Hillary Clinton’s Continuing Lack of Interest in Cover-up of Vince Foster’s Murder

Guest column by Hugh Turley

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Since the Clintons left office nearly 15 years ago, there has been little interest in the Vince Foster case, but Whitewater grand jury witness Patrick Knowlton and I continued our research at the National Archives uncovering evidence of the Foster murder cover-up. Internal documents from the office of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr confirm FBI agents and others undermined the Vince Foster death investigation. Accuracy in Media had been following the Foster investigation in the 1990s, and Reed Irvine suspected investigators had no evidence that Foster’s car was at Fort Marcy Park when he was already dead. As Hillary Clinton moves closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination for president, her critics and supporters might wonder why she has no apparent interest in the ongoing cover-up of the murder of her close friend and confidant. The day after Foster died, Hillary had lunch at her mother’s home in Arkansas with James Rutherford III, a friend and associate of Foster and the Clintons and dean of the Clinton School in Arkansas, and he told the FBI, “Hillary Clinton was in complete shock and disbelief at the thought of Foster committing suicide.” And she wasn’t alone. What changed her mind?

Twenty-nine year old Brett Kavanaugh replaced Miguel Rodriguez when he resigned from Kenneth Starr’s Office of Independent Counsel. Associate Independent Counsel Rodriguez, an experienced prosecutor, thought he “was scoring big points” for Ken Starr investigating the death of Vince Foster, President Bill Clinton’s deputy White House counsel. Rodriguez’s assistant Lucia Rambush thought they “would be getting pats on the back” for uncovering evidence Foster had been murdered. Instead, according to Deputy Independent Counsel Hickman Ewing’s notes, Rodriguez said that Deputy Independent Counsel Mark Tuohey “cancelled everything [he] was doing” and “undermined everything [he] had done.”

Kavanaugh sided with the Democrat Tuohey in opposing efforts by Rodriguez to uncover the truth. For what it’s worth, Tuohey is married to Marty Daley, the sister of Barack Obama’s former Chief of Staff, Bill Daley, and the former Democratic mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley. Their father was the powerful Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley. Kavanaugh was willing to do what Tuohey expected to achieve the desired result. Rodriguez told Reed Irvine, the deceased former chairman and founder of Accuracy in Media, that “the young aspiring people, who I used to work with back in that office will say and do what they have to, to move up the ladder.”

Ewing wrote in his notes, “FBI refused to coop. w/ [Miguel Rodriguez] on [Vince Foster] death.” Rodriguez told Irvine the same FBI agents that did the Fiske investigation were working in Starr’s office and they hid photographic evidence, intimidated witnesses, and threatened him.

On March 10, 1995, four days after Rodriguez’s resignation was effective, an FBI agent sent a memorandum to Kavanaugh that was copied to Tuohey. The memo presented a chronology: “(16:15-16:30) Patrick Knowlton describes a small brown foreign car with Arkansas license plates in the Ft. Marcy parking lot. Knowlton also described a suit jacket and a briefcase inside this car.”

The memo failed to mention that Knowlton was unwavering that the car he saw was not Foster’s 1989 gray Honda. The Arkansas license plate seen by Knowlton was used to make it appear that he saw Foster’s car. Although it stated that Knowlton saw a brown car, it suppressed the fact that Knowlton was certain the car was an early 80s model and not a 1989. The chronology continued: “(17:00 +/-) Judy Doody identifies Foster’s vehicle parked in the Ft. Marcy parking lot.” This false statement was used to make it appear Foster’s car was in the parking lot when Foster was dead.

In an FBI interview, Doody, “noted the only vehicle in the parking area was a relatively old (mid-1980s) Honda, possibly a Honda Accord, either tan or dark in color.” Her companion Mark Feist told the FBI “he observed a vehicle, possibly a station wagon or ‘hatchback’ model, brownish in color.” They did not describe Foster’s 1989 gray Honda. On October 22, 1995, the London Sunday Telegraph reported the FBI had inaccurately reported what Knowlton told them he had seen at Fort Marcy Park.

“They went over it about 20 times, telling me that this was Foster’s car,” said Knowlton. “But I was quite adamant about it. I saw what I saw, and I wasn’t going to change my story…”

The article also reported that Knowlton and two other witnesses [Judy Doody and Mark Feist] had not been subpoenaed to testify before the Whitewater grand jury.

Four days after the Telegraph article was published, Thursday morning, October 26, 1995, Knowlton was served a subpoena to testify before the Washington, D.C. federal grand jury on the following Wednesday, November 1, 1995. FBI Special Agent Russell Bransford, assigned to Starr’s Office of Independent Counsel, personally served the subpoena at Knowlton’s home.

The name of John D. Bates, Deputy Independent Counsel, appeared on the front of the subpoena. The name of Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Counsel, was on the back. Harassment of witness Patrick Knowlton began later that same evening.

For several days prior to his grand jury appearance Knowlton was intimidated and harassed on the street and in his home by dozens of men including FBI agent Bransford. Kavanaugh interrogated Knowlton before the grand jurors and had little interest in what he witnessed at Fort Marcy Park. Kavanaugh’s questions seemed designed to make Knowlton appear to be homosexual and someone seeking publicity.

Toward the end of the questioning Kavanaugh said, “tell us about the alleged harassment.” Knowlton responded that it “was not alleged, it happened.” He then repeatedly asked Kavanaugh who sent FBI agent Bransford to his home. Twice Kavanaugh responded that they were not there to answer Knowlton’s questions. When Knowlton asked a third time, Bates, who had been seated behind Knowlton said that they (“we”) sent Bransford.

Knowlton then explained the harassment he received from Bransford and summarized the intimidation from the previous Thursday and Friday. He was angry that Kavanaugh and Bates were not interested.

At the end of his testimony Kavanaugh asked Knowlton a series of questions about a man he had seen in a blue-gray sedan at the park, including one question of a graphic sexual nature. Starr’s office has denied Kavanaugh asked any question about “genitals,” but Knowlton has repeatedly said that one of the questions Kavanaugh asked with regard to the suspicious looking man he saw in a car at the Fort Marcy parking lot was, “Did he touch your genitals?”

In 1997, Kavanaugh concluded his investigation of Foster’s death and the Office of Independent Counsel Report was released on October 10. The Report stated, “According to the reports of their interviews at the scene on July 20, 1993, [Doody] and [Feist] did not see anyone in or touching Mr. Foster’s car.” This statement is true only because Mr. Foster’s car was not there. This sentence cleverly made it appear Foster’s car was at the park by saying that no one touched it.

Reed Irvine carefully studied the Report and spoke with Kavanaugh in the spring of 1998.

Irvine: How do you prove that Foster’s car was in the park before his body was, what is your evidence?

Kavanaugh: Well, I’m not going to debate.

Irvine: It is not a debate. It’s a question. Tell me what is the evidence?

Kavanaugh: I’m going to stand by the Report.

Irvine: The Report doesn't answer that question.

Kavanaugh: The Report does talk about what all the various people in the park saw.

Irvine: Yeah, it said none of those people had anything to do with Foster’s death.

Kavanaugh: It does point out what [Knowlton] saw in the park.

Irvine: But it doesn't make the point. Intellectual integrity would require an investigator to put down what these people said, what they saw. What is totally ignored is what Doody and Feist said they saw.

Kavanaugh: Well, we put that in.

Irvine: No, it’s not in there. It is not in there. Doody and Feist were absolutely ignored…nothing, nothing, nothing, about the color of the car, the age of the car, none of that is described.

Irvine then quoted from the Report of Kavanaugh’s investigation:

Irvine: “The three cars belonging to Mr. Foster [gray Honda], C4 [Doody’s white Nissan], and C6 [Jean Slade’s blue Mercedes] are the only cars positively identified by law enforcement and the OIC that were in the Fort Marcy parking lot…”

Kavanaugh: Do you disagree with that?

Irvine: Yeah, as a matter of fact the evidence is when the fire engine arrived there was another car there. There was a brown car.

Kavanaugh: Look the Report was trying to be honest about a few things and I thought the Report at least laid it out there.

Irvine: But it doesn't really. Let’s take page 69, you say three cars belonging to [Doody], [Slade], are the only cars positively identified etcetera, [Knowlton] saw a man in the car next to him. It doesn't say anything about the color or the age and that [Knowlton] believes strongly that the car he saw was not Mr. Foster’s car. That’s not in here. It’s nowhere in here.

Kavanaugh: It says it's different color rust brown. That is in a different spot [in the Report].

Irvine: This is what I’d say is intellectually dishonest about the Report. It does not lay out the fact that Doody, Feist, and Knowlton were all describing what would certainly appear to be a different car from Foster’s.

Kavanaugh: It all comes down to that brown car issue right?

Irvine: It’s not just the brownishness, it’s the age…to get the color and the age wrong is a different matter. Plus, the fact that Knowlton has a lot of details in addition to the color and age. For example, [Foster’s] car had decals on it, Vanderbilt and TCU parking stickers and so on, and damage to the right quarter. All things that he insists were not on the car he saw. So what do you think?

Kavanaugh: Well our Report tried to take all that into account…the Report tried to make the most reasonable judgment based on the facts. That’s not to say other people can’t disagree with the inferences. I do think it is important on the color issue, which is different from the age issue, I told you…all the police and medical personnel that were in the park described it as brown.

Irvine: The question that I propose to you is this, what evidence do you have that [Foster’s] car was in the parking lot at 4:30 and at 5:30?

Kavanaugh: Well we know there was a car there.

Irvine: What evidence do you have that it was Foster’s car?

Kavanaugh: Other than no one saw it being moved out and it had Arkansas plates, ah, I guess that is an unanswerable question.

At this point Kavanaugh may have thought he talked too much.

Kavanaugh: You don’t tape these calls do you Reed?

Irvine: Are you kidding? (laughs)

Kavanaugh: Is that a yes or a no?

Irvine: Why of course, I tape virtually all my calls.

Kavanaugh: You tape virtually all your calls.

Irvine: Yes, as Mike Wallace knows.

Irvine studied the official government documents concerning the death of Foster and tried to get journalists and media executives to report the facts. He lent his support to grand jury witness Knowlton, who was a key witness at Fort Marcy Park because did not see Foster’s car.

The U.S. Court of Appeals ordered Starr, over his objection, to include evidence of the cover-up as an appendix in his Report on Foster’s death. The evidence of the cover-up submitted by Knowlton’s attorney John Clarke became the final 20 pages of Starr’s Report. The evidence Irvine told Kavanaugh his investigation ignored was included, and more. The appendix includes copies of 25 federal investigative records proving: Foster’s car was not at the park, there was a bullet hole in Foster’s neck, photos of the neck wound vanished, x-rays of the neck wound vanished, the gun did not belong to Foster, and Knowlton suffered grand jury witness intimidation.

The appendix of the Report is still suppressed by the American press. It also includes evidence of the grand jury witness intimidation and crime scene photos.

After leaving the Independent Counsel’s office Kavanaugh served as White House Senior Associate Counsel and then as Assistant to the President of the United States and Staff Secretary under George W. Bush. Kavanaugh was later nominated to the D.C. circuit of the U.S, court of appeals by President Bush. Former Deputy Independent Counsel Tuohey supported his confirmation and wrote, “[Brett Kavanaugh] is exceptionally well qualified to serve on one of the nation’s most important appellate courts…”

At his Senate confirmation hearing Senator Orrin Hatch introduced Kavanaugh to the Judiciary Committee with high praise. Describing Kavanaugh’s many accomplishments Hatch said, “Mr. Kavanaugh served in the Office of Independent Counsel under Judge Starr, where he conducted the office's investigation into the death of former Deputy White House Counsel Vincent W. Foster, Jr. In 1994, Hatch told the Senate Banking Committee, “Accordingly, I want to be clear on one point, there is absolutely no credible evidence to contradict the Fiske Report's conclusion that Vincent Foster took his own life, and it happened at Fort Marcy Park. There is no credible evidence to the contrary. I suspect conspiracy theorists will always differ with this conclusion.”

Kavanaugh’s name is frequently mentioned as a possible Supreme Court justice as he continues “to move up the ladder.” Mrs. Clinton is attempting to move up a different ladder, but continues to show no interest in the cover-up of the death of her dear friend.

Hugh Turley co-authored the final 20 pages of Ken Starr's Report on Vince Foster's death. The Court ordered Starr, over his objection, to include the comments in his Report. Their website is FBIcover-up.com.

This article appeared first, with fewer links, on the web site of Accuracy in Media.

David Martin

March 25, 2016

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