White House Surrenders Tapes of Coffee Meetings

White House officials revealed Sunday that they have surrendered to investigators dozens of videotapes showing President Clinton at private meetings with major Democratic campaign contributors and potential donors, gatherings that are pivotal to allegations of wholesale campaign fund-raising abuses in last year’s elections.

The tapes, which were turned over to congressional and Justice Department investigators this weekend, may help them determine whether Clinton illegally solicited campaign contributions in the White House, as GOP critics have alleged, or make it clear that Clinton was only listening to supporters, as administration officials have said.

Footage from 44 White House coffees attended by Democratic Party contributors shows Clinton entering the Oval Office, the Map Room and other locations to greet beaming guests. In one scene, taped on Aug. 6, 1996, Clinton recognizes New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Clinton: “Hi, George. Thanks for coming.”

Steinbrenner: “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t have missed it.”

In another scene, Clinton talks about golf with one guest while Donald L. Fowler, then the Democratic National Committee chairman, can be heard turning down a donation offered by another. Fowler told the would-be donor that he could contribute later.

A June 18, 1996, segment shows Clinton shaking hands with former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang, but there is no audio portion for that event, the Associated Press reported.

The revelation concerning the tapes, which was first reported by Time magazine, had the immediate effect of drawing angry charges from Republicans that the White House had engaged in a cover-up.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, which this week is scheduled to begin investigative hearings into the campaign finance controversy, said Sunday that congressional subpoenas issued to the White House for all relevant materials should have turned up the videotapes long ago.

“We didn’t even know about them, and that really bothers me. . . ,” Burton said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We’re going to check very thoroughly into the logs of the White House to make sure we get all of those videotapes.”

“With the White House not turning over evidence again and again, I think it really may have crossed the line of obstruction of justice. . . ,” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “If they’re innocent, why didn’t we have them a long time ago?”

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White House special counsel Lanny J. Davis said later in the day: “We made our best efforts to respond to all of the requests for materials from all the investigating agencies. We inadvertently did not realize that these tapes were in existence. This was an honest mistake. Nothing on these tapes is inconsistent with what we’ve previously stated regarding what occurred at these White House coffees. Any suggestion that these materials were deliberately withheld . . . is totally baseless.”

Paul Clark, a spokesman for the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said the panel, which is also investigating the political fund-raising controversy, learned about the videotapes from a “source” several months ago and requested copies of them in July.

“It’s another example of the White House delaying and obstructing our investigation,” Clark said. “There is no reason why we should not have had the tapes within a couple of weeks of our request. For a long time, the White House wouldn’t confirm these tapes exist.”

However, Davis said administration officials discovered the tapes held by the White House Communications Agency only last Wednesday, after receiving an inquiry from the Senate committee last month about the possible existence of any tapes or recordings of a series of White House coffees at which big-money contributors met in small groups with the president.

There were 103 such coffees between Aug. 3, 1995, and Aug. 23, 1996, Davis said, and the communications office discovered that the White House television crew had been present for 44 of them. Only the introductory parts of the private meetings--not the actual discussions between Clinton and his guests--were taped, Davis said.

After finding the tapes Wednesday, White House officials informed the Senate panel of their existence Thursday and met with investigators Friday to arrange the release of the tapes, Davis said.

White House officials then compiled the 44 individual tapes into a 1-hour, 40-minute video showing Clinton meeting and shaking hands with campaign contributors, Davis said. The Senate committee and the Justice Department were given copies of the master video Saturday, Davis said, and another copy was turned over to the House committee Sunday.

The Washington Post quoted congressional sources as saying they have been told that logs indicate as many as 150 fund-raising events were recorded by White House crews.

The videotapes are likely to complicate the life of Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, who has spent weeks sifting evidence to determine whether to recommend appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the roles of Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in the fund-raising controversy.

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Last week, Reno extended by 60 days her department’s examination of allegations that Gore made illegal campaign fund-raising calls on federal property--namely, his White House office.

At the same time, however, she said Clinton’s White House coffees were little more than opportunities for top campaign contributors to gain “mere access” to the president, so nothing illegal could have happened, and therefore an investigation of the coffees by an independent counsel is not warranted.

GOP senators said Sunday that Reno might have to rethink that conclusion.