Clinton White House heist, The

Human Events, Feb 18, 2002

When the Clintons left the White House on Jan. 20. 2001, they took with them 44 pieces of furniture that had been given to the White House or the President as gifts during their residency.

Eventually the Clintons were forced to return 25 of these pieces because the government had in its files thank-you letters from the National Park Service (NPS) to the gift-givers. As soon as the NPS sends a thank-you note to a benefactor, the gift that benefactor has given becomes U.S. government property.

The House Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs, chaired by Rep. Doug Ose (R.-Calif.) last week released a list of many of the gifts the Clintons removed from the White House when leaving office. These included $361,198 worth of gifts declared by the Clintons to be valued at more than S260 a piece. But the subcommittee also concluded that the Clintons retained "thousands of other gifts valued at less than $259, which were not required to be disclosed." Forty-nine percent of these gifts, said the panel, "were not appraised or otherwise independently valued."

Beyond furniture, gifts that the Clintons retained included valuable works of art. designer clothing, and historical artifacts. Many of these objects were never reported by the Clintons on their financial disclosure forms or were significantly undervalued (i.e. the Clintons claimed that a Ferragamo coat costing $1,600-$2,000 was worth only $800).

Ose has referred the matter of the Clintons' White House Heist to the U.S. Justice Department for criminal investigation.