Word: altmans
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Daniel Altman's column appears on alternate Mondays
...White House: Clinton held a press conference to talk about the massacre of Muslims in a Hebron mosque and the U.S. deportation of a senior Russian diplomat as a retaliatory move in the Aldrich Ames spy case. Nonetheless, Stephanopoulos and Ickes found time to call Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman, who was also acting head of the RTC, using the speakerphone in Stephanopoulos' office. They had just learned that Altman had finally decided to disqualify himself from dealing with any matters related to Madison because of previous contacts with the White House staff about the RTC's investigation. The White...
Stephanopoulos confirms that the conversation occurred but says he only "suggested as a courtesy that ((Altman)) write a letter to the President explaining his decision. I don't remember anything else about that conversation." Other sources familiar with the call offer more elaborate accounts. Says one: "As best we can figure it, it was an extremely heated conversation. It seems to have gone right from acknowledging the recusal to ignoring it, in that Altman was almost immediately asked to help think of a way to fire Stephens...
...Altman's own version, as reported by sources close to Fiske, is that either Stephanopoulos or Ickes asked, "What about Jay Stephens? Can anything be done about it, or are we stuck with this?" Altman reportedly cut off the conversation "quite quickly," telling his callers he "absolutely would not" be a party to sacking Stephens. According to this version, Altman then reported the substance of the conversation to Steiner, adding, "These guys are nuts...
...productive first year of a presidency last year of anyone in a generation." True, Clinton is not yet directly involved -- and may never be. One source familiar with Fiske's work does speculate: "What really causes us to wonder is whether Stephanopoulos would have pursued the Stephens matter beyond Altman's firm 'No' if he wasn't following the President's orders." But proving any presidential involvement would be most difficult...