From the Wool-sack
| Jurisdiction | United States,Federal |
| Citation | Vol. 14 No. 9 Pg. 1646 |
| Pages | 1646 |
| Publication year | 1985 |
1985, September, Pg. 1646. From the Wool-Sack
"George," said his father, "do you know who killed that beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden?"... Looking at his father with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out. "I can't tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet."
Mason Locke Weems,
The Life of George Washington: With Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honorable to Himself and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen [1800].
From time to time, these columns seek to enlighten.(fn1) This is such a column. It tells why William Bradford Reynolds' nomination to be Associate Attorney General did not receive the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It also tells what people in Washington who chop down cherry trees and then deny it say when confronted with the facts--- they say their error is attributable to "failed recollection."
Examples of "failed recollection" abound in Washington. The first time I encountered it was in the mid-1970s. You will recall that in those days many prominent citizens had run-ins with truth. One episode was especially striking. A former deputy director of the CIA was found to have lied under oath and was charged with perjury. Instead of being tried on that charge, however, he was permitted to plead guilty to the charge of "not testifying fully."
Until I read that I had no idea that there was a crime of not testifying fully. That is because I do not practice criminal law. I also did not know that if charged with perjury, a satisfactory resolution was a guilty plea to not testifying fully.
It was not all peaches and cream for the ex-director, however. In order to be permitted to enter this plea, he had to agree that if he were called by the government in any future investigation he would testify truthfully. In other words, he would not be allowed to rely on failed recollection.
The most recent victim of failed recollection is William Bradford Reynolds. In June, he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and answered questions which were put to him. At the conclusion of his testimony, it was the concensus that he was a shoe-in for the third highest position in the Justice Department. Since he was a lawyer, it was assumed that he had good recollection...
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