Susan Thomases

Susan P. Thomases (born 1944) is a New York-based attorney. She served as personal counsel and an informal adviser to Hillary Clinton during the presidency of Bill Clinton. She was a prominent witness during the Senate Whitewater Hearings in 1995. She served as the model for the character Lucille Kaufmann from the 1996 political novel "Primary Colors".cite book
last = Milton
first = Joyce
title = The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton
publisher = HarperCollins
date = 2000
pages = 228
isbn = 0688177727 ]

Biography

Education and family life

Thomases grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. [Auster, Elizabeth. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22637616.html "SOME BAD BLOOD IN THE CLINTON CAMP"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", June 28, 1992. Accessed April 21, 2008. "Some of the gossip from the Clinton campaign these days could be"] She earned a B.A. from Connecticut College and a J.D from Columbia University. She married William Bettridge, a construction engineer, with whom she had one son. Bettridge died January 5, 2004.Paid Notice: DeathsBettridge, William B.January 7, 2004New York Times]

Political career

Early activities (1968-1978)

In 1968, at the prompting of her former boyfriend, Harold M. Ickes, Thomases supported Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy's unsuccessful bid to become the Democratic Party's candidate for president.

She met Bill Clinton in 1970, and joined him in 1974 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to work on his campaign to challenge incumbent Republican congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt. It was here that she met Hillary Rodham, who had just moved to Arkansas after having graduated from Yale Law School the previous year. Rodham had been dating Clinton since 1971. Hammerschmidt was reelected, but Rodham and Thomases became close friends.

In 1976, Thomases got a job in the Carter Administration as an aide to Vice President Mondale. In 1978, she ran former basketball star Bill Bradley's successful campaign to unseat New Jersey Senator Clifford P. Case.

1992 Clinton campaign

Thomases joined Harold Ickes as early advisers to Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. She was eventually named as the campaign's chief scheduler. Hillary Clinton retained Thomases as her lawyer so that their discussions would be protected by attorney-client privilege.cite book
last = Milton
first = Joyce
title = The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton
publisher = HarperCollins
date = 2000
pages = 227
isbn = 0688177727 ]

In early 1992, Hillary Clinton sent Thomases to be interviewed by "New York Times" investigative reporter Jeff Gerth about the Clintons' dealings with the Whitewater Development Corporation (WDC). Thomases worked with Rose Law Firm attorneys Vince Foster and Webster Hubbell to review the firm's records regarding WDC and Madison Guaranty and provide documentation to the "Times".cite book
last = Sheehy
first = Gail
authorlink = Gail Sheehy
title = Hillary's Choice
publisher = Random House
date = 1999
pages = 206-207
isbn = 0375503447 ]

Clinton Administration transition

Once Bill Clinton was elected, Thomases did not take an official role at the White House, but she continued to advise the First Lady in an unofficial capacity. Thomases helped to arrange an office for Hillary Clinton in the West Wing of the White House. This marked the first time that a First Lady had taken an office in the West Wing; First Ladies traditionally operated out of the East Wing.cite book
last = Hamilton
first = Nigel
title = Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency
publisher = PublicAffairs
date = 2007
pages = 42
isbn = 1586485164 ] Thomases was granted a pass to enter the Executive Residence and became known among Hillary's staff as the "Midnight Caller".cite book
last = Milton
first = Joyce
title = The First Partner: Hillary Rodham Clinton
publisher = HarperCollins
date = 2000
pages = 264
isbn = 0688177727 ]

Thomases suggested the name of her friend, Zoe Baird, for U.S. Attorney General.Citation
last = Friedman
first = Thomas
author-link = Thomas Friedman
title = Choice for Attorney General Is Near, Official Says
newspaper = The New York Times
year = 1993
date = February 4, 1993 ] Confirmation hearings for Baird faltered when the story emerged that Baird had hired undocumented workers as domestic help.

Senate Whitewater Hearings

In May 1995, the United States Senate, which had come under Republican control after the 1994 midterm elections, convened the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters, under the chairmanship of Senator Alfonse D'Amato.

Thomases was questioned by Senators D'Amato and Faircloth and majority counsel, Michael Chertoff, about telephone calls that she had exchanged with Hillary Clinton, Hillary's chief of staff Maggie Williams and White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum the morning after the suicide of Vince Foster. After the telephone calls, Nussbaum had removed documents from Vince Foster's offices before they were searched by the FBI. Thomases testified that the calls were of a personal nature and that she had not discussed the impending search of Foster's office with Hillary Clinton.cite book
last = Conason
first = Joe
authorlink = Joe Conason
coauthors = Gene Lyons
title = The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton
publisher = Macmillan
date = 2000
pages = 191,194
isbn = 0312245475 ] Citation
last = Powell
first = Michael
last2 = Garcia
first2 = Michelle
title = Amid Praise, Doubts About Nominee's Post-9/11 Role
newspaper = Washington Post
pages = A01
year = 2005
date = January 31, 2005 ]

In June 1996, the committee published its report, describing Thomases, Williams, Nussbaum and Hubbell as "not candid" and concluding that they had "provided inaccurate and incomplete testimony to the committee in order to conceal Mrs. Clinton's pivotal role in the decisions surrounding the handling of Mr. Foster's documents following his death."Citation
last = Labaton
first = Stephen
authorlinks = Stephen Labaton
title = Report Takes Aim at Mrs. Clinton
newspaper = The New York Times
year = 1996
date = June 16, 1996 ] Citation
title = Excerpts From Majority Report on Whitewater
newspaper = The New York Times
year = 1996
date = June 16, 1996 ] Thomases had answered "I don't recall" 184 times during the course of the hearings. Independent counsel Kenneth Starr rejected the committee's criminal referral against Thomases for possible perjury.Citation
last = Thompson
first = Marilyn W.
authorlinks = Marilyn W. Thompson
title = Whitewater Probe's Insufficient Evidence
newspaper = Washington Post
pages = A32
year = 1996
date = November 20, 1998 ]

References

;General
* Citation
last = Clines
first = Francis X.
title = Capitol Sketchbook: Whitewater Lion or Lamb? At Hearing, It's All in Eye of Beholder
newspaper = The New York Times
year = 1995
date = August 9, 1995 ;Specific