Pitiful. Poor bill. He wants a legacy. . .
The Legacy..........
"Insufficient evidence also exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Governor Clinton knew of or approved" the loan, Ray's report said.
"There is some evidence that Governor Clinton knew or should have known that Jim McDougal was not conducting Madison Guaranty's affairs as required by banking rules," it said.
The report related an incident in which the Arkansas banking commissioner told Clinton in 1983 that there were problems at Madison. The report said Clinton told the commissioner to do whatever was necessary and not to worry about politics.
I don't think this is the proper standard for prosecutorial discretion, but I may be wrong. In any event, look for tomorrow's headline "Clintons Cleared In Whitewater" from the Clymers....
Great investment.
Mrs. Clinton's legal work on the project wasn't disclosed until 1996, when her law firm billing records, which had been subpoenaed earlier in the case, were found in the White House family residence.
Prosecutors, who investigated whether there was an attempt to obstruct by hiding the records, said they could never determine how the records got inside the Clinton residence.
"The evidence gathered could not exclude the possibility that Mrs. Clinton put the billing records in Room 319A," the report said. It noted that she gave sworn testimony "denying placing them in Room 319A or knowing how they got there."
Much of the evidence about Mrs. Clinton's activity as a lawyer for McDougal could have been laid out in a trial of her law firm partner, former Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell. Hubbell, however, avoided trial by pleading guilty to a felony.
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.
The whole "Whitewater" thing may be the greatest bait and switch in human history.
Why would anyone look into a questionable 20 year-old, five figure land deal, when the suspect was then currently accepting six and seven figure bribes?
ML/NJ
PS "Monica" was a diversion too. Two days before we learned about Monica, even Jesse Jackson was asking questions about that mysterious bullet hole in Ron Brown's head.
And according to a jury of his peers, there was insufficient evidence to prove that OJ Simpson murdered his wife and her friend..
Christ with all the scandals these two were involved in , is it any wonder (1) that they accomplished so little in office and (2) that Chelsea has no chance with their genes.
Christ with all the scandals these two were involved in , is it any wonder (1) that they accomplished so little in office and (2) that Chelsea has no chance with their genes.
I'm not a lawyer, but this might be my chance to play one on the internet:
It has always been my understanding that the prosecutors job was to develop probable cause and the jury's job to decide if reasonable doubt exists.
Whiewater Whitewash.