On the Prowl
ON THE PROWL Mr. In-Between Former Clinton deputy chief of staff Harold Ickes continues to serve his president's cause any which way he can. As the Monica Lewinsky scandal reaches high boil, he...
...After Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell made an impressive presentation for his city, the DNC's site selection team arrived within a day of a transit strike...
...It seems that the new owner is Dreamworks, the movie studio owned and run by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, all big DNC backers...
...Senate Republicans introduced a bill to circumvent the Supreme Court decision...
...Cockellshell Before any Secret Service agents received subpoenas from Kenneth Starr, many were debriefed by special assistant to the president Bruce Lindsey...
...Bill Faxon, overseer of the NRCC campaigns, has gotten fellow congressmen to share their own campaign funds with candidates in need, but the California trip was a big let-down...
...Lady in Red On the Clintons' recent trip to China, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright lobbied First Lady Hillary Clinton's staff to have her wear a white dress during welcoming ceremonies in Tiananmen Square, site of the 1989 massacre...
...California Blues RNC sources are calling a late June-July fundraising junket organized by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) a "disaster," since it reportedly raised less than half of what was hoped for...
...Called "separate enrollment," the legislation would allow tax and spending bills to be broken up into thousands of separate line items that could be vetoed individually...
...In years past, Clinton and Jordan played golf together almost daily on the island...
...At least several times since June, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Speaker Newt Gingrich have held this ritual in Statuary Hall...
...They don't like the way he has portrayed himself as a moderate in the early stages of the campaign," says a political consultant with clients in California...
...Spooked by picketers dressed in revolutionary garb who marched in front of the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel where the group had planned to stay, the team escaped the city within hours of checking in...
...According to White House sources, Ickes is the key "knowledgeable White House source" so often quoted by TV and print reporters...
...Adding further spice to the talk is that Katzenberg 14 September 19 9 8 • The American Spectator has reportedly offered Clinton a job at Dreamworks, perhaps as legal counsel...
...It was basically, What, if anything did you see?' `What have you told colleagues and superiors?' They were definitely trying to figure out what Starr was going to get beforehand...
...Wonder what those might be...
...For him it's a two-way street...
...He is regularly giving the president's advisers updates on what he hears certain reporters are working on and saying at Newsweek, the Washington Post, the New York Times...
...The land, abutting that of a home owned by actor Tom Hanks, recently sold for over $1.5 million...
...But we don't need controversy, and we got the sense that controversy with their unions may be an ongoing issue in Philly for some time to come...
...Ickes meets regularly not only with Clinton and Kantor, but with advisers Rahm Emanuel, Paul Begala, and Sidney Blumenthal, and keeps in close touch with reporters whom he believes sympathetic to the White House...
...Levin or Leave It The Supreme Court may have killed the line-item veto for now, but Republicans and Democrats alike were rushing to get another recision bill in the pipeline before heading home in August...
...The White House wants to be the one to push through this legislation and get the credit," says a congressional source...
...Lungren's failings are trickling down to congressional candidates...
...New Orleans had made an early pitch to host both conventions, but the Republican site committee seems more interested in cities that can provide it with perks...
...People just don't seem interested in putting up their money this time around...
...Giggles could be heard in the press area...
...This year Clinton plans to spend about ten days there before going to Russia and Ireland...
...So what's his angle...
...President Clinton is said to be pushing hard for Los Angeles, perhaps so he can show off his new property...
...Budget Committee chairman and presumptive presidential candidate John Kasich is pushing a similar bill in the House...
...New Orleans and Los Angeles are our top candidates now," says a DNC source...
...We're in disaster mode right now...
...The most surprising proponent of the new recision drive is Democrat Sen...
...This year, it's Vernon Jordan problems...
...The word this summer is that they're building a home for President and Mrs...
...Not only is he feeding material to the press, but some reporters are feeding him with a lot of material they are hearing...
...Carl Levin of Michigan, who is pushing his own version...
...Why the money problems...
...Of course, not one of them believed it...
...Who do you think ordered this movie...
...About 15 uniformed and non-uniformed officers and agents met with Lindsey and were asked a series of questions about the ongoing investigation into the president," says a Secret Service source...
...But the first lady declined, saying it was not the message she wanted to convey...
...See You in September Hillary and Chelsea Clinton will spend most of August on Martha's Vineyard, but the White House says that the president won't be staying long...
...Maybe Ickes should run the CIA...
...They were invited to meet with Lindsey...
...In Their Own World Eager to display bold, new leadership, GOP congressional honchos are holding their own "signing ceremonies" on Capitol Hill...
...Early favorites are New Orleans for the Democrats and San Antonio for the Republicans...
...Cutting off his conversation, Clinton quickly left, and within minutes the movie was canceled due to "technical difficulties...
...If they chose not to, they were told it wouldn't affect their duties in the White House...
...They seek to draw attention to legislation they know the president will veto...
...At first locals thought Hanks had bought the property in order to extend his own, but it turns out that the star is building a new house elsewhere...
...Officially, none of the officers or agents was compelled to cooperate...
...If we don't get more interest, we'll probably can future signings," says the press aide...
...Lame duck Rep...
...Sometimes he is also identified as "an attorney outside of the investigation...
...But he has no credibility on the issue and most likely a Republican sponsored bill will be passed...
...someone quipped...
...Spice of Life On a return trip to Washington from fundraising in New Orleans, President Clinton made a rare visit to the press area of Air Force One...
...They exchange pens, they sign their names, they make speeches, but it's purely ceremonial...
...Clinton, just like the friends of the Reagans did back in 1988 for them," says a Palisades resident with ties to Dream-works...
...The president has fundraising commitments and other issues that have to be handled down in Washington," says the source...
...Hanks a Lot A two-acre lot in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles has raised a lot of buzz among Hollywood Democrats, not so much because of who bought it, but because of what may be built there...
...It doesn't look good when you have a bunch of suits standing around for a ceremonial signing, and there is no one there to watch it...
...Meanwhile, labor politics has already wreaked havoc on the Democrats' plans...
...As he spoke to reporters, the in-flight film, Spice World, began to roll...
...A Texas convention would no doubt delight George W Bush, though he's not the driving force behind the San Antonio talk...
...Alas, the program isn't living up to expectations...
...When Gingrich and Lott recently signed a letter related to IRS reform, the gathering was sparsely attended by press and even by their own staffs...
...A Los Angeles event featuring Newt Gingrich (once the leading GOP attraction on such occasions, an honor that now goes to Steve Forbes) barely raised the projected minimum of $125,000...
...Once an outspoken opponent of the line-item veto, Levin backed the lawsuit that eventually reached the Supreme Court...
...New home construction in the area averages around $3.5 million, not including grounds and security...
...Oti The American Spectator • September 1998 15...
...The Alamo Convention Site selection committees for both the Democrats and Republicans are criss-crossing the country to be wooed by cities eager to host the 2000 conventions...
...Clinton stared momentarily at the gyrating figures of the singing group, the Spice Girls...
...It's just like the White House signing ceremonies," says a House press aide...
...San Antonio probably can't raise the kind of money the RNC would like to see spent on the week-long event, but the city has promised to provide each RNC member with a car and driver for the duration...
...It's part of the Clinton legacy program, and Levin signed on to help...
...As the Monica Lewinsky scandal reaches high boil, he has become the chief conduit of information between Clinton lawyer Mickey Kantor and the press...
...The last time he was up there, last summer, we had Webb Hubbell problems," says a White House press aide (see On the Prowl, October 1997...
...White, which symbolizes mourning in China, would have sent a message to the Chinese public, not to mention their government...
...One event in Orange County with Armey and Livingston raised only $25,000, which didn't come close to the $75,000 minimum we'd expected," said an NRCC staffer...
...Former RNC chief Haley Barbour is pressing his former colleagues to select Chicago, in part because Illinois will be a critical swing state in 2000, and anyway it's a fun town...
...Incidentally, Larry Cockell, the head of Clinton's security detail, was not among those interviewed...
...Philadelphia would have been nice, what with the Liberty Bell and it being the convention to pick the first president of the next millennium...
...NRCC staff claim there is little excitement in California over the 1998 congressional elections, and many big-money Republicans are disenchanted with the top of the ticket: gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren...
Vol. 31 • September 1998 • No. 9
