A panel of three federal appeals court judges that appointed Ray released the report Friday, about a year and a half after the independent counsel announced his investigation had concluded.
The $70 million investigation of the Clintons which started in 1994 engendered bitterness in Washington and across America as Democratic defenders clashed with Republican opponents over the merits of the Whitewater allegations.
Whitewater came to light during the 1992 presidential campaign when The New York Times revealed that the Clintons had been business partners in a real estate deal with the McDougals, whose S&L's collapse cost taxpayers more than $65 million.
The Clintons said they lost money in the Whitewater venture.
The news stories triggered an inquiry by federal S&L regulators, culminating in a criminal investigation of the Clintons and successful prosecutions of their business partners and then-Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker for fraud in connection with various loans.
A succession of prosecutors looked into the Clintons' role -- first Robert Fiske, then Kenneth Starr and finally Ray.
In an attempt to reduce his prison sentence, Jim McDougal cooperated with prosecutors. He died in prison, leaving investigators without their most important witness. McDougal's ex-wife, Susan, refused to cooperate with prosecutors. Clinton pardoned her just before he left office in January 2001.
Two other major figures in the probe didn't get pardons, Tucker and Hubbell.
Clinton pardoned three other people convicted in Whitewater-related cases: a former Whitewater real estate agent, a university professor who had gotten a federally backed loan and a former appraiser at the McDougals' S&L.
In a separate report earlier this month, Ray contended he probably could have gotten a conviction against the former president in the scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On his last full day in office, Clinton avoided the possibility of criminal indictment by admitting that he "knowingly gave evasive and misleading answers" about his sexual relationship with Lewinsky. Clinton also surrendered his law license for five years.
In earlier reports, Ray found:
* The first lady gave "factually false" testimony regarding her role in White House travel office firings. Mrs. Clinton's lawyer called the conclusion highly unfair and misleading.
* There was no credible evidence of criminal activity in the White House's improper gathering of hundreds of FBI background files on Republican employees.
Codswallop. The gathering of FBI background files constituted criminal activity.
How is this different than what Arthur Anderson did for Enron?
Isn't "factually false" really a LIE??? Why was she given special treatment in not being charged with perjury?
This is an outright LIE. First, Starr (and Ray) allowed the Whitehouse to keep HUNDREDS of FBI files, that EVERYONE acknowledged were ILLEGAL for them to have acquired in the first place, for YEARS after the Whitehouse, FBI and Starr's office had publically said they were returned. In other words, they all LIED to the public. Second, is Ray suggesting that Tripp and several others who testified about watching DNC operatives, under Hillary's direction, ILLEGALLY copying information from perhaps THOUSANDS of these PREDOMINANTLY REPUBLICAN FBI files into a Whitehouse (read DNC) database LIARS? If so, do believe him over Tripp? Even certain democRATS admitted that this was going on ... that the information was even being taken home on floppy disks an put on their home (read DNC) computers.
The truth is that Starr AND Ray conducted a SHAM investigation. Klayman, with a FRACTION of the resources, learned more about what happened in Filegate than these so-called INDEPENDENT Counsels ever did. Who do you think discovered that Filegate wasn't about a few hundred files but about THOUSANDS that were mostly all Republican? In fact, the IOC office for the most part didn't even bother to question many of the principles who were involved. They just "believed" Hillary and Bill's denials (not under oath, of course), I guess. And now Bush/Ashcroft are COMPLICIT.