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White House Counsels

Since the Watergate investigation during the Nixon Administration, Congressional oversight committees have received testimony and internal communications from the Office of White House Counsel in both Republican and Democratic administrations, on subjects ranging from document production updates to deliberation over the President’s exercise of constitutional authorities such as the pardon power.

As the examples below show, over 20 White House lawyers from six presidential administrations, including nine White House Counsels, have testified in depositions and hearings since the Watergate investigation.

Watergate
J. Frederick Buzhardt
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Special Counsel to the President
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Nixon
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities
-
1973
Hearing Testimony
Watergate
John W. Dean III
-
Former Counsel to the President
-
Nixon
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities
-
1973
Hearing Testimony
Billy Carter's Business Dealings
Lloyd Cutler
-
Counsel to the President
-
Carter
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
-
1980
Hearing Testimony
Iran Contra Affairs
Bretton Sciaroni
-
Counsel to the President’s Intelligence Oversight Board
-
Reagan
House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran and Senate Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition
-
1987
Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
W. Neil Eggleston
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Associate Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs
-
1994
Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Clifford M. Sloan
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Associate Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs
-
1994
Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Lloyd Cutler
-
Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs
-
1994
Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Bernard Nussbaum
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Former White House Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs
-
1994
Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Joel I. Klein
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Deputy Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs
-
1994
Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Lloyd Cutler
-
Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
Senate Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters
-
1995
Deposition & Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Jane Sherburne
-
Special Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
Senate Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters
-
1995
Deposition & Hearing Testimony
Whitewater Land Deal
Stephen R. Neuwirth
-
Associate Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs
-
1995
Hearing Testimony
FBI Background Files
C. Boyden Gray
-
Former White House Counsel
-
Bush
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1996
Hearing Testimony
FBI Background Files
Cheryl Mills
-
Deputy Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1996
Deposition Testimony
FBI Background Files
William Kennedy
-
Former Associate Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1996
Deposition Testimony
FBI Background Files
Bernard Nussbaum
-
Former White House Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1996
Deposition TestimonyHearing Testimony
FBI Background Files
A.B. Culvahouse
-
Former White House Counsel
-
Reagan
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1996
Hearing Testimony
Campaign Finance & White House Emails
Charles F.C. Ruff
-
Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1997
Hearing Testimony
Campaign Finance
Cheryl Mills
-
Deputy Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1997
Hearing Testimony
Campaign Finance
Charles F.C. Ruff
-
Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
-
1997
Hearing Testimony
Campaign Finance
Lanny Breuer
-
Special Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1997
Deposition Testimony
Campaign Finance
Jack Quinn
-
Former White House Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1997
Deposition Testimony
Campaign Finance
Michael X. Imbroscio
-
Associate Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1997
Deposition Testimony
Campaign Finance
Dimitri Nionakis
-
Associate Counsel
-
Clinton
House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
-
1997
Deposition & Hearing Testimony
White House Emails
Beth Nolan
-
Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
-
2000
Hearing Testimony
Pardon Deliberations
Beth Nolan
-
Counsel to the President
-
Clinton
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
-
2001
Hearing Testimony
Firing of U.S. Attorneys
Harriet Miers
-
Former Counsel to the President
-
Bush II
House Committee on the Judiciary
-
2009
Deposition Testimony
Undated handwritten notes of an associate White House Counsel (Clinton), provided to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, as described in a letter from Charles F.C. Ruff, Counsel to the President, to Richard Bennett, Chief Counsel, Committee on Government Reform and Oversight (Oct. 21, 1997) (see House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Special Investigations Division, Minority Staff, “Congressional Oversight of the Clinton Administration,” at 5 (Jan. 17, 2006)
Notes
Memo from Todd Campbell, Counsel to Vice President Albert Gore, to Vice President Gore (Nov. 2, 1993), provided to House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight (see House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Special Investigations Division, Minority Staff, “Congressional Oversight of the Clinton Administration,” at 5 (Jan. 17, 2006).
Memo