Investigation into the Death of Vince Foster - Research Paper Example

?Investigating Vince Foster’s Investigations: Murder or Suicide? Introduction On the 20th of July, 1993, the body of Vince Foster was found lying at the Fort Marcy Park in Northern Virginia. As to how he died, it remained a mystery for some. Despite the “plain and simple” truth that Foster committed a suicide, the “events” that occurred prior to his death were and probably are hardly definable or determinable. The facts were as follow: nobody had seen him committing the suicidal act, none had heard the gunshot, and no one had seen him alive in the crime-of-the-scene (Moldea 2). As we shall see, these facts had created a controversy (e.g., conspiracy theory) that lasted even to these days. This paper explores the controversy of Foster’s death, of whether he was murdered or not. It also examines the investigations done by several institutions in deciphering the truth of Foster’s death. On Murder Burnett gives two major scenarios on the death of Foster: (1) murder sponsored by the Clintons; and (2) murder committed by a foreign secret service spy. First, the Clintons had ordered the killing, in a clandestine fashion, of Foster for the reason of stopping him to reveal “damaging information he held with respect to the Clintons” (Burnett 162). Before his death, it must be noted that the victim (i.e., Foster) was a deputy officer to the White House counsel under Bill Clinton’s administration. That is to say, the victim had direct and immediate accessed to the data or information pertaining to the activities of the Clintons -- activities that were associated to Travelgate and other alleged scandals. Moreover, the U.S. Congress had invited Foster to testify concerning the scandals connected to the president in question. Thence, the Clintons deemed it fitting to murder Foster. Second, a foreign secret service murdered the said victim for the reason that Foster was “some kind of super-spy” (Burnett 162). Mossad was the name of the murderer; he was an Israeli secret service officer. In Conspiracy Encyclopedia, Burnett states that the super-spy Foster had spied on several banking transactions perhaps to gather data pertaining to the state or condition of the micro-economy. He adds up that Foster worked in an NSA project whose tasked was to spy on key institutions and personalities. Hamilton inquires concerning the motive of the Clintons as to why they had removed files, shortly after Foster’s death, from the “dead man’s office” (150). Such move -- what Glad calls the “handling of papers” (861) -- by the Clintons had generated many and various speculations about the death of Foster. It seemed that the powers-that-be had attempted to cover -- Grossman and Yalof have questioned the covering up made by the Clintons concerning Foster’s alleged suicide -- several data or information under the possession of their deputy officer in order to escape court trial and punishment. Further, Ruddy had raised three major “evidences” that showed the inconsistency and incompleteness of the findings based from official investigations pertaining to Foster’s death (qtd. in Moldea 158): First, there was no gunfire heard at the park during the time-period of the victim’s death. People or “witnesses” who were present in Fort Marcy Park were unable to hear any gunshot at the time of Foster’s alleged suicide. Second, the victim’s family had failed to identify the gun which was found in Foster’s hand. Upon seeing the gun in question, the victim’s wife was unable to determine whether or not the said weapon was Foster’s. Third, the official investigation did not consider “Foster’s time from 1 PM” up to the time that his body was found. Such official investigation seemed only to account the limited “time” from the period of Foster’s death. On Suicide Greenberg notes that there were five investigations done extensively from 1993 until 1997 which center on probing the death of Foster. In contrast to Robert Fiske’s, the investigation or probe headed by Kenneth Starr was generally viewed as credible. The three judges, who came from different appellate jurisdictions, stated the “credibility” of Starr in probing the death of a U.S. deputy officer considering that he was not appointed to the position of the Attorney General by the incumbent administration. The first official investigation was spearheaded by Fiske who was President Clinton’s Attorney-General appointee. Thence, to avoid “perceptions of conflict,” the three judges ruled for another investigation led by Starr who was not attached or associated to the Clintons. It is fascinating that Cohen from the Washington Post had suggested another investigation pertaining to the reasons on “why there have been so many investigations” (qtd. in Moldea 1). Perhaps Cohen viewed the suicide of Foster as something far from schemes that were conspiratorial in nature. That is to say, the writer from the distinguished newspaper greatly challenged the validity or soundness of the contentions presented by the conspiracy theorists. There are several points or evidences, according to Greenberg, in which Starr’s investigative report greatly refuted the arguments (that is, Foster was murdered) presented by the conspiracy theorists. First, the gun found in the victim’s hand belonged to Foster. The .38-caliber revolver that was found in the victim’s hand was the gun owned by Foster. As opposed to the claim of the conspiracy theorists, the gun in question was not planted into Foster’s hand by someone else -- someone or somebody who theoretically owned the caliber revolver -- but rather it belonged to the suicide victim himself. Second, carpet fibers on the victim’s body were from the carpet found in Foster’s home. The conspiracy theorists claimed that the victim’s body was transported to the other place -- perhaps from Washington to the Fort Marcy Park -- as proven by the presence of carpet fibers. However, Starr refuted such contention by the fact that such carpet fibers matched from the carpet found in Foster’s residence. Third evidence is the presence of large amount of blood in and around the body and of soil on the victim’s shoes. These evidences -- of blood and soil -- proved that there was no foul play. The presence of soil on Foster’s shoes, for one, clearly showed that the suicide victim died on the spot in which his body was discovered. And fourth, the absence of suicide note was insignificant. By and large, Starr was convinced through his evidences that Foster committed suicide. Investigating the Investigations Between the scenarios concerning to the murder of Foster, the conspiracy theory associated to super-spy and all is utterly unbelievable, if not ridiculous. I dare say that that only happens in Hollywood films. One tends to agree more to Cohen’s sarcastic remark pertaining to the “many investigations” surrounding the death of Foster. Nevertheless, these numerous investigations were propelled mainly by certain failures, what Moldea argues as a “handful of people who did their jobs badly” (381). Of the contention that victim was murdered by the Clintons, that appears to be enticing to the imaginative mind. True, Foster was a deputy official of the Clinton administration -- in the process, he was able to access numerous and vital information obtained and kept by the White House. However, Foster was a close friend and long-time associate of the Clintons. There was a strong bond -- a bond that was beyond political or politics -- between the Fosters and the Clintons. Bill and Hillary valued their friendship with Vince. Despite the “pressures” that Foster incurred from the Clintons -- pressures are inherent in the nature of politics -- friendship or a sense of trust (i.e., apolitical) between them existed. In spite of the soundness of Cohen’s criticism to the many and probably unnecessary investigations, there is still value or significance to such actions. For whatever reason there may be, people tend to believe in things or ideas that are almost impossible to happen in the real world. Perhaps science can, at certain extent, facilitate in clarifying or expounding particular confusion or uncertainty. The many investigations of different bodies or committees concerning Foster’s suicide somehow reflect the procedure prominent in the natural sciences: viewing, reviewing, and testing evidences. Nevertheless, science, when viewed or used in the context of politics, becomes blurred. Politics is a complicated field of human theory and praxis. In the end, Cohen’s critique to the unnecessary investigations of the death of an important man in the White House is valid. Perhaps the Congress or any institution should take his advice -- that is, to investigate the cause or causes of many investigations. Conclusion The debate concerning the death of Vince Foster was and probably is controversial. Like the political arena, the conclusion is hardly reached with respect to different audiences and/or interpreters. Of the speculation that Foster was murdered, that is a thought that is worth welcoming. Of course, there was the possibility that Foster was murdered. Furthermore, in order to come up with an objective or scientific conclusion -- of proving or disproving such claim held by certain theorists -- it is empirical that the investigators and the audiences should be open to the scientific truth. This implies that to fully comprehend the reality -- of what truly occurred pertaining to Foster’s death -- one has to transcend one’s narrow ideological and political perspective. Considering the atmosphere of his death as well as the victim’s high profile, the case of Foster is contestable. Of whether or not he was murdered, that would remain a mystery as long as the interpretation or investigation is tainted, consciously or not, with politics. Works Cited Burnett, Thom. Introduction. Conspiracy Encyclopedia. By Burnett. New York: Collins & Brown, 2006. 9+. Print. Glad, Betty. “Evaluating Presidential Character.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 28.4 (2008): 861. Print. Greenberg, Gerald S. Historical Encyclopedia of U.S. Independent Counsel Investigations. Westport: Greenwood, 2000. Print. Grossman, Joel B., and David A. Yalof. “The Public versus the Private President: Striking a Balance between Presidential Responsibilities and Immunities.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 28.4 (1998): 821. Print. Hamilton, Nigel. Bill Clinton: Mastering the Presidency. New York: Perseus Books, 2007. Print. Moldea, Dan E. A Washington Tragedy: How the Death of Vincent Foster Ignited a Political Firestorm. Washington: Regnery, 1998. Print. Read More