Death of American Virtue - Ken Gormley [475]
Foster’s assistant had noticed: Fiske Report/Foster, 23–24. The letter to Foster’s mother, it later turned out, contained oil leases that were left to her upon his father’s death in 1991, and instructions as to how to handle them. The letter to the insurance company contained a payment for an insurance premium (Fiske Report/Foster, 24). The policy in question included a suicide clause that permitted recovery for a beneficiary even if the premium holder died by his own hand, as long as the insured party held the policy for a specified period (Boyer, “Life After Vince,” 62).
He noticed that Foster: Fiske Report/ Foster, 26.
“I’m going out”: Ibid.; Bernard Nussbaum, interview by author.
Tripp brought Foster: Office of the Independent Counsel, Report on the Death of Vincent W. Foster, Jr. by the Office of Independent Counsel, In Re: Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association, 10 Oct. 1997, 1–4, 18–23 (hereinafter cited as Starr Report/Foster).
he had traded phone calls: William Kennedy III, interview by author.
“I’ll be back”: Starr Report/Foster; Boyer, “Life After Vince,” 54, 61, 66; Stewart, Blood Sport, 288–89.
On the front passenger seat: Starr Report/ Foster, 1–4, 18–23, 28–30; Fiske Report/Foster, 30–34; Boyer, “Life After Vince,” 54, 61, 66; 60 Minutes, CBS News, transcript, 8 Oct. 1995, 1–9; Stewart, Blood Sport, 25–27.
Inside Foster’s wallet: Fiske Report/Foster, 22, 36; Starr Report/Foster, 35.
The official autopsy report: The autopsy stated: “The wound track in the head continues backward and upward with an entrance wound just left of the foramen magnum with tissue damage to the brain stem and left cerebral hemisphere with an irregular exit scalp and skull defect near the midline in the occipital region. No metallic fragments recovered” (Starr Report/ Foster, 1–4, 18–23, 28–30).
Beyer declared: Ibid., 28–34.
The Secret Service was notified: Final Report/Ray, vol. 1, 101.
As soon as McLarty got: Stewart, Blood Sport, 27–30.
“First of all”: Bill Clinton, interview by author.
Thunderstorms had knocked out: Joe Purvis, interview by author.
“Every man has his breaking”: Woodward, Shadow, 232.
He lived only a few blocks away from: Skip Rutherford, interview by author.
First, he had just realized: Bill Clinton, interview by author.
“When he came down”: Bernard Nussbaum, interview by author.
The president set out: Stewart, Blood Sport, 30.
Lisa Foster already had been notified: Final Report/Ray, vol. 1, 101.
Bill Kennedy undertook: William Kennedy III, interview by author.
The medical examiner’s personnel: Ibid.
Chapter 7: Conspiracy Theories
Advisers and staff arrived: Stewart, Blood Sport, 294.
“They looked in the trash”: U.S. Senate, Statement of Bernard W. Nussbaum Before the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, United States Senate, 104th Cong., First Session, 9 Aug. 1995, 6 (hereinafter cited as Nussbaum Statement/Foster); Bernard Nussbaum, interview by author.
White House records indicate: Final Report/Ray, vol. 1, 101.
After waking up: Nussbaum Statement/ Foster, 6.
“spoke in a sweet, calm”: Bernard Nussbaum, interview by author.
had gone into Foster’s office: Nussbaum Statement/Foster, 6; Final Report/Ray, 103.
Pond denied: Final Report/Ray, vol. 1, 102.
“It was not a crime”: Ibid., 6. For a full examination of the events involving the handling of documents in Vince Foster’s office following his death, see U.S. Senate, Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, Investigation of Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, Final Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, Senate Report 104–280, 17 June 1996, 36–118 (hereinafter cited as Final Senate Report/Whitewater).
“Nothing else was removed”: Nussbaum Statement/Foster, 7; Stewart, Blood Sport, 296–97.
Nussbaum personally examined: Nussbaum Statement/Foster, 9–10.
The files included: Stewart, Blood Sport, 304.
the cardboard