House Judiciary Committee General Counsel and Chief of Staff Thomas Mooney today sent a letter to White House Counsel Charles Ruff in response to his letter accepting time for the President's attorney to question Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr at the Committee's November 19th hearing.

November 18, 1998

BY FACSIMILE

Charles F.C. Ruff, Esq.
Counsel to the President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. Ruff:

As you know, tomorrow, November 19, 1998, the Committee will receive testimony from Independent Counsel Starr about facts regarding allegations that the President committed impeachable offenses. However, the Committee does not have the benefit of the President's answers to the 81 requests for admission that were sent to him on November 5, 1998. Furthermore, as we stated in our October 21 meeting with you, the Committee is interested in receiving any exculpatory material the President may have. We are concerned that, almost four weeks after making this request for exculpatory material and almost two weeks after sending the President the requests for admission, the Committee has not received any material from you on the President's behalf. Therefore, we renew our request for such material on behalf of the Committee.

Regarding the 81 requests for admission, we would like to point out that the Chairman did not set a hard deadline because he believed the President was ready and willing to cooperate with the Committee's inquiry. On November 6, Mr. Craig said that the White House reply would probably come before November 13. We are dismayed that you have missed your own self-imposed deadline.

The answers to these requests for admission should not be difficult or time consuming. We would observe that you were able to produce a lengthy "prebuttal" to the Office of Independent Counsel's Referral even before it was public. You also produced a rebuttal to the Referral one day after it was made public. Surely, you could reply to the 81 requests for admission by now. As the Chairman has repeatedly and publicly stated, your cooperation is essential in bringing the Committee's inquiry to a fair and timely conclusion.

Because the President's responses to the requests for admission and any exculpatory evidence about which you are aware will help the Committee begin to fulfill its constitutional responsibility tomorrow, we would appreciate your forwarding us this information this afternoon.

Sincerely,

_________________________

THOMAS MOONEY

Chief of Staff and General Counsel

cc: Julian Epstein, Esq.