So there, despite public statements of support from Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen and from Clinton himself, is the way a former wunderkind gets the word – from a colleague who wonders, very publicly, if you’ve become a political liability. That’s Washington, where anonymous suggestions to sacrifice your career for the president are an old story. But Altman’s case is somewhat unusual in two ways. First, he was one of the most visible Young Turks in an administration filled with Young Turks – a Friend of Bill’s and a rising star who, according to one associate, thought he was “untouchable.” Second, as special prosecutor Robert Fiske has already announced, neither Altman nor anyone else is accused of breaking the law.
But Altman may be forced to resign anyway, despite his own insistence last week that he has “no plans” to do so. That is because, over a period of months, he appears to have been at least somewhat indiscreet. Exactly what he did is in dispute and may never be fully resolved, and there is no evidence at this point that Altman said or did anything to obstruct justice. But some in Congress suspect he wandered over the ethical line by keeping the White House informed about an ongoing federal investigation of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan. The investigation, by the Resolution Trust Corp., involved the Clintons’ Whitewater real-estate venture and eventually named Clinton’s 1985 campaign for governor as a suspected co-conspirator in a scheme to divert campaign funds. Altman supervised the RTC.
Altman denies he did anything improper. But he has already changed his version of events several times, and other Treasury officials – particularly Jean Hanson, the department’s top lawyer – have different recollections. As a result, this week’s showdown is likely to produce more compelling testimony than the snoozathon before the House Banking Committee last week. Worse, Altman and another Treasury official, Joshua Steiner, kept diaries that are now in the hands of congressional investigators. According to excerpts released last week, Altman wrote in January 1994 that Hillary Rodham Clinton was “paralyzed” at the thought of a special prosecutor and didn’t want anyone “poking into 20 years of public life in Arkansas.”
Whitewater – the Madison Guaranty case – landed on Altman’s desk almost as soon as he joined the Treasury Department. According to William Roelle, a career civil servant who was RTC vice president, Altman was briefed on the Madison Guaranty investigation in March 1993 – though Altman denies it. By late summer, RTC investigators were about to file a second investigative “referral” about Madison Guaranty that substantially raised the stakes. This one named Clinton’s 1985 campaign as a potential target for criminal investigation. Roelle told investigators he briefed Altman and Hanson on the new development. He also warned Hanson not to inform the White House about the new charge, presumably to protect RTC from political pressure.
Hanson nonetheless briefed White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum on Sept. 29, 1993. She has said under oath Altman told her to do it, and investigators found a memo in which she reported the briefing to Altman. The first memo is contradicted by a second memo, in which Hanson says she told no one. GOP investigators believe the second memo is an attempt to rehearse her answers before testifying, but Altman has seized on it as evidence that her memory is faulty. He says he does not remember telling her to brief anyone. White House officials say the conflict between them makes it nearly inevitable that Hanson will go if Altman survives.
Whitewater became front-page news early in 1994 – and the evidence suggests that Altman was torn between his loyalty to the Clintons and the fear that he might act improperly. On Feb. 2, Altman briefed Nussbaum, deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes and Margaret Williams, Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff. Altman then said he intended to disqualify himself from the Whitewater investigation because of his friendship with the Clintons. The White House officials “reacted very negatively . . . and [Altman] backed down the next day,” Steiner wrote in his diary.
Altman disclosed the fact of this White House briefing at a congressional hearing in late February. His testimony set off a media frenzy that led special prosecutor Fiske to summon Altman, Hanson and other administration officials before a grand jury. Altman soon recused himself from the Whitewater investigation but alerted a New York Times editor before he told the White House. That looked like grandstanding – or, worse, a betrayal – and Clinton was said to be “furious.”
Altman’s relations with the White House got even worse when congressional sources released the excerpt from Altman’s diary. The note, written in January and attributed to Williams, suggested that Mrs. Clinton was deeply alarmed by Whitewater. Word of this embarrassing tidbit reached the White House only in July, when White House counsel Lloyd Cutler was preparing his congressional testimony. Altman then apologized to Hillary Clinton, who told him she had learned long ago that it was unwise for people in public life to keep a diary. Williams was less understanding. According to congressional investigators, she said, “Roger, I can’t remember ever having these discussions with you. This is very upsetting to me.” The next day, Williams said, Altman stopped at Williams’s office to deliver an envelope marked “personal and confidential” – but Williams stalked into her office and threw the envelope into the trash without opening it. Nobody was shouting “Rah-ger!” anymore.
