From bigxc@prairienet.orgSat Jul 29 07:08:16 1995
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 95 09:57:54 CDT
From: Brian Redman 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Vince: We Hardly Knew Ye (part 17)


Vince: We Hardly Knew Ye
Part 17

Being a recap of the death, and various ongoing investigations
into same, of White House aide Vincent Foster, jr.

(With apologies to his family, who prefer to "let sleeping
Fosters lie.")

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With the U.S. about to invade Bosnia in order to promote peace
("War is peace"); with things getting a little hot in Washington
(and not just the weather) for that big, lovable clown from
Arkansas; with investigations heating up; with the "special
people" beginning to panic -- how convenient for the comfortable
classes that the situation in Bosnia should heat up just about
now.

So that the commissar class doesn't get *too* comfortable, I
thought I'd offer a bit of a history lesson on the death, as well
as the on-and-off investigations into same, of Vincent Foster, jr.

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WHY DID VINCE FOSTER DIE?

I recently came across a book called *"Slick Willie" II*. It
gives a good overview of the myriad of Clinton fishiness we have
all been having to live with. "Clinton, the 'fishy' President".
"There's something 'fishy' about the guy". No, I am not a
Republican, in fact since 1972 (but excluding 1992), I have
always voted Democratic. Also, I haven't been to church in years,
so I'm not the "religious right".

Bill Clinton is a pathological liar. His behavior is enabled by
the press, who rarely call him to task for his lies. Again and
again, Clinton lies, yet again and again the press features
"Clinton's plans", "Clinton says this", "Clinton says that" -- as
if the many and enormous past Clinton lies had never happened!
The press features Clinton's latest press announcements as if
"Sure, he has lied the past 99 times. But this time, let's hear
what he has to say."

So anyway, here is my summarization of the last chapter of
*"Slick Willie" II* by Deborah J. Stone & Christopher Manion.

 +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +

"Foster knew these people, and he came to the conclusion that he
had to resign from life."  -- U.S. Rep. James A Leach
                              January 12, 1994


Foster's was the first major Washington "suicide" since that of
Secretary of Defense James Forrestal in 1949. [CN -- However note
that, for the record, there are those who dispute whether
Forrestal's death *was*, in fact a suicide.] His death occurred
on July 20, 1993. The initial reaction from persons in the
administration to the news was surprise. One colleague called his
apparent suicide unbelievable. Clinton described Foster as a
"Rock of Gibraltar".

Then statements coming from the White House abruptly changed.
Expressions of surprise at Foster's "suicide" stopped. Instead,
Foster began to be characterized as being stressed out and
unhappy with life in Washington. Dee Dee Meyers stated, "People
had noticed he was down and were worried about him."

The book quotes an anonymous White House source which the authors
call "Deepwater" as saying this change in reaction from the White
House was a calculated maneuver; that it was spin control. Former
chief of staff Nussbaum reportedly convened a special staff
meeting to promote the new line that Foster had been "depressed".

But back in Little Rock, Foster's friends weren't buying it.
While acknowledging that pressure may have been a factor, Doug
Buford, friend and attorney, stated, "...something was badly
askew." Foster's brother-in-law, a former congressman, also did
not accept that depression was what had been behind the
"suicide": "That's a bunch of crap." And Webster Hubbell, former
Clinton deputy attorney general, phoned a mutual friend to say,
"Don't believe a word you hear. It was not suicide. It couldn't
have been." [See also the Larry Nichols interview where Nichols
reports that Foster's body was originally found in the White
House parking lot.]

The investigation into the death of Foster, a high-ranking member
of the Clinton White House, was unusual. For one thing, it was
handled by the "Park Police", rather than by the renowned FBI.
Who decided that the Park Police ought to handle it?

The Park Police did not proceed, as is normal, under the
assumption that what they were investigating was a homicide. They
assumed instead, from the outset, that they were indeed
investigating a suicide.

The White House routinely got in the way of investigators. The
Park Police arrived at the White House on July 21st in hopes of
searching Foster's office. They were denied access by the
administration. They returned on July 22, but were made to sit
outside Foster's office, in the hallway, while Nussbaum,
monitored by FBI agents and Justice Department lawyers, conducted
the official search.

When the Park Police tried to conduct interviews of White House
personnel, Nussbaum demanded that the interviews be monitored by
members of Nussbaum's staff. Park Police spokesman Major Robert
Hines declared himself unhappy with the lack of cooperation.

Nine days after Foster's death, our leaders, the *creme de la
creme* of this nation, looked again in Foster's briefcase and
discovered they had missed a "suicide note" penned by Vince (may
he rest in peace) Foster. The note had been torn into 28 pieces,
but the 28th piece could not be found. There were no fingerprints
on the note, "a circumstance," according to the *New York Times*,
"that some investigators have found hard to believe."

According to Bernard Nussbaum's then-Executive Assistant, Betsy
Pond, "I think Vince wrote the stuff at the beginning and end,
but..." and then she clams up. Indeed, the note itself begins in
the first person ("I made mistakes from ignorance, inexperience
and overwork. I did not knowingly violate any law or standard of
conduct."), but then switches to third person for most of its
contents, and finally reverts back to first person at the end.
"Deepwater" believes that Pond thought the note was a forgery.

The bullet that supposedly killed Foster has never been found.

According to the *Boston Globe*, Foster was left-handed. Yet the
supposed suicide gun, the unregistered 1913 Colt revolver, was
placed -- oops, I mean found -- in Foster's right hand.

The chapter in *"Slick Willie" II* asks other questions,
questions that have been asked in previous editions of Conspiracy
Nation and its predecessor, Conspiracy for the Day. Why hasn't
the autopsy report been released? What about the first medics on
the scene who insist that they found Foster laid out "as if in a
coffin"? What about Liddy's confidential witness, who has sworn
over and over that there was no gun? How could Foster's shoes
have been so clean if he had walked through the woods in Fort
Marcy park? Why were no official crime scene photos taken?

 Brian Francis Redman    bigxc@prairienet.org    "The Big C"
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    Coming to you from Illinois -- "The Land of Skolnick"
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