Your sad attempt at character assassination is transparent. And almost a decade old. You characterize things wrongly about an article that calls the story false. And you keep repeating it like it means something. No theft charges were made. There is another side to this that you never bother to check on. The Clintons followed the White House Curator's Office guidelines, but offered to return or pay for any items that were improperly listed or even if provenance was unclear.. And they did.
In a statement, the Clintons said each of the gifts they accepted were identified by the White House gift office as a present to them. They said none of the gifts they took, including some $23,000 worth of household furnishings in question, was on a curator's list of official White House property.
"Gifts did not leave the White House without the approval of the White House usher's and curator's offices," the Clintons said in the statement. "Of course, if the White House now determines that a cataloging error occurred ... any item in question will be returned."
The Washington Post quoted two donors in Monday's editions as saying the furnishings they gave were intended for the White House, not the Clintons. They were Steve Mittman of New York, whose donation was valued at $19,900; and Joy Ficks of Cincinnati, who gave $3,650 worth.
And in its editions Tuesday, the newspaper quoted a former furniture industry executive, Brad Noe, as saying a sofa worth nearly $3,000 that he was supposed to have given to the Clintons wasn't meant for them, but for the White House collection. "I would never give a gift to the Clintons," Noe said.
"Everyone involved, including the White House curator, believed that each item was a gift to the Clintons," said Jim Kennedy, speaking for the Clintons. "Now you have a couple of people saying that they didn't intend for them to go to the Clintons and, of course, we want their wishes to be honored."
Clinton, in Rochester to discuss economic development, said the former First Family did nothing wrong. "All the items were considered gifts to us," she said. "That is what the people who run the White House - who were there before we came and are there still - reflected in their records.
Steve Mittman, president of Lewis Mittman Inc. in Manhattan, said he made no distinctions between the Clintons and the White House when he gave a $6,600 three-seat English-style sofa and several $2,750 overstuffed club chairs in 1993. "At that time, it was of no concern," he said. "We don't know distinctly if it was for the Clintons or the White House. We considered it simply an honor.
" Mittman called the flap trivial and said he was pleased the Clintons took his couch. David Martinous, a Little Rock, Ark., rug dealer, said he didn't care who eventually got the $1,000 hand-woven Aubusson rug he donated. "If the Clintons want it, they're welcome to it," he said. "It's not an heirloom or anything like that."
