Bentsen Made Madison S&L; Inquiries as Senator
Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, while a senator from Texas, made inquiries with federal regulators at the Resolution Trust Corp. about the agency’s handling of a real estate venture owned in part by Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, the failed Arkansas thrift linked to the Whitewater controversy, newly released documents show.
The documents, released by the RTC, show that Bentsen contacted the agency in 1991 on behalf of an Austin, Tex., real estate agent angered by the way the agency was disposing of real estate held by Madison at the time it was seized by federal regulators. Bentsen sought and won high-level attention within the RTC for the complaint, although it is unclear what action ultimately was taken by the agency.
The letters connected to Bentsen’s inquiry in the case were among 8,000 papers released by the RTC in response to Whitewater-based requests from the media under the Freedom of Information Act.
There is no evidence that Bentsen’s contact with the agency went beyond the normal actions of a member of Congress on behalf of a constituent. However, members of his senior staff at the Treasury Department, including his chief of staff, have come under fire for their actions in overseeing the RTC since late last year.
Those aides, including Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman and Chief of Staff Joshua Steiner, are now under scrutiny by Whitewater special counsel Robert B. Fiske Jr. for their contacts with White House political aides about the RTC’s investigation of Madison.
Bentsen is chairman of the RTC’s Oversight Board, which helps set broad policy direction for the agency. Treasury spokesman Howard Schloss said Tuesday that Bentsen has never considered recusing himself from his involvement with the RTC because of his earlier contact with the agency on the Madison case.
“These were normal constituency referrals” to an agency from a member of Congress, Schloss noted. “The issue of recusal was never considered.”
Schloss added that Bentsen has not been involved with the Madison case since he joined the Clinton Administration, either in his role as Treasury secretary or as chairman of the RTC board. The oversight board does not get involved in the agency’s handling of individual institutions.
In past public statements, Bentsen has been supportive of his aides while making it clear that he was not involved in any of the meetings or discussions between Treasury and the White House on Madison. In addition to Fiske’s investigation, Bentsen has asked the Office of Government Ethics to review the Treasury-White House meetings.
