White House tapes give `clean chit’ to Clinton

WASHINGTON, Oct 6: The White House has released videotapes showing US President Bill Clinton greeting donors at 44 finance-related coffees ...

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WASHINGTON, Oct 6: The White House has released videotapes showing US President Bill Clinton greeting donors at 44 finance-related coffees during the year before his re-election. The President is seen thanking his visitors without directly asking for money.

In footage from one reception, a former Democratic Party chairman could be heard refusing five cheques from a donor, who offered them inside the White House, while Clinton talked golf with another guest. The official, Don Fowler, tells the donor the checks could be handled later.

The tapes were provided to the news media by the White House without comment yesterday. Recorded by White House television crews between August three, 1995, and August 23, 1996, the tapes had been turned over to justice department and congressional investigators late Friday.

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The revelation of the tapes touched off a political firestorm among the Republicans, who demanded to know why they were not turned over when the White House was first asked for all records related to fund-raising for the 1996 elections. The footage released yesterday shows a pattern to the coffees, which Republicans and other critics insist were fund-raising events.

They typically were held in the White House’s map room, part of the residential portion of the White House, although one event was held in the Oval Office and another in the Roosevelt Room across the hall. They show Clinton entering the room, accompanied by Fowler. The President would greet guests, invite them to sit with him at an oblong table, then make brief remarks.

The Washington Post quoted congressional sources in today’s editions as saying they have been told that White House logs indicate as many as 150 fund-raising events involving the President or V-P Al Gore also were recorded by White House crews.