Perjury charges at White House? Perjury charges at White House? Congressional panel may indict Clinton officials in e-mail probe By Paul Sperry c 2000 WorldNetDaily.com WASHINGTON -- A House committee may send criminal referrals for perjury to the Justice Department on some witnesses who testified last week about missing White House e-mail, WorldNetDaily has learned. Several of them made statements that grossly contradict the accounts of other witnesses and may have been designed to mislead committee investigators who are looking into possible obstruction of justice by the White House. "We are looking at the transcripts, we are going to review the tapes, and we may prepare criminal referrals for perjury on certain folks," said House Government Reform Committee spokesman Mark Corallo. A former White House official swore March 23 that she never made threats to computer contractors, who discovered in 1998 that the White House failed to archive more than two years of e-mail sent to White House officials, including top aides to the president and first lady. The e-mail was never searched for compliance with subpoenas issued by the independent counsel and congressional investigators. But three of the Northrop Grumman contractors testified that the official, Laura Crabtree Callahan, threatened them with jail if they talked about the problem, which they called "Project X" because of all the secrecy surrounding it. They said she made the threats in a 1998 meeting in her office. Mark Lindsay, a high-ranking White House official, claimed in his testimony that he made no threats, either -- though he also said he could not recall the meeting with contractors. "Lindsay couldn't recall squat when it came to the meeting," Corallo said. Yet all five e-mail contractors recalled details of the meeting on the morning of June 15, 1998, specifically Lindsay and Callahan ordering them to keep other workers and even their Northrop Grumman bosses in the dark about the missing e-mail. They were also told not to talk to their spouses. What's more, they told House investigators in interviews before the hearing that they were instructed to write down as little as possible about Project X and not to e-mail anything about it. They were even banned from using networked White House computers. In a separate meeting with Lindsay, a Clinton political appointee, the contractors' program manager, Steve Hawkins, testified that he felt "threatened" by Lindsay "the whole meeting." "I unequivocally deny that I threatened anyone regarding disclosure of the e-mail situation," Lindsay said under oath. The threats are key because, if true, they show an intent to obstruct justice through intimidation. "We may have to call several people back to explain some things," Corallo said. Those witnesses include a contractor, who may have held back information from the committee. Robert Haas, tasked in 1998 with finding some of the lost e-mail, denied under oath searching for any e-mail other than ones sent by Monica Lewinsky from the Pentagon. But two other White House computer workers said Haas told them he stumbled onto e-mail relevant to other investigations. "You've got Betty Lambuth and (Sheryl) Hall both saying that Haas told them that not only was there Monica stuff, but there was campaign finance and (Commerce Department) trade missions and all sorts of other stuff in there," Corallo said. In pre-interviews with investigators, Haas said he could not recall all the names of the White House e-mail users whose files he checked. Investigators suspect he knows a lot more about what's in the unarchived e-mail server than he's letting on. Haas is still working as a contractor in the White House. Also, it turns out that Haas was less than forthcoming in answering questions from committee chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind. He asked Haas about a so-called "Zip" computer disk for massive storage of files. Haas swore he didn't have one, when in fact he did. But Burton used the word "drive" rather than "disk," allowing Haas to technically be safe in denying it. Whereas Haas may have split hairs to hold back information, Callahan issued categorical denials. In the June 1998 meeting, Lindsay joined in by speakerphone. When he hung up, Haas asked Callahan what would happen if he mentioned Project X to someone. She replied that there would be "a jail cell with your name on it," Haas recalled her saying. Contractors told investigators in earlier interviews that Callahan then asked each person in the room, one by one, if they understood the consequences of speaking out about the problem. Lambuth testified she remembered the threat. So did contractor Sandy Golas. Hall, a career worker and manager in the White House computer unit, swore in affidavits that she recalled hearing about the threat contemporaneously. Both Lambuth and Hall have left the White House. Golas is still there. Contractors John Spriggs and Yiman Salim testified they didn't remember the jail threat. But both testified Crabtree told them not to breathe a word about the e-mail stash to their bosses or their spouses. And the two conveyed in pre-interviews that they were intimidated. Both Spriggs and Salim have kept their White House jobs. Hawkins, the Northrop Grumman manager who said he felt threatened, is no longer working in the White House. Callahan had to do some quick backpedaling after her testimony. The day after, she sent an affidavit to the panel, stating: "I wish to clarify that I did discuss e-mail issues with the Department of Justice attorneys in connection with currently pending civil litigation." She had denied such contacts at the hearing. Callahan, who was very soft-spoken throughout her testimony, said that the contractors who said she threatened them with jail "might have an overactive imagination." But a computer contractor familiar with White House e-mail operations said Callahan, now working for the Labor Department, was acting out of character during the hearings. "She never talks like a chipmunk," the contractor said. "Hollering and yelling was her normal mode and here she comes across as Snow White who wouldn't intimidate anyone. That was not Laura Crabtree." The source said other contractors "laughed" about her "performance." Corallo says the committee will first wait to hear from another White House witness, lawyer Beth Nolan, before preparing any criminal referrals for perjury. She is scheduled to testify Thursday, alongside Robert Raben, a Justice Department lawyer. "We want to get everyone on record," he said. http://www.worldnetdaily.../20000329_xnspy_perjury_ch.shtm 03/29/2000