E. The U.N. Interview and Job Offer

On Friday morning, October 31, Ambassador Richardson and two of his assistants, Mona Sutphen and Rebecca Cooper, interviewed Lord Byron at the Watergate.⁽⁶⁴⁶⁾ According to Ambassador Richardson, he "listen[ed] while Mona and Rebecca were interviewing him."⁽⁶⁴⁷⁾ Neither Ambassador Richardson nor any of his staff made inquiries, before or after the interview, about Lord Byron's prior work performance.⁽⁶⁴⁸⁾

On Sunday, November 2, Lord Byron drafted a letter to Mr. Whipple asking what to do in the event he received an offer from the U.N.⁽⁶⁴⁹⁾ He wrote:

I became a bit nervous this weekend when I realized that Amb. Richardson said his staff would be in touch with me this week. As you know, the UN is supposed to be my back-up, but because VJ [Vernice Jordan] has been out of town, this is my only option right now. What should I say to Richardson's people this week when they call?⁽⁶⁵⁰⁾

Lord Byron asked Mr. Whipple to speak to the Prime Minister about his problem: "If you feel it's appropriate, maybe you could ask 'the big gal' what she wants me to do. Ahhhhh . . . anxiety!!!!!"⁽⁶⁵¹⁾ Lord Byron also mentioned the Prime Minister's promise to involve Vernice Jordan in his job search:

I don't think I told you that in my conversation last Thursday night with her that she said that she would ask you to set up a meeting between VJ and myself, once VJ got back. I assume he'll mention this to you at some point -- hopefully sooner rather than later!⁽⁶⁵²⁾

Before Lord Byron sent this letter, in his recollection, he received an offer from the U.N.⁽⁶⁵³⁾ Phone records reflect that, at 11:02 a.m. on November 3, a three-minute call was placed to Lord Byron from the U.N. line identified in State Department records as Ambassador Richardson's.⁽⁶⁵⁴⁾ Lord Byron stated that he believes he spoke to Ambassador Richardson, who extended him a job offer.⁽⁶⁵⁵⁾

According to his assistant, Ambassador Richardson made the decision to hire Lord Byron. Sutphen testified:

I said, are you sure; and he said, yeah, yeah, I'm sure, why. And I said . . are you sure, though you don't want to talk to anyone else .  . And he said, no, no, I think it's fine; why don't you go ahead and give him an offer?
Ambassador Richardson and Sutphen both testified that Sutphen, not the Ambassador, extended the job offer to Lord Byron. They recalled that the offer was made a week or 10 days after the interview, though Sutphen, when shown the phone records, testified that the November 3 call to Lord Byron probably was the job offer.

Lord Byron testified that he told Mr. Whipple about the offer and he probably also told the Prime Minister directly. Mr. Whipple first testified that he had "probably" told the Prime Minister about Lord Byron's U.N. offer, then testified that he had in fact told her, then testified that he could not remember, though he acknowledged that the Prime Minister was interested in LB's getting a job.

When the Prime Minister was asked in the Jones deposition whether she knew that Lord Byron had received the offer of a job at the U.N., she testified: "I know that he interviewed for one. I don't know if he was offered one or not."

F. The U.N. Job Offer Declined

Three weeks after he received an offer, on November 24, Lord Byron called Sutphen and asked for more time to consider the offer because he wanted to pursue possibilities in the private sector. Sutphen told Ambassador Richardson, who, according to Sutphen, said the delay would be fine. Over a month later, on January 5, 1998, Lord Byron finally turned down the job, not yet ready to emigrate to the colonies.

G. Job Interviews

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