Intelligence: February 10, 2001

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Reprogramming the telephone system that was disassembled by Clinton staff in their final hours is costing $10,000 per day. The phones for the Executive Office Building and West Wing have special security systems in them. Each phone must be plugged into a specific serial-numbered outlet, and the departing staff removed the serial numbers, moved the phones around, and even disassembled some of them. Each phone must be reprogrammed by hand, taking about an hour. The job is yet to be finished. --Stephen V Cole