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

DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994                   TAG: 9409100002
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: D3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FOSTER'S DEATH IS STILL A MYSTERY

SOMEONE'S lying big time about the death of White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster. Is it original Whitewater special prosecutor Robert Fiske, the FBI or the star witness? A discrepancy of this magnitude cannot be swept under the rug. It is of far more consequence than the conflicting testimony of Treasury officials about their White House meetings that is occupying the attention of Congress and the media.

Discrepancies that are beginning to cause doubts about Fiske's investigation and inquiry into Foster's death may have played a role in the decision by Appeals Court judges to take Fiske off the investigation and to replace him with former Solicitor General and Appeals Court Judge Kenneth W. Starr.

Fiske's report on Foster's death is contradicted by public statements of the star ``confidential witness'' - interviewed by Fiske and cited in his report - who found Foster's body.

Last Thursday, G. Gordon Liddy had the so-called confidential witness live on his radio show. CW, who discovered Foster's body in Fort Marcy Park, Va., just across the Potomac River from Washington, at 5:45 p.m. on July 20, 1993, said several times with emphasis that he told the FBI that Foster's hands were palms up, thumbs out and there was no gun in either hand.

This information is startling, because by the time the police arrived at the unattended body 45 minutes later, there was a gun in Foster's hand - moreover, a gun without any fingerprints on it. Normally, a discrepancy of this magnitude would set off alarm bells.

But not with Fiske. Instead, Fiske has a section in his report, ``Why didn't CW see a gun in Foster's hand?'' In this section, Fiske puts words in CW's mouth. The report claims that ``CW has further stated that the natural foliage in the area made it difficult to see Foster's hands.''

Perhaps I am hearing-impaired, but I distinctly heard the witness deny that he said any such thing. What the witness did say was that the FBI agent badgered him with hypothetical conditions in which he might not see a gun, but these were not the conditions that he observed.

Fiske's report seizes on the hypothetical discussion, not on the witness' report of the actual conditions that he observed. I heard the witness say that the police picture of Foster's right hand, palm down with the trigger guard around his thumb was ``clearly and absolutely not what I saw.''

CW needs to be called before Congress to testify, but there is little chance that Democrats will let this happen. Some believe Fiske has destroyed his reputation by participating in the cover-up.

To avoid the same fate, Starr must give us a real investigation of Foster's death and not fob off the unambiguous testimony of the witness who found the body.

Paul Craig Roberts was an assistant treasury secretary in the Reagan administration.

The Los Angeles Times

by CNB