Correspondence
CORRESPONDENCE A Hiss Is Still a Hiss Both Tony Hiss in Newsweek and John Corry in The American Spectator ("Presswatch: The Hiss Factor," TAS, July 1994) have speculated about why President Nixon...
...First, Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom...
...It was a beautiful piece, and it needed to be said...
...CORRESPONDENCE A Hiss Is Still a Hiss Both Tony Hiss in Newsweek and John Corry in The American Spectator ("Presswatch: The Hiss Factor," TAS, July 1994) have speculated about why President Nixon wrote to the Russians in 1991 to ask whether they would release records of Alger Hiss's espionage...
...Equally laughable is the notion that the EPA decision represents a "triumph" for us...
...Environmental regulators can impose, as they did in our case, operational limitations based on preliminary reviews of trial-burn results...
...Then they must support terrorism generally and this puts them and others of like mind in a far more sinister light...
...6. & 7. Stephens Inc...
...EPA guidance on trial burns for Region IV, set out by James Scarbrough of the RCRA branch in an October 12, 1987 memo, "a trial burn failure provides substantial support for a permit denial, and this is the course of action that should be taken in all cases except those identified in Item 4." The conditions set out in Item 4 did not apply to WTI...
...Fitzmaurice never bothered to contact us or our lawyers...
...government...
...Millions of gallons of hazardous materials in 100 percent concentrations were sent to, stored on, and shipped from the same site...
...Certainly a threshold quantity of dirt must be unearthed to move the average American to rightly question their president's character, if for no other reason than to reassess their trust in him in future policies...
...Stein...
...While WTI may have dealt directly with the companies, the participation of Sussman is relevant given his later involvement with the issue at the EPA...
...A move from zealotry to credible and responsible journalism is in order at the Spectator...
...For all the indignation expressed in his letter, Mr...
...First, WTI is located in a residential, minority neighborhood—in fact, the entire black population of East Liverpool resides in East End, some 400 feet from the incinerator...
...Why, even the Nation and Mother Jones did not fabricate anything as ludicrous...
...Stein's piece was the most elegant...
...Raymond J. Wayne Public Relations Specialist, WTI East Liverpool, Ohio Evan Fitzmaurice's piece is another example of journalism gone awry...
...God bless Richard Nixon and his family and God bless you, Mr...
...Final payment was received in December 1990...
...It couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch...
...Fifth, according to U.S...
...I remember RMN and think of Niagara Falls...
...We have successfully demonstrated compliance with all applicable performance standards for hazardous waste incinerators...
...As Corry noted, when Hiss's name popped up in the archives of the Hungarian secret police, the mainstream media paid little attention...
...2. & 3. Stephens Inc...
...But because RICO statutes concerning mail fraud allow restitution for three times the original amount, Stephens Inc...
...May I now add mine...
...1. Stephens Inc...
...Surely this point, which has been made ad nauseam, is simple enough even for Messrs...
...Second, the RCRA permit makes WTI one of the largest hazardous waste incinerators in North America...
...it would have no docking facilities...
...Clinton's alleged dealings with the cement company, we do know that we have not run into any opposition about accepting hazardous waste via trucks, a proven, common, and safe method of transportation...
...Mike Bond Fort Myers, Florida In the Dumps Kudos to Fred Barnes for his lucid and painfully accurate, albeit overly generous, portrayal of the Republican Party hierarchy, and its uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory ("Me-Too Republicans," TAS, July 1994...
...Not only is the article' s premise wrong—that a hazardous waste incinerator is operating in Ohio today because of my family's alleged influence over Clinton and his administration—so are the "facts" used to support it...
...Second, is any other pointer to Clinton's character necessary when we see him, the president of the most powerful nation on earth, cozying up to a vicious terrorist like Gerry Adams...
...was the managing partner and 30 percent stockholder under the name Waste Technologies, Inc., was dissolved in 1986, not 1987 as Mr...
...Fifth, a trial burn is not a pass/fail procedure...
...Wayne's contention that test burns are not a pass/fail procedure...
...Should WTI be shut down because the government determines that WTI's permits were nullified after the 1986 dissolution, the $128 million in refinancing will fall in the lap of Stephens Inc...
...has not had any involvement with the facility—economic or otherwise—since 1987, when it sold its minority interest...
...Irene Prater Dell Carl Junction, Missouri Of all the kind words I have read about Mr...
...We are not liable, period...
...We have not had any interest in the project for over seven years...
...5. Stephens Inc.'s share was not $128 million...
...Except for the riverside, our immediate neighbors are other industries...
...Second, for the umpteenth time, WTI is not the largest incinerator in North America...
...This is a thinly veiled attempt to insinuate wrongdoing where there was none...
...The bonds were never issued, and Stephens ceased to renew that option in 1993...
...Once again, Nixon was right...
...2. Attach the mailing label from your most recent issue...
...is not liable for the debt to UBS and Morgan Guarantee...
...Confirmation comes from a December 29, 1982 letter to the Ohio EPA from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ("We are seriously concerned about siting this facility in a flood hazard area"),and a 1983 U.S...
...According to a nationally respected environmental publication, WTI ranks seventh in the United States with respect to capacity for commercial hazardous-waste incinerators...
...But suppose your correspondents aren't the naive people I hope they are...
...Compounding the problem is the author's propensity to toss around trumped-up dollar figures based on flawed formulas and inaccurate numbers...
...Susan Spreen Mission Viejo, California Burn Box Blanks With "The Clinton-Gore Incinerator" (TAS, June 1994), The American Spectator fires another shot in its ongoing assault against the First Couple...
...I think of the long years he endured, persevered, and finally overcame his enemies' cold, merciless, and unwarranted persecution, all the while spending his energies toward promoting, protecting and preserving not only America's peace and freedom but that abroad as well...
...The sixth, and most preposterous, reportage is the machination about the First Lady, a cement company, and the dredging of the Ohio River...
...It seems to me that someone should be a little more careful whom he calls a lackey...
...1. Please write your new address in the space provided...
...R.A...
...The readers deserve it...
...Stephens suggests...
...Fitzmaurice relied on biased sources and other notoriously inaccurate reporters and their equally error-ridden articles, a rather startling practice for a research assistant, but stanThe American Spectator September 1994 73dard-operating-procedure for a political hack with an ax to grind...
...As long as the GOP's posture is simply to be Democrats on a diet, they will continue to flounder...
...I think of the present White House occupant and a millpond comes to mind...
...Therefore, Stephens Inc...
...did not sell its interest to Von Roll in 1990...
...An employee of the managing generalpartner was the project manager who oversaw the permit processes...
...Morris, Illinois 61054 (Please attach address label here...
...could potentially by sued by Von Roll, UBS, and Morgan for just under $400 million...
...about the mighty oak that fell, leaving a lonesome place against the sky,as Sandburg said of Lincoln...
...Finally, the environmental aspects of this story are not as important to me as the political hypocrisy and conflict of interests surrounding WTI, but in fairness, WTI is located in a flood plain...
...Stephens attempts to dispel the notion that his company could be exposed to a $400 million judgment should WTI be closed, and further, that his influence with the Clintons has nothing to do with the current operational status of the incinerator...
...Edward T. Cutter Maple Shade, New Jersey To Mr...
...Jack T. Hyder, DVM Ocean Shores, Washington Whatever (Oops...
...was not a party to the 1990 loan transactions whereby Union Bank of Switzerland and Morgan Guarantee Trust Company financed Von Roll's acquisition...
...Before WTI, a petroleum products company operated a storage facility on the site...
...They can't have it both ways...
...and Waste Technologies Incorporated resulted in a 'technical termination for federal tax return purposes' and created a 'new partnership' with a new employer identification number...
...Stephens's total consideration for the project was only $2.1 million...
...Apparently there is sufficient consumer appetite for this measure of filth, but I would suggest to you that I believe that it is possible to maintain or even expand your readership by judiciously limiting the depth of your coverage of "ugly" details...
...Fitzmaurice did not contact us at any time either for information or to request an interview...
...David Brown San Jose, California Ben Stein said for me all those things I ever thought about Richard Nixon and said them so well I found myself crying all over again...
...11 Renew my subscription for one year (twelve issues—$35) Payment enclosed 10 Bill me later Name (Please Pnnt): Address...
...It follows then that Fitzmaurice's estimate for potential exposure based on our past shareholding is also meaningless...
...Box 657, Mt...
...This is not earth-shattering news (we all know that anyone who makes false claims is subject to criminal and civil charges...
...Second, it is our understanding that the facility met none of the criteria over which the "Army" has jurisdiction and can require EPA permits: the facility would be built well above the regulatory flood plain...
...Fourth, WTI negotiated its initial contracts directly with representatives of three companies and not with a chemical association lawyer who is now with the U.S...
...Little Rock, Arkansas Evan Fitzmaurice replies: Mr...
...Its ownership was conveyed to Von Roll in December 1987, before construction of the facility began...
...Just be sure to allow six weeks for your change to take effect...
...however, I must disagree with your characteristic approach—that of excess expose...
...a heartfelt thank you...
...Evan Fitzmaurice, a research assistant who wrote the piece, may be an assistant of something, but it's not research...
...So much for the premise...
...In a 1990 report on WTI, Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher stated: "In its 1986 partnership income tax return, which the Attorney General acquired pursuant to investigative demand, WTI acknowledged that the transfers to Von Roll (Ohio), Inc...
...Finally, relying on a lot of "ifs" and "coulds" the writer theorizes that Stephens could be sued if it made "misleading or fraudulent" representations, especially if they "jeopardize" EPA contracts...
...that we are not liable for the debts of others...
...that we did not make false representations...
...When WTI adds the second kiln permitted by the permit, it will be able to burn 176,000 tons of waste a year...
...It must be admitted that relatively few incidents of IRA atrocities are reported over here...
...sold its interest in WTI in 1987, the firm continued to renew an option on the sale of WTI bonds through the Ohio Water Development Authority...
...President," TAS, July 1994...
...The people who live there want England's protection...
...3. Return this form to us at the address listed below...
...sold its share to Von Roll in 1987, the deal was made assuming that the representations made by Stephens to Von Roll about WTI were accurate—including the validity of the permits...
...Instead, Mr...
...Huffington is a fine fellow and his wife is charming, but I see no hope for him...
...TAS Address Changes Made Easy...
...Moreover, our permit prohibits shipments of waste by way of the river...
...The original WTI partnership, of which Stephens Inc...
...John H. Taylor, Director The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Yorba Linda, California The Eternal Nixon I shall always love Ben Stein for his beautiful, poignantly eloquent tribute to Richard Nixon ("Au Revoir, Mr...
...Until you change, however, I would request that you immediately terminate my subscription and refund the balance...
...4. Stephens Inc...
...Tony Hiss suggested, laughably, that this was because RN himself now doubted Hiss's guilt...
...I think of him and remember Shakespeare's words about cowards dying many times but the valiant only once...
...Perhaps they'd just seen that epic liberal tearjerker, In the Name of the (God)father...
...In this case, however, the Spectator shoots blanks by using Waste Technologies Industries (WTI) as its ammunition...
...If he had made the effort, we could have told him that we do not have an interest in the facility...
...While we don't know anything about Mrs...
...The site has been zoned for industrial activities for at least two generations...
...You touched my heart...
...When Von Roll cut a refinancing deal for WTI with the Union Bank of Switzerland and Morgan Guarantee in 1990 for $128 million, that loan was based on the same representations made by Stephens to Von Roll in 1987...
...This event was doubly traumatic because of the death of our beloved First Lady, Pat Nixon, only ten months previously...
...George D. Waldman Reading, Massachusetts Bloody-minded Maybe if the NEA supported artists who distribute copies of The American Spectator in their plays, Congress would cut funding entirely...
...In response to the article's misfires, we submit the following facts: First, WTI is not located in a residential neighborhood, minority or otherwise...
...Stein...
...State: Zip: Date of change: L interest first to a subsidiary called Wastetech, and then ultimately to Von Roll (Ohio...
...Third, Von Roll is Swiss-based and not Swedish...
...Aping the destructive, statist agenda of the Democrats is a particularly stupid and futile strategy for building a governing foundation...
...It is ludicrous to assert that our 1992-93 fundraising efforts on behalf of Clinton's presidential campaign—conducted six years after we divested in the project—is in any way responsible for the EPA's recent decision to permit the facility to operate...
...and that we are not liable for $400 million...
...however, I believe that the magnitude of details that you routinely excavate are in great excess of political indication...
...Well done...
...Stephens Inc.'s influence with the Clintons speaks for itself...
...These limitations stay in place until regulators complete a more extensive review, which may result in a new set of operating conditions...
...EPA memo discussing WTI's attempts to get around the flood plain requirement ("the artificial elevation of the site above the floodplain does not remove it from the jurisdiction of the floodplain standard...
...There are some, therefore, who still see Ireland and the IRA in the romantic light of a green and lovely country being freed from the iron grip of a tyrannical Britain by brave men and true...
...and, as other permits specified, it would not be receiving or transferring hazardous waste via the Ohio river...
...Stephens does nothing to disprove Stephens Inc.'s exposure--indeed, he confirms it when he admits that Stephens sold its interest to Von Roll in 1987, when federal and state permits that allowed WTI to operate were invalid...
...The premise unravels when one considers the following: Stephens Inc...
...But since those would have been tax-free, government bonds, and since they would have been based on the same erroneous representations about WTI and its permits, the sale would have constituted fraud against the U.S...
...did not "build" the incinerator...
...The American Spectator Subscriber Service P.O...
...IMPORTANT Allow six weeks for address change...
...Fourth, WTI negotiated contracts with three companies represented by Robert Sussman, chief legal counsel of Chemical Manufacturing Association...
...It is a messy bundle of gross errors and distortions that has everything to do with politics and nothing to do with facts...
...When Stephens Inc...
...First, Stephens was not involved in the permit process...
...Market forces brought about a restructuring of our customer base, which currently is under contract for more than 80 percent of our available capacity...
...did not manage to skirt the Army Corps of Engineers requirements to obtain an EPA operating permit...
...Corry correctly guessed that RN was indulging intellectual curiosity—although it was my curiosity, not his own, because I proposed and carried out the inquiry, on behalf of the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda...
...So much for Mr...
...That's all there is to it...
...Hunt and Wall to understand...
...Unless and until the GOP pursues policies based on soundprinciples, e.g., (1) smaller government, (2) lower taxes, and (3) much smaller government, it will perform no fundamentally useful function in today's political climate, and, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, "they, too, will wind up in the trash bin of history...
...Wayne's letter is no more credible...
...Even after Stephens Inc...
...This dissolution caused the legal nullification of the 1983 and 1984 state and federal permits to operate the incinerator...
...According to Scarbrough, WTI has not "demonstrated compliance with all applicable performance standards for hazardous waste incinerators...
...Nixon since his passing, Mr...
...Nixon never wrote any such letter, which Newsweek could have ascertained with a telephone call...
...Given that the "Army" has no regulatory authority or jurisdiction over these areas, its requirements hardly could have been "skirted...
...Sixth, regarding the plausibility of the LaFarge connection, I merely painted the picture of conflict of interest and appearances that makes WTI look like most every business deal involving the Clintons...
...Now the facts...
...Correspondence, July 1994...
...Therefore, why would a cement company, which also burns hazardous waste, (continued on page 73) 10 The American Spectator September 1994 (continued from page 10) bother to dredge the Ohio River, a chief route for barge traffic since the beginning of America's industrial age, in order to bring hazardous waste to WTI, a competitor...
...From June 1981 forward it was a passive minority investor with only a small financial interest in the project and no operational responsibilities...
...When I suggested making the request, the former President's only reaction was to speculate that, in the event the Russians produced any documents, Hiss's tireless apologists would find a way to discount them...
...Warren A. Stephens President, Stephens Inc...
...Donald C. Williams Clinton, Maryland Deserter of the Month I agree strongly that it is important that the American people receive the information necessary to balance out the myopic and astigmatic perspective of the mainstream media...
...Paula Carmen Henderson, Nevada Ben Stein has expressed so thoughtfully and beautifully the emotions that millions of admirers and supporters shared during the days following the stroke, and later the death and funeral, of this remarkable statesman, President Richard Nixon...
...Perhaps your correspondents enjoyed an excess of Irish whiskey, which (continued on page 79) J 74 The American Spectator September 1994 CORRESPONDENCE (continued from page 74) can produce a wicked hangover...
...Whether this has to do with the media's interest in covering up for Hiss, their wish to avoid vindicating Nixon, or the alarming sense of cognitive dissonance brought on by the whole subject, I leave to expert observers such as John Cony to determine...
...Pseudo Irish I was wondering how long it would take the pseudo leprechauns to come dancing out of the woodwork to attack Thomas McArdle's excellent article, "Gerryatrics" (TAS, March 1994...
...that we did not skirt permit procedures...
...Given the backing of the Stephens concern, no hypothetical is implausible...
...Schram Brookfield, Wisconsin The American Spectator September 1994 79...
...it sold it in 1987...
...How in the world an entirely factual piece of writing may be labeled "propaganda" is quite beyond me...
...Third, WTI was designed and is operated by subsidiary companies of Swiss-based Von Roll, a globally respected environmental engineering company, and not "the Swedish incinerator maker" as reported...
...Gerryatrics" leaves very little to add, but a couple of points are worth highlighting...
...WTI's federal tax return for 1986 reflects the dissolution and exchange of Stephens Inc.'s 30 percent r MOVING...
...In your editorial "Houston Democrats" in the August 1994 American Spectator you note that Michael Huffington is running against Senator Barbara Feinstein in California...
...Again, we have no interest in the project...
...My mistake...
...On one hand, it merely identifies them with discredited policies, and on the other it gives them no recourse when their opponents steal their rhetorical thunder (how much longer before the Clintonistas are forced to pay royalties to Dan Quayle...
...City...
...Only a fusion candidate like George Wilson would stand a chance against such a formidable opponent...
Vol. 27 • September 1994 • No. 9
