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But then, on Feb. 19, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Hillary, in a fierce argument with Bill, had smashed a lamp in the family living quarters. The story spread like wildfire, embellished with the claim that Hillary had actually thrown the lamp at Bill in a raging argument. Hillary assumed the story came from the White House security detail, confirming her fears about their loyalty, and was upset that no one from the Secret Service came forward to deny it. The story soon appeared in Newsweek, and Hillary and Bill vented some of their anger on Foster and Watkins for failing to act on her earlier concerns. They were "too naive and too nice, being from Arkansas," Hillary said.
Watkins took the reprimand with aplomb, but Foster seemed stunned. In all their years together, years in which he had so often acted as Hillary's mentor and protector, she had never spoken to him like this. The encounter drove home the fact that he was now working for her; he almost invariably referred to Hillary, but not Bill, as "the client." He shouldered all the blame for the leaked incident involving the smashed lamp. His job was to protect the President and the First Lady, and in this instance he had failed them.
Foster's relationship with Hillary suffered even more strain in the wake of the travel-office firings and never recovered. In response to a later question from the independent counsel, the First Lady testified that she hadn't even spoken to Foster after mid-June 1993.
And then there was the ongoing strain of Whitewater.
At the Whitewater closing in December 1992, Foster had promised to complete the corporate tax returns and return the Whitewater records to McDougal within 90 days. Given the maelstrom Foster had been in since arriving in Washington, it wasn't surprising that that deadline had come and gone. Late in June, McDougal finally received copies of the returns, along with a letter asking him to review them carefully for any inaccuracies. But how could he do that without the records?
McDougal was annoyed that the records hadn't been sent, and he was growing suspicious. On June 21 McDougal finally called Foster at the White House.
"Does he know you?" Foster's secretary asked. "What company are you with?"
"Vince has some records he's supposed to return, and I need to speak to him," McDougal explained. The secretary said she'd give him the message.
Foster evidently did get the message. The same day, he called Jim Blair in Arkansas. "I don't want Jim McDougal calling me at the White House," Foster told Blair. Blair told Foster not to worry. "I'll take care of it," he said.