DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: THE STORY OF A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE
SUBSECTION: WHITEWATER
Revised 7/28/99

WHITEWATER

President's deposition concerning Arkansas McDougal related bank fraud was denial. Susan McDougal's refusal to answer question "Did the president testify truthfully?" resulted in jail time. Bank documents found in trunk of abandoned car.

NewsMax 3/3/99 Inside Cover "…D'Amato hit Starr hard when questioned about his own committee's attempts to learn if the late Vincent Foster had been tipped off about an impending FBI search of Judge David Hale's office just hours before Foster was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head…. D'Amato added, "There was an absolute total fear on the part of the Democrats that Judge Hale, if permitted to testify, would have rocked the country," saying that Starr's insistence on immunity for Hale only kept the truth from coming out. Just months after Foster's 1993 death, Hale fingered President Clinton in Whitewater wrongdoing. Foster, while Deputy White House Counsel, had doubled as the Clintons' Whitewater lawyer…"

Fox News 3/8/99 Freeper ohmlaw98 "…Have heard the report twice now, but did not see it posted here...Fox News is reporting that evidence implicating Bill and Hillary Clinton in Whitewater related crimes will be introduced by the prosecution in the Susan McDougal trial. The Fox News reporter did not address the nature of the evidence except that it implicates both Bill and Hillary and believes that it relates to obstruction issues surrounding the case....Prosecutors who brought the original charges against McDougal will take the stand for the prosecution....Hickman Ewing was interviewed by Fox on the Courthouse steps......"

Fox News 3/09/99 David Schuster Freeper truthkeeper "…In a live report, David Schuster said prosecutors will focus on the following in the newest McDougal trial: 1. The $5,000 check with the "Payoff Bill Clinton" memo 2. Testimony regarding fraudulent loans 3. Fact that all WW partners were aware that monies from the loan were used on ANOTHER fraudulent real estate deal as well…."

Associated Press 3/10/99 Peggy Harris "…Barrett told the jurors that Mrs. McDougal refused to testify about financial transactions that he charged undercut Clinton's sworn testimony at the 1996 trial of Mrs. McDougal, her former husband and then-Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker. "Bill Clinton said, `I never received a loan from''' the McDougals' failing savings and loan, Barrett told the jury. In fact, prosecutors now have a $27,600 cashier's check from the McDougals' S&L made payable to "William Jefferson Clinton,'' he charged. The prosecutor pointed to a $5,081 check bearing the words "payoff Clinton'' and said the money had been partial payment of the $27,600 check which was used to pay off a Whitewater debt. The $5,081 came from an account under Mrs. McDougal's control, Barrett said. Prosecutors plan to call as witnesses some of the grand jurors who wanted to question Mrs. McDougal as part of their investigation of the Clintons. Geragos called Barrett's theory "nonsense,'' and said Mrs. McDougal will describe the treatment she received from Starr's office… "

Associated Press 3/12/99 Pete Yost "… Starr's prosecutors brandished their prize exhibit in the case — a $27,600 check from James and Susan McDougal's savings and loan made payable to "Bill Clinton'' — and juxtaposed it with the president's testimony that he'd never taken out a loan from the S&L. The trial features James McDougal speaking from the grave. The medium is one of Starr's investigators, FBI agent and accountant Mike Patkus, who has spent five years investigating Clinton. Patkus testified that McDougal tipped him in 1996 that there had been a loan to Clinton, contrary to what the president had said under oath. Patkus spent many days rummaging through the failed financial institution's records before he found the 1982 check to Clinton on microfilm. A garage mechanic later pulled the original from the trunk of a tornado-damaged car abandoned 10 years ago by a McDougal S&L employee who had brought the vehicle in for transmission repairs. In what could be his last effort against the president, Starr is putting Mrs. McDougal on trial for criminal contempt and obstruction because she won't say what she knows about the Clinton loan. She endorsed a separate check that helped pay it off…. James McDougal told Starr's office that he had gotten Clinton to sign papers for the loan but McDougal destroyed the records after the loan was paid off…."

AP 3/16/98 Peggy Harris "…``I never spent any significant time at all looking at the books and records of Whitewater,'' Mrs. Clinton said in videotaped testimony for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Forty minutes of the videotape was shown in court today during the contempt trial of Susan McDougal, who has refused to testify about her Whitewater dealings with the Clintons…."

Associated Press 3/16/99 Pete Yost Freeper jimbo123 "…Later Tuesday, a former employee of the McDougals' savings and loan explained why he abandoned the car with the cashier's check and other documents inside. Henry Floyd testified that he was supposed to be carry Madison Guaranty documents to a warehouse in 1988 but dropped off his car at a garage for repair. When a dispute arose over the bill, he left the car there, forgetting the documents, Floyd said. The garage owner opened the car's trunk 10 years later, after a tornado, and discovered thousands of S&L documents. When Floyd was asked why he sought a limited grant of immunity from Starr's office before testifying, Mrs. McDougal remarked from the defense table: "Scared.'' That led to a complaint from prosecutors and admonishment from the judge…."

New York Post http://www.nypost.com/ 3/17/99 Brian Blomquist Freeper A Whitewater Researcher "…Hillary Clinton was called as a video witness in Susan McDougal's Whitewater trial yesterday as the past came back to haunt the First Lady...."I never spent any significant time at all looking at the books and records of Whitewater," Mrs. Clinton insisted on the video, shown publicly for the first time in Little Rock....The video was made for the Whitewater grand jury last April....McDougal is on trial for refusing to answer Starr's questions. Her lawyer claimed Starr's team never bothered to ask the First Lady those same questions - but the video shows they did....The First Lady is seen wearing a yellow suit. She looked serious and nodded as she was handed the $27,600 check in her husband's name and claimed she'd never seen it....The $27,600 check was issued in Bill Clinton's name by the bank owned by Susan McDougal and her late husband Jim - and partly repaid by an illegal $300,000 taxpayer-funded loan to Susan McDougal....The president has sworn under oath that he never got any loans from the McDougals' bank…"

Reuters 3/17/99 "…The Whitewater grand jury headed by independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr was not out to ''get'' President Clinton, a member of the panel testified in a related trial Wednesday. The grand juror testified in the case that Starr's prosecutors have brought against former Clinton business partner Susan McDougal, who was convicted of fraud in 1996 in connection with the Whitewater investigation…. The prosecution's strategy has been to show that Susan McDougal's testimony is crucial to the Whitewater investigation as the only surviving Clinton partner after the death of her ex-husband in jail last year.

It has also tried to undermine McDougal's claims that Starr would twist her words to hurt Clinton, which has been her defense for remaining silent. ``We wanted to hear what she (McDougal) had to say,'' said grand juror Jennifer Castleberry of Mayflower, Arkansas. ``Do you believe the grand jury was out to get Bill Clinton?'' asked Starr deputy prosecutor Julie Myers. ``No,'' Castleberry answered. ``Do you believe the grand jury was out to get anyone?'' Myers continued. ``No,'' Castleberry said…."

AP 3/17/99 Peggy Harris "…The witness, Jennifer Castleberry of Mayflower, a small town 20 miles north of Little Rock, served on the grand jury investigating the Clintons' Whitewater business dealings from May 1996 to September 1997. She was present on one of the occasions when Mrs. McDougal refused to testify.

"She wouldn't talk,'' Mrs. Castleberry testified. "She wanted to give a statement. She would not allow us to read the statement. She refused to answer the questions.'' Mrs. Castleberry said the grand jurors met for about 15 or 20 minutes, out of the presence of Mrs. McDougal or the prosecutors, to consider whether to let her read the statement. They decided to deny the request. …"

AP 3/16/99 Pete Yost "…In a flurry at the end of a day in which three former grand jurors testified for the prosecution, attorney Mark Geragos issued a subpoena to Deputy Independent Counsel W. Hickman Ewing Jr. to testify when Mrs. McDougal's defense begins its case Thursday. Geragos said that Ewing, who oversees Starr's Arkansas office but is not part of the current trial team, would be the first defense witness, and he would not rule out summoning Starr as well. ``First let me deal with Hick Ewing,'' he said. The defense team is eager to change the issue at the trial from Mrs. McDougal's defiance of a federal judge's order to testify before the Whitewater grand jury to the tactics of Starr's office…."

AP 3/18/99 "…Kenneth Starr's top deputy testified today that at one point in the Whitewater investigation he drafted a proposed indictment of Hillary Rodham Clinton and showed it to others in the independent counsel's office. Called as the lead-off defense witness in Susan McDougal's trial, W. Hickman Ewing Jr. also testified that he ``had problems'' with some of President Clinton and Mrs. Clinton's statements to investigators in April 1995. Ewing said he drafted the indictment against the first lady sometime after September 1996 and was not more specific. Ewing said it was not unusual for a federal prosecutor to draft an indictment whether or not charge is ever brought…."

Reuters 3/23/99 Freeper Brian Mosely "…Whitewater figure Susan McDougal said Tuesday President Clinton told the truth when he testified in her 1996 trial that he knew nothing about a $300,000 loan at the heart of the Whitewater scandal. …"

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 3/23/99 Erica Werner Freeper HAL9000 "…She [Susan McDougal] said the initial news report during the 1992 presidential campaign about the Whitewater land deal came about because James McDougal was offered a financial incentive by Little Rock lawyer and two-time unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Sheffield Nelson to talk to The New York Times reporter Jeff Gerth…."

LA Times 3/25/99 Eric Lichtblau "...Flashing streaks of her famed defiance, Whitewater defendant Susan McDougal sparred with one of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr's deputies from the witness stand Wednesday and drew repeated rebukes from the judge for her reluctance to answer the prosecutor's questions directly. "I want you to understand you are expected to respond to these questions," an increasingly frustrated U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. told McDougal as her cross-examination began at her trial. "I'm not about to let anybody manipulate this system." The series of testy exchanges marked an ironic deja vu in the case, because it was McDougal's refusal to answer questions before a Whitewater grand jury that led to her trial here on contempt and obstruction charges....."

New York Times Neil Lewis 3/25/99 "…A prosecutor for Kenneth W. Starr sought Wednesday to undermine Susan H. McDougal's testimony about President Clinton's knowledge of decades-old financial dealings in Arkansas, portraying her as someone who has never accepted the reality of her own criminal conviction and who tailors her accounts to fit the drama of the moment…."


AP 3/31/99 Peggy Harris "…The judge in the Susan McDougal case stunned prosecutors by allowing testimony from a Virginia woman who says, as Mrs. McDougal does, that she was mistreated by Kenneth Starr. Now in its fourth week, the trial took a dramatic turn Tuesday when U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. heard testimony from Julie Hiatt Steele of Richmond, Va. He granted a defense request that Ms. Steele be allowed to testify Friday to the jury that will decide Mrs. McDougal's guilt or innocence on criminal contempt and obstruction of justice charges. "This is mammoth,'' said Associate Independent Counsel Mark Barrett after rising from his chair to address the judge about the ruling. Outside the courthouse, Barrett said, "I think we've been on the defense since the defense case began, but this is a different level.''…"

AP 3/31/99 Peggy Harris "… A witness Wednesday corroborated Susan McDougal's story that she was pressured to cooperate in Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Clinton and his wife. … Mrs. Riley said that on another occasion she overheard a prosecutor telling Mrs. McDougal that Starr's office could "get you out of'' a California embezzlement case and a federal income tax investigation. The prosecutor said in a conference phone call that he would recommend that Mrs. McDougal be placed on probation for her Whitewater convictions, said Mrs. Riley, a longtime friend of the McDougals. "I remember the words, 'We could get you out of California and get you out of the income tax''' problem, Mrs. Riley testified…."

Peggy Harris 4.5.99 AP "... Defending the work of Kenneth Starr's office, a former Whitewater prosecutor testified today at Susan McDougal's trial that he had hoped to exonerate President Clinton for the good of the country. Recounting a 1995 conversation, prosecutor Ray Jahn said he told Starr on going to work for the independent counsel "that it was my hope that we would be able to clear the president.'' ..."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 4/3/99 Erica Werner "...Susan McDougal's lawyers rested their case Friday morning with testimony from a woman who barely knows McDougal but tells a similar tale of unending persecution by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Julie Hiatt Steele told jurors in Little Rock federal court that she is in massive debt, faces losing her home and has seen friends and relatives harassed because she wouldn't lie to please Starr.... Steele is scheduled for trial in Virginia on May 3, so her decision to testify in another case was considered highly unusual. Steele's lawyer, Nancy Luque, said Friday that she warned her client about it. But Steele insisted that she testify, Luque said.....During cross-examination, Myers attacked Steele's version of events as "story number two, the flip-flop story," and attempted to portray her as a woman driven by greed. Myers focused on an all-expenses-paid trip Steele took to Florida to sell a photo of Willey and Clinton to the National Enquirer, and accused Steele of being disgruntled about her Florida lodgings and trying to move to a ritzier hotel -- which Steele denied. Myers mentioned financial gains totaling $14,000 that Steele realized from the photo and from her discussions with reporters..... Myers also said that three of Steele's acquaintances contradicted Steele's story under oath. And she asked Steele about statements she had reportedly made indicating she was afraid of people in the White House and feared they would dispatch a hit man after her, a suggestion Steele scoffed at....."

AP 4/6/99 Peggy Harris "…U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. stated in jury instructions. "You have heard evidence that the defendant believed that certain prosecutors wanted something other than her truthful testimony," Howard wrote in the instructions which will be delivered following closing arguments Wednesday. "This evidence should be considered by you only when considering ... the obstruction of justice charge," the judge wrote. "You are not to consider this evidence when considering" the contempt charges. Another instruction says "the law does not recognize as a defense to these charges that the defendant was motivated to commit her acts by sincere moral, political or religious convictions." …"

AP 4/7/99 PEGGY HARRIS Freeper Steven W "…The federal judge presiding over the trial of Whitewater figure Susan McDougal is poised to instruct the jury that she, not special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, is the only one on trial. That reminder, drafted on Tuesday, may come as a surprise to jurors who have listened to a full month of attacks on Starr by Mrs. McDougal and her lawyer…."

AP 4/12/99 "...Susan McDougal was found innocent of obstructing Kenneth Starr's Whitewater investigation and the judge declared a mistrial today on the other two charges against her. U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. declared the mistrial on two criminal contempt counts just before jurors delivered the innocent verdict in the courtroom...."

WSJ 4/13/99 Micah Morrison Freeper the Raven "...-Presented with a check she signed in 1983 with the notation "Payoff Clinton" in her handwriting, Susan McDougal told her latest jury here that the money was for a land purchase in the hamlet of Clinton, Ark. Never mind that among the documents prosecutors introduced were a list of loans noting one "B Clin ton" and a sheet of interest calculations ending with the figure "$5081.82"--the exact amount of the putative Clinton, Ark., check..."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 4/13/99 Christ Osher Freeper L.N. Smithee "...He told reporters Monday, he resorted to bringing a law book to the deliberations on Friday in a last-ditch attempt to get five fellow jurors to see it the same way. "I was trying to bring up what was her state of mind,'' Nance said. "She honestly believed that even though she was given immunity, she could be held for false statements,'' Nance said. He said he thought the law book would shed further light on the legal definitions of state of mind and innocent reason -- legal terms that had been written into the jury instructions defining criminal contempt of court and obstruction of justice in the McDougal case...."

AP 4/13/99 "...A federal judge today dismissed a key defense challenge to the indictment of former Justice Department official Webster Hubbell, but said it's likely the scheduled June fraud trial will be delayed. U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that the indictment, based on an Arkansas land deal, did not result from documents produced by Hubbell under an immunity agreement with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. "I'm satisfied the grand jury that indicted Mr. Hubbell was not exposed to any'' of the material produced under the immunity grant, the judge said in an oral ruling during a pretrial hearing. "It's also clear the investigation leading to the indictment ... was active and was ongoing'' before Hubbell produced the documents. Starr's office also sought - and won - a halt to much of the pretrial work while the prosecutors pursue an appeal to the judge's dismissal of a major count against Hubbell in March...."

 

CNN 4/8/99 Freeper L.N. Smithee "...BITTMAN: What they say is that -- what the independent counsel office said, I believe, is that despite whatever her good faith intentions were, she still has to follow the law. And that's been the law of this case since the very beginning. That is, remember, she raised these legal arguments, these technical arguments first when she refused to appear before the grand jury. Federal judge heard her out. Federal judge said, "no." Then Ms. McDougal appealed to the 8th circuit court of appeals. Three judges unanimously said "no." She has an absolute duty to testify, and that's what is at issue here. Did she knowingly and willfully -- that is, this was not a mistake -- did she knowingly and willfully fail to abide by the judge's order ..."

Peggy Harris, Associated Press 4/9/99 "...The judge in Susan McDougal's trial froze jury deliberations today and ordered an FBI investigation of possible attempts to influence the jurors. The chain of events began after it was discovered a juror had brought a state law book into the jury room. As he ordered the FBI inquiry, U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. also issued a subpoena to bring in for questioning a former Arkansas Supreme Court justice whose business card was found in the book...... He ordered the FBI inquiry after a discussion of whether the former justice, John I. Purtle, had any connection to Mrs. McDougal; whether Nance had been influenced by a factor outside the trial and whether the other jurors had been tainted.... In an interview, Purtle said he sold his house to Nance in 1997 and that he probably left the law book behind. Purtle said he knows Mrs. McDougal and Clinton, and he worked with Mrs. Clinton on a legal case before she became first lady. But Nance said he has no connection to Nance now and no connection to the McDougal trial - although he feels strongly that Mrs. McDougal shouldn't have been prosecuted for criminal contempt...."

Fox Newswire/AP "...Former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, whose shady financial deals got caught up in the Whitewater investigation, was ordered Monday to pay $1 million for setting up a sham bankruptcy to avoid taxes. Tucker was also ordered placed on four years' probation for hiding the value of a cable TV business he sold in 1988. Prosecutors said that if the company's real value was known, Tucker and business partner William Marks would have been liable for an additional $2.9 million in taxes....."

Fox Newswire/AP 5/21/99 Pete Yost "...Urging reinstatement of a criminal charge against Webster Hubbell, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's office argued in federal appeals court Friday that the indictment details dozens of alleged lies by the presidential friend. In throwing out one of 15 charges against Hubbell, a judge had declared that some language in the indictment was too vague....Defense lawyer Peter Romatowski said the language in the dismissed charge is so broadly worded that Hubbell doesn't know what the specific allegations are. "How is a jury to be instructed? ... Are they to be turned loose on 85 paragraphs?'' asked Romatowski. Appeals judge Stephen Williams, a Republican appointee to the court, suggested the dropped count may be so lengthy because of extensive evidence of wrongdoing by Hubbell. "Why is it the government's fault if evidence suggests 1,000'' acts "by which the scheme has been carried out?'' asked Williams...."

6/1/99 OIC Starr Freeper Thanatos "...Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr issued the following statement today: We are gratified by both the substance and the promptness of today's decision by the United States Court of Appeals. The D.C. Circuit unanimously reversed the District Court's judgment, which erroneously dismissed one of the 15 counts in the grand jury's indictment of Mr. Hubbell. In so ruling, the Court of Appeals acted in a very expeditious manner. We are grateful that the Court acted so promptly in considering and resolving the government's appeal...."

Washington Times 6/7/99 Jerry Seper "...Independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr may have a surprise in store for Hillary Rodham Clinton as she ponders whether to run for a U.S. Senate seat in New York. His final report on two pending criminal investigations may tie the first lady to the Whitewater and "Travelgate" scandals. Although Mr. Starr has exonerated President Clinton of criminal acts in Whitewater, Travelgate and "Filegate," he has not done so for the first lady. Investigations are continuing into Whitewater and Travelgate and that prosecutorial decisions are "due soon." Mr. Starr's office has written at least one draft indictment, accusing the first lady of lying to federal investigators about her role in the Whitewater affair..."

New York Times 6/12/99 Neil Lewis "...Kenneth W. Starr, the Whitewater prosecutor, will not seek indictments of President Clinton or Hillary Rodham Clinton but has tentatively decided to issue a final report about their behavior, several associates of Mr. Starr said this week. The report, which could land in the middle of Mrs. Clinton's Senate campaign, might be "blistering" in its descriptions of her actions, one Starr associate said. Mr. Starr, the associates said, decided that he would not seek criminal indictments after discussions in his office about that possibility. But as Mr. Starr winds down his operation, those associates said, he was leaning toward issuing a report that would discuss the Clintons' behavior in some detail.... In addition to issuing any report, Mr. Starr's office still has two trials to prosecute, both involving Webster L. Hubbell, the former Associate Attorney General and longtime friend of the Clintons. It would be difficult to turn over the Hubbell trials to the Justice Department for several reasons, said associates of Mr. Starr as well as department officials. The principal problem is that it would present too great a conflict of interest for the department to prosecute its former third-ranking official. Eric H. Holder Jr., the Deputy Attorney General, in an April letter to Representative George W. Gekas, Republican of Pennsylvania, suggested that the department could appoint a special counsel to handle cases like that of Mr. Hubbell. But another impediment to such a transfer is that Mr. Starr is said to believe that the department has little appetite for the prosecutions. In one case, in which Mr. Hubbell is charged with tax evasion, department officials had argued that the case should not have been brought. The second trial itself could prove a problem for Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Hubbell is charged with concealing information from the Federal authorities about the role he and Mrs. Clinton played as lawyers in a complicated Arkansas land transaction that helped lead to the collapse of a savings and loan institution....."

Fox News Wire AP Pete Yost "...Prosecutor Kenneth Starr said Sunday he has no choice but to keep investigating the Clintons, a course that could collide with the 2000 presidential election campaign and a possible Senate run by the first lady. Starr said he regards the coming criminal trial of Clinton friend Webster Hubbell - based on an indictment that refers 36 times to Hillary Rodham Clinton - as an important step in the investigation. "We're looking forward to a trial this summer, that's what we're preparing for right now,'' Starr said on "Fox News Sunday.''.... Starr said his investigation unavoidably has been prolonged because he has run into incomplete cooperation in many instances. "For my part, I just wish we had had full cooperation from the outset,'' Starr said..... Starr said he ultimately will file a final report on his investigation, as mandated by the independent counsel statute expiring this month. "We have made no decisions with respect to the specific contents of the report,'' he said..... "

CNN 6/13/99 "...Associates of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr said Sunday that no decision has been made on whether to indict President Bill Clinton or First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, despite a New York Times report saying the Whitewater prosecutor would not seek indictment. The New York Times, citing Starr's associates, reported that Starr had ruled out prosecuting the Clintons but had tentatively decided to issue a "blistering" report about their behavior. However, CNN's Bob Franken said Starr associates told him that, contrary to the Times report, the independent prosecutor has not made any decision on pressing for indictment. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Starr said he also had not decided on the contents of his final report. That report would be a recitation of events and unresolved issues without any explicitly stated judgments, Starr associates told the Times, but the document could be highly critical of the first lady and its release would coincide with her expected campaign for U.S. Senate in New York....."

Drudge Report 6/16/99 "…The Office of the Independent Counsel has subpoened three local Nashville businessman who played a round of golf a few summers ago with former Clinton Aide David Watkins. During the game, Watkins reportedly told them that Hilary directly ordered the White House Travel Office firings.... MORE... "

Nashville Scene Willy Stern Matt Pulle 6/17/99 "…It started innocently enough--a round of golf one summer day at Hillwood Country Club in West Nashville. But the casual conversations on the lush fairways among the four duffers--three of them Nashville businessmen--have now become a major focus of interest to criminal investigators working for independent counsel Kenneth Starr. The Nashville Scene has learned that as Starr expands his probe into the so-called "Travelgate Affair," his investigation has led to conversations that took place both during and after the Hillwood outing. Importantly, one of the duffers that day was former White House administration director David Watkins, who oversaw the White House travel office. The other three players were Charlie Cloud, a relative newcomer to Nashville with ties to Arkansas; Mike Patton, a Nashville real estate executive; and John Haley, who is chairman of Nashville-based Southeastern Telecom. Investigations are focusing on whether Watkins related during the game to his fellow duffers that he had been ordered to fire the staffers in the travel office in May 1993. Hillary Clinton has denied in sworn statements making such an order; Watkins himself testified under oath before Congress that the decision to fire the travel office staffers was his, and his alone. If investigators are able to prove that Watkins lied to Congress, he could be subject to criminal charges of perjury…..But his wife, Terri Patton, told the Scene she clearly remembers when, while sipping cocktails by the pool at the Patton's Hillwood home after the game, Watkins said Hillary had called him about the travel office staffers and said, "fire their asses." Terri Patton says she related these comments to the two investigators working for Starr who recently visited her and her husband at their Nashville home. Investigators interviewed the Pattons separately, Terri said, so they couldn't hear what the other was saying. Terri Patton said she and her husband expect to testify about what Watkins allegedly said during that fateful round of golf and in the later chitchat at the Pattons' home. The Pattons, who own and manage several real estate ventures, say they are cooperating fully with Starr's office…"

Washington Post William Nicoson 6/18/99 "…On the day The Post reported that independent counsel Kenneth Starr had won a victory in the court of appeals sustaining the fraud indictment of Webster Hubbell, an editorial called for Mr. Starr to step aside, shifting the two Hubbell prosecutions to the Justice Department [June 2]….Much more is at stake than Mr. Hubbell's fate. The indictment count reinstated by the court of appeals charged that he made false statements to investigators concerning the alleged Castle Grande fraud. Mr. Hubbell's law partner at the time, Hillary Rodham Clinton, at first denied to investigators from the Federal Deposit Insurance Co. and the Resolution Trust Corp. that she worked on Castle Grande matters. Then her billing records, under subpoena for two years, proved otherwise when they were discovered on a table in the reading room adjacent to her office in the White House family quarters…."

6/23/99 Judicial Watch "...Jane Sherburne, the past White House lawyer who was in charge of scandal damage control, and who still keeps in close contact with Hillary Clinton, was recently deposed in Judicial Watch's $90 million class action Filegate lawsuit. Ms. Sherburne's "insights" into the Clinton White House -- which Judicial Watch views with skepticism -- are featured prominently in Bob Woodward's new book, Shadow..... During the deposition ... Ms. Sherburne was forced to admit that she never asked Hillary Clinton substantive questions about her role in Filegate, and basically accepted her denials on face value. Judicial Watch, on the other hand, has uncovered much evidence linking Hillary Clinton to the scandal, which emanated from the firing of the Travel Office employees, which Ms. Clinton ordered. During the deposition, Ms. Sherburne also confirmed a truth which Judicial Watch already knew; that Ken Starr had little interest in investigating the Filegate scandal. In this regard, Ms. Sherburne could not remember a single witness who was called by Starr before the grand jury on Filegate. "Ms. Sherburne is a key witness in the Filegate case, and had numerous meetings on the scandal with George Stephanopoulos and Harold Ickes. However, when Stephanopoulos and Ickes testified, they characteristically claimed to remember little to nothing about them. Ickes and Stephanopoulos will now have to account for their 'bad memories,'" stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman...."

Drudge Report 6/23/99 "...FOX NEWS on Wednesday confirmed a DRUDGE REPORT [MARCH 18, 1999] that prosecutors working for Kenneth Starr are preparing to order Hillary Clinton to testify in the upcoming trial of her former law partner Webster Hubbell. The independent counsel's office and defense attorneys have both submitted witness lists to the court. And Mrs. Clinton is listed as a "prosecution witness," according to FOX NEWS' David Shuster...."

Associated Press 6/23/99 John Solomon "...Starr submitted Mrs. Clinton's name as one of 63 possible witnesses for Hubbell's trial, now scheduled for August. Mrs. Clinton is currently considering a race for the Senate from New York..... While Mrs. Clinton has never been charged with wrongdoing, she was referred to about three dozen times in Hubbell's indictment, making it clear that she would figure in the trial...."

New York Times 6/29/99 Neil Lewis "... In reaching the agreement, it appears Starr has finally relented in his efforts to press Hubbell, once the No. 3 official in the Clinton Justice Department, to produce information damaging to the Clintons. One associate of Starr, not in the prosecutor's office, said he believed that the decision to dispose of the Hubbell cases reflected Starr's eagerness to be done with the long and difficult investigation of the Clintons and to move swiftly to close down the independent counsel's office. Although his office is still investigating a few matters involving the Clintons, the major task remaining is for Starr to issue a report about his activities...."

AP 6/28/99 Pete Yost "...Webster Hubbell plans to plead guilty Wednesday to a felony charge that he attempted to cover up his and Hillary Rodham Clinton's role in a fraudulent Arkansas land deal, legal sources said today. Hubbell, the first lady's former law partner, also will plead guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge as part of the agreement, sources said. Hubbell had been scheduled to go on trial Aug. 9, and prosecutors had listed Mrs. Clinton as a potential witness. Under the agreement, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr will recommend that Hubbell receive no jail time. Starr also will seek dismissal of a tax case against Hubbell's wife, his accountant and his tax lawyer, the sources said. Starr's spokeswoman, Elizabeth Ray, declined comment..... Hubbell's legal team ``has allowed Starr's office to interview Hubbell'' in connection with the indictment on the land deal, which refers to Mrs. Clinton some three dozen times, one source said. The course of Starr's investigation will depend on the information that Hubbell and possibly other witnesses provide to the prosecutors, said the sources. ``The investigations are still open and still ongoing,'' one source said. Starr's office ``is not packing up.''...."

Judicial Watch 6/28/99 "...Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman and President Tom Fitton issued the following statement about the just announced Webster Hubbell plea agreement, which apparently contains no offer of cooperation. "With the recent offer of Janet Reno to drop all ethics probes of Starr's office if he and his prosecutors would end their investigations, as published a few weeks ago by Roberto Suro in The Washington Post, ("Justice Department Puts Starr Investigation on Hold Sources Say," June 6, 1999), it is clear that the independent counsel is 'bailing out.' It is sad that Starr's latest retreat coincides with the death of the independent counsel law this Wednesday, June 30, 1999."...."

Freeper Clarity 6/28/99 "...Evan aptly points out that Hubbell has pled to covering up his and Hillary's work on Castle Grande. That's how the indictment reads. So now he will privately explain to Starr, under oath, why it needed to be covered up and who else knew that it needed to be covered up. This leads to Hillary, who of course has already denied in her own grand jury testimony that she had ever worked on Castle Grande. But then two years after her testimony, the billing records proving her 60 hours of billed time on Castle Grande mysteriously showed up in the White House living quarters. It sure sounds like she, just like Hubbell, knew the work needed to be covered up. And so it was. But now Web is blabbing, and the FBI has lifted Hillary's prints off the records, according to Starr's office. It's not over. And don't even get me started on the Talking Points memo, which will also resurface in due course......"

Freeper Clarity 6/28/99 "... I didn't really want to go off topic, but yes, I am referring to the Tripp/Lewinsky Talking Points Memo. The treatment of this hot topic in Starr's report was tantalizing for its brevity and its plain avoidance of certain conclusions. He stated merely that "Lewinsky testified she wrote the talking points." He pointedly did not add that OIC accepted that testimony as true. Nor did he describe in any way any efforts that were surely undertaken by OIC to corroborate her claim to authorship, such as tracing the hard copy backwards in time, or examining her computer's hard drive or her e-mail program. Nor did Starr add the otherwise-to-be-expected denial of authorship by other possible parties such as Lindsey and Jordan. If they were asked about it at their grand jury appearances, surely they denied any role and thus we might have expected Starr to buttress Lewinsky's claim by noting that others had denied authorship. If Lindsey and Jordan and the others weren't asked about it during their grand jury appearances, then that suggests a calculated stratagem of some kind by Starr....."

Freeper Clarity 6/28/99 "...And note also that in other parts of the report Starr goes to great length to point out the extensive efforts OIC made to verify Lewinsky's testimony, such as with respect to the issue of the timing and number of her various White House visits, which testimony OIC tested by comparison to subpoenaed White House logs. Again, there is absolutely nothing in the report that gives any editorial endorsement to Lewinsky claim and there an odd lack of discussion of any forensics that were surely applied by OIC to verify or refute her claim. The foregoing suggests to me that Starr has undisclosed thoughts about the talking points and that he has possibly set a perjury trap for someone. There is just no way Lewinsky alone conceived the talking points. For example, one of the points states: "At around the time of [Willey's] husband's death (the President has claimed it was after her husband died. Do you really want to contradict him?), she came to you ...." I cannot accept that Monica Lewinsky was sufficiently versed in the Willey facts or the legal issues raised by them to offer such nuanced advice to Linda Tripp, and I can't believe Starr does either...."

Freeper Clarity 6/28/99 "...The indictment charges that Hubbell intentionally concealed ("covered up") the work he and Hillary performed on Castle Grande. There's a reason why the concealment was made. Hillary knows why. OIC knows why. And now Hubbell has provided more details...."

FoxNews Reuters 6/29/99 "...With the independent counsel law about to expire and his last pending cases about to be resolved, the end may finally be near for Kenneth Starr's lengthy investigation. Starr associates said Tuesday he may be close to wrapping up his investigation that started with Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's investment in the failed Whitewater land deal in Arkansas and expanded to various White House scandals, including Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. All that appears to be left for Starr would be to write a final report on his five-year, $40 million investigation, and he may be out of office before the end of the year, his associates said..... The plea deal spared Mrs. Clinton, who is considering running for the U.S. Senate from New York, the political embarrassment of having to go to court to testify as a prosecution witness at Hubbell's trial. The associates said they did not expect Starr to bring any other cases, assuming no new evidence emerged. "They don't have anything on Hillary,'' one source said...... Conservatives have started criticizing Starr. The conservative legal group Judicial Watch accused Starr of "bailing out'' and said it was "sad'' that his latest ''retreat'' with the Hubbell plea deal "coincides with the death of the independent counsel law.'' Starr privately told associates he was eager to finish his work and return to his private law firm...."

Worldtribune 6/29/99 Jerry Seper "...Convicted felon Webster L. Hubbell has signed a deal with independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr to avoid prison in exchange for admitting he lied about legal work he did for an Arkansas real estate project on which he worked with Hillary Rodham Clinton. The agreement, struck this week, raises the possibility that Mr. Hubbell's cooperation could result in charges against the first lady..... Mr. Starr has said questions remain over Mrs. Clinton's role with Castle Grande, and "a thorough investigation" found "no explanation" how the billing records got to the White House residence. He also has said Mr. Hubbell "may have additional information pertaining to Castle Grande . . . that we have been unable to obtain." Mr. Hubbell took the Rose firm records on Madison during the 1992 presidential election. A week before the billing records were found, the RTC said in a December 1995 report it had little information on Mrs. Clinton's ties to Madison or Castle Grande. After the records were discovered, it concluded that Mrs. Clinton had done more work for Madison and Castle Grande than investigators had thought..... In September 1996, the FDIC said Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Hubbell drafted legal papers Madison used to deceive bank examiners and divert the $300,000 to Mr. Ward. It said the papers "facilitated the payment of substantial commissions to Mr. Ward, who acted as a straw buyer." A straw buyer is one who owns property in name only, having never put up any money or assumed any risk. The FDIC said the Ward payments violated federal rules but did not accuse Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Hubbell of criminal wrongdoing. But the agency raised serious questions about their involvement in a project that ultimately cost taxpayers $3.8 million when it failed....."

The Associated Press 6/29/99 Pete Yost "...A no-jail-time request to U.S. District Judge James Robertson could mean Starr regards Hubbell as having little of value. It also could mean prosecutors regard the evidence he holds as significant after what the legal sources describe as meetings Hubbell has had with Starr's office. Hubbell's legal team has let Starr's office interview Hubbell in connection with the Castle Grande indictment, which refers to Mrs. Clinton about three dozen times, one source said. At the same time, Hubbell's plea would erase a headache that a public trial could have caused for Mrs. Clinton as she considers a run for a U.S. Senate seat from New York. Starr's prosecutors had listed Mrs. Clinton as a potential witness...."

Capitol Hill Blue 7/1/99 "...But Starr is apparently not ready to ride off into the sunset. Legal sources said his office was dealing with: --The 1993 purge of the White House travel office and whether Mrs. Clinton directed the firings. She says she did not. Other White House sources say she did. --Nathan Landow, a Maryland developer and Democratic Party contributor. A recently released FBI polygraph report says Kathleen Willey, who has accused Clinton of groping her at the White House, was telling the truth when she said Landow suggested possible testimony she could give in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. Landow denies any wrongdoing. Those who know Landow say it is just the kind of thing he would do..... "

NewsMax.com 7/1/99 Carl Limbacher "...Has Ken Starr been blackmailed by the Clinton Justice Department into short-circuiting his prosecution of Webster Hubbell? That's the inference one might draw from what Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman said on Monday: "With the recent offer of Janet Reno to drop all ethics probes of Starr's office if he and his prosecutors would end their investigations, as published a few weeks ago by Robert Suro in the Washington Post, it is clear the independent counsel is bailing out. It is sad to say that Starr's latest retreat coincides with the death of the independent counsel law this Wednesday." In fact, Monday's news that Starr has let Hubbell off the hook with a deal that involves no jail time and apparently no cooperation is more than sad. It's downright eerie, given the way circumstances around the Hubbell plea bargain resemble the blackmail scheme hinted at in that June 6 Washington Post report: "The Justice Department has put its misconduct investigation of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr on hold while waiting to see whether Starr resigns or significantly curtails his activities after the independent counsel law expires on June 30, according to sources familiar with the deliberations."

http://www.arktimes.com/990723coverstory.html 7/23/99 "...In Carrying a remarkable signed promise that Kenneth W. Starr would never again prosecute or investigate him, his family or his friends, Webb Hubbell read a short, emotional statement in front of the federal courthouse in Washington June 30, took his wife by the arm and shambled away. He didn't answer questions.... On June 30, Hubbell pled guilty to one count of not being truthful to federal banking regulators in an effort to keep legal business for his law firm 10 years ago and to a single count of failing to make payments on his huge federal income tax liability while he was in prison. After his unrelenting pursuit of Clinton's old pal and Hillary's law partner, Starr in the end was satisfied with a $125 assessment. He dropped the rest of a 15-count indictment and tax charges against Hubbell, his wife, Suzy, and his accountant and Little Rock tax attorney. Starr said justice had been served..... "