Chapter 17

While I was cooking lunch, Bob took Snelling his "hospital meal" and released his arms so he could eat it. Bob told us he almost inhaled the food and had asked for more, but was told nothing more until his system proved it was ready for solid food.

I cooked us each a burger and we ate while discussing what we wanted to accomplish this afternoon. Frank didn't think we'd get much more information out of him, but we needed to get the tape to reveal some of how he got started in his activities. He wanted a history of the White House's involvement in things so the people could take some sort of action.

After we finished lunch, Frank made some notes and let Snelling sort of recuperate from the morning session. Once Frank was satisfied with the direction he was going to lead the questioning, he gathered a bunch of papers and we headed back downstairs.

Frank let Bob go in first to gather the tray and bring it out. Then Bob checked his vitals and nodded to Frank, who was looking through the window in the door, that it was ok to proceed. Frank walked in with his notes and put them on the table.

"Did you enjoy your meal, Mr. Snelling?"

"Yes, but I'd enjoy it even more if I wasn't here."

"Well, if you cooperate with us, I will guarantee you that you will be delivered to Chicago on Saturday about the time your flight was scheduled to arrive from Hawaii. We will make sure you get to the hotel on time to claim your room. But all of that depends on your continued cooperation with us."

"I don't have a choice now. You already have most of the information, so there is no reason not to cooperate. Just ask me what you want to know and I'll tell you what I can."

"I'm glad to hear that you've come to your senses, Mr. Snelling. I don't like hurting people, but we do need to find out the answers to these questions. Now, how did you get involved with the White House?"

"I worked on their campaign in Virginia and helped them raise money, starting in '90. They found out I was very good at getting contributions for them and had me working only on that for the rest of the election."

"What else did they have you doing?"

"As things began to get going, they asked me to get some information from the IRS about donations made by individuals and corporations. It took me a bit to get time on the computer, but I got them a list of contributors of large amounts. I had to hide my activities by requesting a run on the computer for certain items I was looking for to do my job. We only get a specified time to get a run completed, so I had to work fast to get what they needed. I put their run through first and then got what I needed for my job."

"What specific information were they looking for?"

"They wanted to know who gave over $10,000."

"Who asked you for that information?"

"I don't know his name, but he was about 5 foot 10, medium build with a receding hairline."

"Did they ask you for other information?"

"Yes, they'd ask me for the names of corporations that donated over a certain amount and about selected individuals and what they donated."

"Did they offer to pay you for this information?"

"No, but I was told that I would be rewarded for all my good work."

"Who told you that?"

"I don't remember anymore, but it was one of the campaign people from Arkansas, I think. Anyway, he had a pretty thick accent."

"Did you ever get to meet the Clintons?"

"Yes, they are really nice. I sort of fell in love with her. She's very pretty and just so nice to talk to."

"Were you ever alone with her?"

"No. But I would have liked to have had a date with her. But I know that would be out of the question since she's in the position she is. But there was always someone around when I was talking with them."

"Did they ask you for anything?"

"No, but she said she had heard that I'd been real helpful and that they would take care of me if they were elected."

"Did they take care of you?"

"Well, I sure got my promotion. I got that shortly after they took office."

"Did you get a chance to thank them?"

"No. They're pretty busy so I never get to talk to them unless I'm at a function at the White House, and then we are never alone so I could say anything about it."

"But you're sure that your promotion was a reward for you helping them?"

"I just know I had been told I wasn't going any higher at my last performance review. They said I lacked the education to proceed up the ladder. That was in June of '92. Then in March of '93, I got my promotion to Assistant Director in charge of auditing standards. I really don't have a lot to do now. I just set up conditions that flag certain returns and conditions for audits. You know, like if a certain condition is present on any return, then it is flagged for an audit."

"How do you get the names of people to audit from the White House?"

"I get a call from the White House and they give me a list of names."

"What do you do then?"

"I pull each return and see what I can find as a reason to flag it for an audit and then make sure that particular return is in the sample that is flagged."

"How many would you get at a time?"

"It depends on what is going on. Usually it is under 50 returns, but sometimes it is over that. The biggest group was from the people that were fighting the Health Care Initiative Mrs. Clinton had worked so hard on."

"How many did you get to audit from that group?"

"I don't really know, but it was in the thousands. I'd get a list of names and then I'd make sure they got audited. Sometimes I'd even expand the list myself. I would look at their list and if I could include their clients, I would."

"Is there anyone else involved with the White House that you know of?"

"Not from the IRS, but there are people from the Justice Department, Immigration, FBI, ATF, HUD, State Department, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior Department and CIA. I don't know their names, but I have heard them talking about having people working for them in those places."

"Who have you heard talking about that?"

"I don't know his name, but he works in the White House. He's a short man with a crew cut, but he doesn't have an Arkansas accent."

"Is there anyone else that you know of that is working for the White House in other agencies?"

"No, I think that is it. Just the ones I named."

"Ok, Mr. Snelling, you've done good. We'll see that you get more food tonight. We may have more questions for you later, but for now that is it. Thank you for your help."

Frank walked out and Bob followed a short time later.

"Bubba, I think you can start dubbing things now and get the tape ready to be delivered."

"I'm on it, Frank. I'll have the voices altered and it should be ready in a couple hours or so. How much of the pain do you want to leave in?"

"Might as well leave the entire thing intact. We will not be able to use this in court, so there is no reason they should not see it. Maybe the word will get out to other people and if we need to question them, they will know what is coming. It'll make our job a lot easier."

"Gotcha, Frank. I'll have the tape ready for you to approve in a couple hours."

We left Bubba to his devices and went upstairs.

"Earl, can you think of anything we left out?" Frank asked.

"Yep, you didn't let me get my hands on him. That mother fucker needs to be taught some manners and why it's not nice to fuck with people."

"Earl, we agreed that we didn't want a dead man on our hands. His condition is not all that stable and we want to be able to deliver him on Saturday night, in one piece. Not in a body bag."

"Ya, ya, I know. But it sure would make me feel better. I'd like to have something for my five thousand."

"I guarantee you that you will have something. You are going to see an administration that is unable to do anything of any consequence at all in his last term. They will be frustrated at every turn."

"That helps, but not much. I'd like to carry one of his ears on my belt for a while."