar.

The Special Division of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which oversees the Office of the Independent Counsel (OIC), released yesterday the final investigative report on Hillary Clinton's role in the firing of the White House Travel Office staff. Independent Counsel (IC) Robert Ray concluded that Mrs. Clinton (that would be "Hillary!" for those familiar with her campaign bumper stickers) gave "factually inaccurate" sworn testimony when she tried to conceal her role in the scandal.

Let's recall a few facts. Billy Dale, the longtime career supervisor of the Travel Office, and his staff were not only fired abruptly when the Clintonoids took control of the White House, but several of them, including Dale, were thereafter audited by the IRS. Moreover, Dale was prosecuted by the always-diligent attorney general, Janet Reno, on trumped up charges of financial wrongdoing, for which he was acquitted in 90 minutes by a jury of his peers.

And why was this relatively insignificant office, and these low-level worker bees, put upon by the White House and federal law enforcement? Well, the Clintons' good friend and supporter, Hollywood's Harry Thomason, was a partner in TRM, Inc. Both had an interest in securing some of the White House's air charter business, but Dale had no interest in doing business with them. Thereafter, the White House suddenly unleashed an audit of the office, followed by White House allegations of crimes. Next, the FBI was ordered to conduct a criminal investigation. The lives and careers of the Travel Office civil servants were all but destroyed.

Those of us who have done our own research of the Travel Office scandal have known for years that Hillary! was the moving force behind this hideous act. The evidence was overwhelming, including the contemporaneous notes of the late White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster, a memorandum prepared by former White House assistant David Watkins, and statements by former White House chief of staff Mack McLarty — all of which demonstrated that Hillary! was pushing, and pushing hard, to oust immediately the Travel Office staff by whatever means. Yet, in a sworn deposition, when Hillary! was asked if she had any role in the firings, she told investigators: "No, I did not."

IC Ray is wrong. Hillary's! statements were more than "factually inaccurate." They were blatant, premeditated lies intended to conceal her role and deceive prosecutors. Like her husband, she perjured herself and obstructed justice. Unfortunately, when the White House succeeds in intimidating the IC — where the prosecutor himself is forced to adopt Clinton-like language to evade his responsibility, i.e., to indict — great damage is inflicted on the rule of law and the public's faith in the criminal justice system.

Despite the fact that Hillary! wasn't charged criminally, there can be no question that she's a liar. The jury was out before this report was released yesterday.