William White

William White was the United States Trustee for the District of Columbia assigned to the INSLAW bankruptcy case, filed under Chapter 11 in February 1985. Anthony Pasciuto alleged that Thomas Stanton, Director of the Executive Office of U.S. Trustees (EOUST), pressured White to convert Inslaw's Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation. Cornelius Blackshear, then a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, initially testified that White had told him of Stanton's pressure. White, however, denied that Stanton had tried to exert any pressure on him to convert Inslaw. He explained that he asked for specific language to be added to a confidentiality order to protect himself from criticism, such as that made by Inslaw's counsel following the Jack Rugh-Gregory McKain conversation of February 1985, by ensuring only personnel in his office would be involved in the case. White's recollection was that Blackshear was mistaken and had confused Inslaw with the UPI case, about which White had told Blackshear that the IRS had pressured him to join a motion to convert.¹ Judge George Bason found in June 1987, on Anthony Pasciuto's account as relayed by Bill Hamilton and Nancy Hamilton, that the Department of Justice had "unlawfully, intentionally and willfully" tried to convert the case, and that Stanton had also sought to detail the New York trustee's attorney Harry Jones to White's office for the purpose. Some later accounts call him Edward White; the special counsel's report names him William White, and the LeGrand source's "Philip White" is a different official, the Criminal Division's Philip White.¹

The Special Counsel's investigation found no credible evidence to support the allegations against White. When interviewed, White denied any wrongdoing or pressure from Stanton to convert the Inslaw case. The investigation concluded that White's testimony was consistent with that of most other witnesses, and that his explanation for the confidentiality order language was credible. The report also noted that White, being no longer in government, was less susceptible to pressure to tailor his testimony to suit the DOJ's position. The investigation found insufficient evidence to support a finding that the DOJ pressured the U.S. Trustee to convert the U.S. Trustee to convert the Inslaw Bankruptcy case or otherwise improperly interfere with it, or that the DOJ attempted a cover-up.¹