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Double play | page 1, 2
But inasmuch as Lewis thinks these issues are still important, let's examine them in greater detail. On pages 206-208 of our book, we quote directly from the Senate transcript of Massey's testimony -- in which he described how he met an officer of Madison Guaranty in a night-time law school class, and eventually "pitched the business, asked for their work. They were a growing S&L. We liked working for companies like that, so I pitched the work."
Joe Conason Joe Conason's column appears in Salon News every other Tuesday.
Our book also quotes Massey's response to a question from Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., about who had handled the Rose Law Firm's work for Madison Guaranty. He was unequivocal in explaining to the senator that "these were primarily one-man jobs, and I did primarily all of the research, writing, drafting and so forth. Mrs. Clinton had a role in these matters. I view it as a supervisory role. In terms of who was in the trenches and doing the work, Senator, it was me." Our book clearly acknowledges that there were minor discrepancies between the recollections of Massey and Clinton, who were trying to remember details of conversations that had occurred 11 years earlier. Having leaked word that Massey's testimony would "ruin" Hillary Clinton, the Senate Republicans were humiliated by his calm refutation of their strained theories. For their part, Times editors were apparently dissatisfied with their own paper's story on Massey's appearance at the Senate hearings, which ran Jan. 12, 1996. The next day, that story was the subject of an unusual "Editor's Note" on Page 2 of the Times. Carefully and gently, the note stated that "while including testimony by Mr. Massey that seemed to contradict Mrs. Clinton, the article should also have included testimony that seemed to support her." Having published a slanted dispatch, the Times honorably sought to rectify an unfair impression. In reading our book, Lewis probably missed the paragraph on Page 208 in which we mention that editor's note, just as he may have overlooked the other basic facts in question here. In the spirit of brazen generosity, let's assume that he just made a few big mistakes. To dwell on another possibility -- that he intentionally misled Times readers -- wouldn't be generous at all.
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