
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994                   TAG: 9403130090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

WHITE HOUSE USHER FIRED FOR PHONING BARBARA BUSH

A longtime member of the White House usher's staff was fired after he talked with former first lady Barbara Bush by telephone from the White House, aides said Saturday.

Chris Emery, one of four White House ushers, lost his job earlier this month after being informed that the first family felt "uncomfortable" with him. He said Saturday his conversations with Bush had been limited to advice about her computer.

Neel Lattimore, a spokesman for Hillary Rodham Clinton, on Saturday declined to discuss the rationale for Emery's firing other than to say that the usher's office, which manages household operations at the White House, was being "restructured." He acknowledged, however, that there had been concern about Emery's conversations with Bush, saying "it shouldn't have taken place from the office."

"That may seem harmless for all intents and purposes, but it also shows an amazing lack of discretion," Lattimore said. "We believe the position that he had . . . requires the utmost respect for the first family's privacy."

"It's an extremely sensitive position," Lattimore added. "This is the president's house and Mrs. Clinton's and Chelsea's."

An aide who spoke on condition of anonymity said there was concern that Emery's discussions with Bush included private matters concerning the Clintons.

Emery, who had served as an usher since 1987, said he spoke with Bush four times over the past 14 months, in each case returning her calls seeking help with a computer he had set up when she was still at the White House.

by CNB