Bill Clinton: “Well, there were no briefings, and I didn't know about, for example, Roger Altman's meeting until he testified to it on…”

“Well, there were no briefings, and I didn't know about, for example, Roger Altman's meeting until he testified to it on the Hill. And one of the other contacts, I think, was a press contact of some kind. I was unaware of that one. Sometime in October, I was--I became aware of--I don't know when, but sometime in October, I became aware of the RTC finding with regard to the question--the referral, I think it's called, on the question of whether my campaign benefited improperly from checks which allegedly came from the S&L, and I knew about that. That was--I don't remember when I knew about it or who told me about it, but it was just sort of presented as a fact, a decision that had been made by the Government. And I didn't think much about it at the time. It was just something that I absorbed. It was told to me just as something that the Government had decided to do. Otherwise, I was not aware of any of these things. Now, let me remind you of what we have done in the last few days. First, to avoid any question arising in the future of the propriety of any of these actions, we have literally erected a firewall between the White House and other regulatory agencies so that any contact, in or out, relating to any of these matters would have to be cleared by and approved by the Counsel's office, so that all of these matters will be clear and proper. Secondly, we have committed to fully support and cooperate with the Special Counsel's subpoenas to look into this. On Friday night, as soon as the subpoenas were received, the White House Deputy Counsel, Joel Klein, sent a memo to all the White House staff describing the documents called for and a procedure to fully comply. This morning, the Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty, has sent a detailed compliance memo from Mr. Klein to all the staff setting forth the procedures that the staff must follow to make sure that compliance is full and complete. Second, we have begun in earnest--I have, personally--a process to select a new White House Counsel. And I want to make it just exactly clear what I'm looking for. Number one, I want someone of unquestioned integrity and a lot of experience in dealing with the kinds of issues that have to come into the White House, someone who can establish processes that everyone will acknowledge are appropriate to deal with all the legal matters that the White House deals with. And finally, someone who will inspire confidence in me and in you, the press, and most importantly, in the American people that we are going the extra mile not only in this case but in all cases to deal with all matters in the appropriate way. So I think that we're doing everything we can. We certainly intend to do that. And we'll be aggressive in pursuit of it. Yes, anyone over here? Yes. Republic of Georgia”