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'via Blog this'On November 19, 1998, Independent Counsel Starr testified before the House Judiciary Committee in connection with the Impeachment of Bill Clinton over charges related to the Lewinsky scandal. Here, Starr said that in late 1997 he had come close to preparing an impeachment report related to Whitewater, in particular related to the fraudulent $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, and to whether the President had testified truthfully regarding the loan.[37] Starr said that he held back the charges due to not being sure of the truthfulness of two major witnesses,[38] but that the investigation was still ongoing. Regarding the reappearance of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Rose Law Firm billing records in the White House residential section, Starr said the investigation had found no explanation for the disappearance or the reappearance: "After a thorough investigation, we have found no explanation how the billing records got where they were or why they were not discovered and produced earlier. It remains a mystery to this day."[38] Starr also chose this occasion to completely exonerate President Clinton of any wrongdoing in the Travelgate andFilegate matters;[37] Democrats on the committee immediately criticized Starr for withholding these findings, as well as the Whitewater one, until after the 1998 Congressional elections.[38]
[edit]Convictions
Ultimately the Clintons were never charged, but 15 other persons were convicted of more than 40 crimes, including Bill Clinton's successor as Governor, who was removed from office.[39]
- Jim Guy Tucker: Governor of Arkansas at the time, removed from office (fraud, 3 counts)
- John Haley: attorney for Jim Guy Tucker (tax fraud)
- William J. Marks, Sr.: Jim Guy Tucker business partner (conspiracy)
- Stephen Smith: former Governor Clinton aide (conspiracy to misapply funds). Bill Clinton pardoned.
- Webster Hubbell: Clinton political supporter; Rose Law Firm partner (embezzlement, fraud)
- Jim McDougal: banker, Clinton political supporter: (18 felonies, varied)
- Susan McDougal: Clinton political supporter (multiple fraud) Bill Clinton pardoned.
- David Hale: banker, self proclaimed Clinton political supporter: (conspiracy, fraud)
- Neal Ainley: Perry County Bank president (embezzled bank funds for Clinton campaign)
- Chris Wade: Whitewater real estate broker (multiple loan fraud) Bill Clinton pardoned.
- Larry Kuca: Madison real estate agent (multiple loan fraud)
- Robert W. Palmer: Madison appraiser (conspiracy). Bill Clinton pardoned.
- John Latham: Madison Bank CEO (bank fraud)
- Eugene Fitzhugh: Whitewater defendant (multiple bribery)
- Charles Matthews: Whitewater defendant (bribery)
- Kenneth Starr's successor as Independent Counsel, Robert Ray, released a report in September 2000 that stated "This office determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that either President or Mrs. Clinton knowingly participated in any criminal conduct."[20] Ray nonetheless criticized the White House in a statement regarding the release of the report, saying delays in the production of evidence and "unmeritorious litigation" by the president's lawyers severely impeded the investigation's progress, leading to the investigation's nearly $60 million total cost.[4] Ray's report effectively ended the Whitewater investigation.[4]
[edit]Epilogue
The length, expense, and results of the greater Whitewater investigations turned much of the public against the Independent Counselmechanism.[10] In particular, Democrats portrayed Whitewater as apolitical witch-hunt, much as Republicans had at the end of the 1980s Iran-Contra investigations.[10] As such, the Independent Counsel law expired in 1999, with critics saying it cost too much with too few results;[43] even Kenneth Starr favored the law's demise.[43] Indeed no one ended up happy with the Whitewater investigation: Democrats felt that the investigation was a political witch-hunt, Republicans were frustrated that both Clintons had escaped formal charges, and people without partisan involvement found press coverage of Whitewater's facts and narratives, which spanned four decades, difficult to understand to the point of bafflement.
[edit]See also
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