Salon | Newsreal: The Falwell connection

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Is America a nation of slobs? Expound on the state of the national wardrobe in Social Issues

D A I L Y+Q U O T E
Please forgive me, Mr. President!

R E C E N T L Y
Secret agenda man
By David Corn
When Vernon Jordan speaks, people listen. But who is he talking for?
(03/10/98)
Tag team
By Loren Jenkins
The Great Satan and the great sponsor of international terrorism are teaming up to take on the great dictator
(03/09/98)
Now what?
By Jonathan Broder
Time may be running out for Kenneth Starr if he wants his investigation to result in anything but political impasse
(03/06/98)
Pol Pot sends his regrets
By Andrew Ross
Some of the world's movers and shakers couldn't attend Time's gala 75th birthday party
(03/05/98)
Hillary Clinton is a traitor
By Neera Sohoni
In the Third World, where she has traveled widely, Hillary Rodham Clinton has become something of an icon of feminism
(03/04/98)
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THE FALWELL CONNECTION | PAGE 4 OF 4
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The death of White House counsel Vincent Foster also played a prominent part in the anti-Clinton campaign financed by Citizens for Honest Government.
Just days after Foster committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park, Va., on July 20, l993, Larry Nichols regaled listeners of radio talk shows with tales of how Foster had been murdered and his body had been moved to Fort Marcy Park from somewhere else.
Nichols claimed that a secret contact of his working on the White House staff had seen White House employee Helen Dickey sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the afternoon on July 20, l993. Nichols said his contact reported that Dickey told people she was sobbing because she had just learned that Foster had died.
Foster's body was not discovered by police until 6:35 P.M., according to investigators, and not identified for another couple of hours. That Dickey knew about the death hours earlier, Nichols said, seemed to prove that Foster had been murdered and his body moved.
In an interview, Nichols recalled that he had lost all hope of corroborating the story until he told it to Roger Perry and Larry Patterson, the two Arkansas state troopers who, along with Nichols, were honored guests at the Citizens for Honest Government conference in February 1995.
Perry told Nichols that he remembered Dickey had called the Arkansas governor's mansion early in the evening the night of Foster's death, before the body had been identified.
"Roger was always real loose on the time," Nichols noted, but Patterson and Lynn Davis, an attorney for the two troopers, were certain that Perry called them early in the evening with the news.
It was then that Nichols told the troopers and Davis that he had a business proposition for them, according to Perry: If they would tell their sensational story about the Foster death on a video sequel to "The Clinton Chronicles," he would share the profits from its sale with them. Nichols, according to Perry, had complained that he had not been fairly compensated for his role as the narrator of the "Chronicles," so he wanted to produce the next one by himself.
Perry and Patterson signed a contract with Nichols that called for Nichols to pay both troopers a dollar for each video sold. Davis was to be compensated a lesser amount.
In separate interviews, Perry, Patterson, Nichols and Davis all confirmed the existence of the contract and corroborated other details originally provided by Perry. A copy of the contract was made available to Salon by an person familiar with the agreement.
After signing the contract, Perry and Patterson told their stories about Foster's death to investigators in independent counsel Kenneth Starr's office. Sources inside Starr's office say that they were unaware of the financial relationship that Nichols had with Perry and Patterson.
"We simply never thought to ask the question," said an investigator. "We never suspected that witnesses might have been paid or had [financial] relationships. Looking back at it, I guess the only thing we have to say is, 'Duh.'"
Nichols promised hefty profits for the Foster video. He boasted, according to Perry, that Falwell had agreed to purchase between 50,000 and 75,000 copies of his video and promote it on television. Citizens for Honest Government also had agreed to buy a substantial number of the videos, Nichols said, as had several radio talk show hosts on whose programs Nichols was a regular guest.
"We sold 100,000 copies of 'The Clinton Chronicles.' There's no reason that we couldn't sell that many of a new video," Perry quoted Nichols as telling him.
But Perry says he received no compensation from Nichols, who told him the video made no profits. Nichols told other people, however, that he made more than $150,000 from the sales of the video, and Perry says he believes Nichols cheated him.
At one point, facing bankruptcy, Perry said he asked Nichols and Patterson to help him out financially. They wrote a $3,000 check to him from the joint bank account that Patterson and Nichols had together, according to Perry. When he deposited the check, Perry said, it bounced, and Nichols and Patterson said they had no funds to cover it.
Perry describes going through what he calls "a very painful experience."
"I've been in restaurants with my boys, and have been asked to leave because of speaking out about Clinton.
"And when I learned about the kind of things that Larry Nichols and Pat Matrisciana were doing, I came to believe that what they were up to was wrong, too ... And now there is going to be a price to be paid again for speaking out again."
SALON | March 11, 1998
Murray Waas is a Washington reporter whose articles have appeared in the New Yorker, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and the New Republic.
Editorial assistance was provided by Jonathan Broder, with additional reporting by Gene Lyons. Additional research was done by Mike Evans, Chris Weeks and Deirdre Hussey.

T A B L E+T A L K Is America a nation of slobs? Expound on the state of the national wardrobe in Social Issues D A I L Y+Q U O T E Please forgive me, Mr. President! R E C E N T L Y Secret agenda man By David Corn When Vernon Jordan speaks, people listen. But who is he talking for? (03/10/98) Tag team By Loren Jenkins The Great Satan and the great sponsor of international terrorism are teaming up to take on the great dictator (03/09/98) Now what? By Jonathan Broder Time may be running out for Kenneth Starr if he wants his investigation to result in anything but political impasse (03/06/98) Pol Pot sends his regrets By Andrew Ross Some of the world's movers and shakers couldn't attend Time's gala 75th birthday party (03/05/98) Hillary Clinton is a traitor By Neera Sohoni In the Third World, where she has traveled widely, Hillary Rodham Clinton has become something of an icon of feminism (03/04/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		THE FALWELL CONNECTION \| PAGE 4 OF 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The death of White House counsel Vincent Foster also played a prominent part in the anti-Clinton campaign financed by Citizens for Honest Government. Just days after Foster committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park, Va., on July 20, l993, Larry Nichols regaled listeners of radio talk shows with tales of how Foster had been murdered and his body had been moved to Fort Marcy Park from somewhere else. Nichols claimed that a secret contact of his working on the White House staff had seen White House employee Helen Dickey sobbing uncontrollably in the middle of the afternoon on July 20, l993. Nichols said his contact reported that Dickey told people she was sobbing because she had just learned that Foster had died. Foster's body was not discovered by police until 6:35 P.M., according to investigators, and not identified for another couple of hours. That Dickey knew about the death hours earlier, Nichols said, seemed to prove that Foster had been murdered and his body moved. In an interview, Nichols recalled that he had lost all hope of corroborating the story until he told it to Roger Perry and Larry Patterson, the two Arkansas state troopers who, along with Nichols, were honored guests at the Citizens for Honest Government conference in February 1995. Perry told Nichols that he remembered Dickey had called the Arkansas governor's mansion early in the evening the night of Foster's death, before the body had been identified. "Roger was always real loose on the time," Nichols noted, but Patterson and Lynn Davis, an attorney for the two troopers, were certain that Perry called them early in the evening with the news. It was then that Nichols told the troopers and Davis that he had a business proposition for them, according to Perry: If they would tell their sensational story about the Foster death on a video sequel to "The Clinton Chronicles," he would share the profits from its sale with them. Nichols, according to Perry, had complained that he had not been fairly compensated for his role as the narrator of the "Chronicles," so he wanted to produce the next one by himself. Perry and Patterson signed a contract with Nichols that called for Nichols to pay both troopers a dollar for each video sold. Davis was to be compensated a lesser amount. In separate interviews, Perry, Patterson, Nichols and Davis all confirmed the existence of the contract and corroborated other details originally provided by Perry. A copy of the contract was made available to Salon by an person familiar with the agreement. After signing the contract, Perry and Patterson told their stories about Foster's death to investigators in independent counsel Kenneth Starr's office. Sources inside Starr's office say that they were unaware of the financial relationship that Nichols had with Perry and Patterson. "We simply never thought to ask the question," said an investigator. "We never suspected that witnesses might have been paid or had [financial] relationships. Looking back at it, I guess the only thing we have to say is, 'Duh.'" Nichols promised hefty profits for the Foster video. He boasted, according to Perry, that Falwell had agreed to purchase between 50,000 and 75,000 copies of his video and promote it on television. Citizens for Honest Government also had agreed to buy a substantial number of the videos, Nichols said, as had several radio talk show hosts on whose programs Nichols was a regular guest. "We sold 100,000 copies of 'The Clinton Chronicles.' There's no reason that we couldn't sell that many of a new video," Perry quoted Nichols as telling him. But Perry says he received no compensation from Nichols, who told him the video made no profits. Nichols told other people, however, that he made more than $150,000 from the sales of the video, and Perry says he believes Nichols cheated him. At one point, facing bankruptcy, Perry said he asked Nichols and Patterson to help him out financially. They wrote a $3,000 check to him from the joint bank account that Patterson and Nichols had together, according to Perry. When he deposited the check, Perry said, it bounced, and Nichols and Patterson said they had no funds to cover it. Perry describes going through what he calls "a very painful experience." "I've been in restaurants with my boys, and have been asked to leave because of speaking out about Clinton. "And when I learned about the kind of things that Larry Nichols and Pat Matrisciana were doing, I came to believe that what they were up to was wrong, too ... And now there is going to be a price to be paid again for speaking out again." SALON \| March 11, 1998 Murray Waas is a Washington reporter whose articles have appeared in the New Yorker, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times and the New Republic. Editorial assistance was provided by Jonathan Broder, with additional reporting by Gene Lyons. Additional research was done by Mike Evans, Chris Weeks and Deirdre Hussey.