Dan Burton: “There was an attempt to get retroactive pay. People showed up at the White House to work in the Clinton White House…”

“There was an attempt to get retroactive pay. People showed up at the White House to work in the Clinton White House, with many not having a job arranged. Later, David Watkins wanted to pay them retroactively, go back and pay them for the time that they were volunteers before they were actually hired. He wanted to pay them for the volunteer work before they were actually hired. The head of the personnel for the Office of Administration, Phil Larson, refused and then quit because they were forcing him to illegally go back and pay people when they were volunteers before they were hired by the White House. Larson told him, and Mr. Larson was the head of personnel for the Office of Administration, Larson told him, 'It is too late. It is illegal, illegal, to grant appointments retroactively to pay people. We would have to create phony documents to do that.' Watkins did not care whether it was legal or illegal. He ordered Larson to backdate forms and create whatever documents were necessary, phony or not, so Clinton staff members could get paid. Larson refused, and he ultimately quit because he was under such pressure.”