. >> mack mcclarty, as a former chief of staff to a white house that had its own share of controversies in the first year, would you or nip around you have tolerated having someone in that post seeing the most top-secret documents without a full clearance but who had been credibly accused of domestic abuse by two former wives, according to the fbi? >> andrea, i would hope not and i do not believe we would. i do think a chief of staff has to rely on his staff. the general counsel, that was our point person with lloyd cutler and joel klein who got that backlog of security clearances cleared up but when someone doesn't have a security clearance in a critical position like staff secretary that is controlling all of the paperwork going to the president and seeing the most sensitive material, i don't think there's any question that would have been brought to my attention if i would not been aware of it. theed have demanded my immediate attention and i believe we would have taken action. >> joining us as well, ruth marcus, "washington post" deputy editorial page editor. ruth, the fact of keepi