White House travel office controversy

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The White House travel office controversy of 1993, often referred to as Travelgate [1], began on May 19, 1993, when several longtime employees of the White House Travel Office were fired. A whistleblower's letter, written during the previous administration, triggered an FBI investigation which revealed evidence of financial malfeasance. Dale was later found not guilty at trial. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr also investigated the firings and could find no evidence of wrongdoing on the Clintons' part. [Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, 11/23/98]

The White House Travel Office is in the residential section of the White House, and as such, staffers serve strictly at the pleasure of the president. Historically, a change of administrations usually resulted in a brand new Travel Office staff. Despite the established presidential privilege of replacing staffers at will, Congressional Republicans alleged that friends of President Bill Clinton, including his cousin Catherine Cornelius, had engineered the firings in order to get the business for themselves.[2]

The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee eventually launched an investigation into the White House Travel Office firings. After a three-year investigation, the Chair of the committee, Pennsylvania Republican William Clinger, accused the Clinton administration of having obstructed the committee's efforts to investigate the Travelgate scandal. [3] Clinger also challenged the White House access to Billy Dale's FBI records in the Filegate affair. [4] The role of the White House staff in pressuring the FBI to launch an 'investigation' was also heavily criticized [5].

[edit] Independent Counselor Investigation

Independent counsel Robert Ray's investigation of Travelgate began in the Clinton Administration’s first term when seven members of the Travel Office staff were terminated and replaced by a company run by Clinton friends. The issue for prosecutors was whether anybody in the White House tried to cover up alleged mismanagement of the firings.

In a report[6], released October 18, 2000, Ray determined Hillary had given false testimony when questioned about the travel office firings, a crime that Ray declined to prosecute. Under oath, Mrs. Clinton flatly denied any role and denied that she had any input, but later a memo surfaced from administration chief David Watkins suggesting Mrs. Clinton wanted the travel staff fired. Watkins said there would be "hell to pay" if swift action was not taken in conformity with the First Lady’s wishes. A friend of Watkins also alleged that Watkins was told to quote, ‘fire the sons of bitches.’

While that claim could not be substantiated, Ray cited eight separate conversations between the First Lady and senior staff and concluded: "Mrs. Clinton’s input into the process was significant, if not the significant factor influencing the pace of events in the Travel Office firings and the ultimate decision to fire the employees.”

In a FoxNews report, George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley said, “It essentially says that she satisfies all of the components of an indictment and is ultimately safe from trial simply by the discretion of the prosecutor. That’s pretty damning.”

Bill Clinton later described the allegations and investigation as "a fraud".[7]