The Travel Office controversy began in mid-May 1993, when allegations surfaced that the White House Travel Office was being mismanaged and that employees within that Office may have either embezzled funds or received kickbacks. Foster gave Associate Counsel William Kennedy responsibility for handling the matter. In consultation with Foster and others within the White House, Kennedy took two steps: he hired an outside accounting firm to audit the books of the Travel Office, and he contacted the FBI to discuss the possibility of initiating a criminal investigation. On May 19, 1993, following a preliminary report by the accounting firm, the White House decided to fire seven employees in the Travel Office.
In the days that followed, the White House was harshly criticized for its handling of the matter. Some reports charged that the White House pressured the FBI to open an investigation in order to justify the firings. In late May 1993, the FBI conducted an internal review of the meetings between FBI agents and White House personnel, and on June 1, submitted a report on the matter to the Attorney General. Included in the report were statements attributed to William Kennedy, some of which Kennedy denied making. The White House announced in late May that it would conduct an internal review of the Travel Office matter. In connection with that review, the White House requested and received a copy of the FBI's report to the Attorney General. On July 2, 1993, the White House released an internal report that reprimanded Kennedy and others for their handling of the matter. There was some discussion within the White House about reprimanding Foster, but this did not occur.
By many accounts, Foster was deeply disturbed by the reprimand of Kennedy and what he viewed as a distortion of the facts by the press. Lisa Foster believed that the Travel Office matter was the greatest cause of Foster's stress and anxiety in the weeks prior to his death. She recalled that Foster had a bout of "anxiety" at around the time that the White House reprimand was issued. Foster was angry and distressed that, in his view, Kennedy had been unjustly criticized. He told co-workers that he believed that the FBI's report to the Attorney General had mischaracterized what had occurred in meetings with Kennedy. He told family members that the FBI had lied about the meetings, and that the Counsel's Office had been set up by the FBI in this matter. (1)
Foster was concerned that the White House report would lead to unwarranted investigations of well-intentioned actions. He felt responsible for Kennedy's situation because he had assigned Kennedy to the matter. He was heard to raise his voice uncharacteristically in insisting that Nussbaum allow Foster to take the blame instead of Kennedy.
It is clear from Foster's conversations with others in the White House that the reaction to the Travel Office firings had a profound effect upon him. He told Webster Hubbell, a close friend who at that time was serving as the Associate Attorney General, that no laws or rules had been broken but that in Washington you are assumed to have done something wrong even if you have not. He further told Hubbell that he thought the matter would never end. Foster told Kennedy in connection with the Travel Office matter that there were very few people one could trust in Washington.
Foster's sister, Sheila Anthony, observed that immediately after the White House issued its Travel Office report, Foster's distress became severe. He told his sister, as well as his wife, Lisa, and friend, Kennedy, that he was considering resigning from his position. Both Sheila Anthony and Lisa Foster believed that the personal humiliation he would have felt had he returned to Arkansas under those circumstances prevented him from resigning.
According to Nussbaum, Foster became increasingly obsessed with the Travel Office matter in the weeks before his death. Foster repeatedly urged Nussbaum to hire outside counsel to represent the General Counsel's Office in connection with the issues related to the Travel Office firings. (2) Nussbaum felt that Foster was overreacting and tried unsuccessfully to allay his concerns.
The extent to which Foster was disturbed by Travel Office issues is reflected in a torn note found in his briefcase by Stephen Neuwirth on July 26, 1993, six days after Foster's death. Lisa Foster has identified the handwriting in the note as Foster's, and a handwriting analysis performed by the FBI Lab confirms that identification. Lisa Foster believes that the note was written by Foster on or about July 11, 1993. On that day, she had encouraged him to write down everything that was disturbing him. She also encouraged him to go on the offensive and not take responsibility for every mistake. Later that day, Foster told his wife that he had written the opening argument for his defense - an apparent reference to his expected testimony should Congress hold hearings on the Travel Office matter.
There are ten separate entries in the torn up note found in Foster's briefcase. Five of them appear to relate to the Travel Office matter:
I made mistakes from ignorance, inexperience and overwork;
I did not knowingly violate any law or standard of conduct.
No one in the White House, to my knowledge, violated any law or standard of conduct, including any action in the travel office. There was no intent to benefit any individual or specific group.
The FBI lied in their report to the AG.
The press is covering up the illegal benefits they received from the travel staff. (3)
(1) At the time of the appointment
of the Independent Counsel on January 20, 1994, the Office of
Professional Responsibility ("OPR") in the Department
of Justice had already begun an inquiry into the conduct of the
FBI in connection with the Travel Office matter. As a result,
this Office agreed with OPR that this Office would not investigate
whether the FBI had in fact made false statements in its report
to the Attorney General, but only whether Foster's belief that
the FBI had "lied" played any role in his suicide
(2) In fact, in early July 1993, Foster
consulted James Lyons, an attorney located in Denver, Colorado,
about the likelihood of Congressional hearings into the Travel
Office firings and Foster's concern that his role in the Travel
Office matter might affect his objectivity in advising the Clintons.
Lyons advised Foster, after reviewing the White House report,
that he saw no conflict of interest.
(3) The full text of the note is attached
as Exhibit 5.