Bill Clinton: “Well, let me tell you, let me give you an example. I'll just say one thing. Garrison Keillor said last night, he said…”

“Well, let me tell you, let me give you an example. I'll just say one thing. Garrison Keillor said last night, he said, ``You know, all I know about Whitewater is what I read in the papers, so I don't understand it.'' [Laughter] He made two statements; I'm just repeating what he said. He said, ``I really wasn't going to talk about Whitewater tonight, but I was afraid if I didn't say anything, you'd think I know something about it.'' [Laughter] Then he said, ``I suppose I ought to tell you that I've never been to Arkansas. But,'' he said, ``I'm reluctant to tell you that because then you will attack me for not telling you that 30 days ago.'' [Laughter] All I can tell you, sir, is I have done my best to answer the questions asked of me. Maybe you have total and complete recollection of every question that might be--not is--might be asked of you at any moment of things that happened to you 12, 13, 14 years ago. Maybe you could give your tax records up for 17 years and, at the moment, answer any question. Or maybe, instead, you want to go back to the homework question: You think I should have shut the whole Federal Government down and done nothing but study these things for the last 2 months? I would remind you that I was asked early on by the press and the Republicans to have a Special Counsel look into this, on the grounds that then everyone could forget about it and let the Special Counsel do his job and I could go on and be President. I could give all the records up, and then when he had a question in his document search, he could ask me, we could work it out, and the issue could be resolved. So I said, ``Sure,'' even though the criteria for appointing a Special Counsel weren't met. No one had accused me of any wrongdoing, certainly nothing connected with my Presidency or my campaign for the Presidency. I said, ``Let's do it so I can go back to work.'' And that is what I have tried to do. Since then, the same people who asked for the Special Counsel, so that these issues could be resolved in an appropriate and disciplined way and I could go back to work, have decided they were kidding and they wanted to continue for us to deal with this. Well, I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can while I do the job I was hired by the American people to do. I have been as candid and as forthright as possible. Sam Dash, the Watergate special prosecutor, said, ``This is a very different administration than previous ones. These people have resisted no subpoenas. They have claimed no executive privilege. They have cooperated. They have turned all the documents over.'' I have done everything I know to do. But can I answer every question that anybody might ever ask me about something that happened 10, 15, 17 years ago on the spur of the moment and have total recall of all of that while trying to be President? No, sir, I cannot. But the Special Counsel has a process for dealing with that which would permit us to focus on the truly relevant questions and deal with it. And I have cooperated very well. I will continue to do that. I will also do my best to give information to the press. But I would just like to point out that the people who asked for the Special Counsel asked for it and said, ``The President ought to do this so we can clear the air and he can go on and be President.'' Now the suggestion is, the implication of your remark, sir, is that instead of that, I should stop being President and do my homework on this issue.”