LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED MONICA LEWINSKY CAME INTO KENNETH STARR7S LIFE JUST WHEN Where IT SEEMED HIS INVESTIGATION WAS COMING TO AN END-WITH FEW, Starr IF ANY, INDICTMENTS IN SIGHT. A special TAS report Stands BY BYRON YORK n Wednesday, January q,Whitewater independent coun- The brevity of the questioning immediately set Starr-watch- sel Kenneth Starr went to the White House to question ers to speculating. Did it mean that Starr was just wrapping up First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Accompanied by the loose ends of an investigation that was over-in which he lawyers for both sides, they met in the second-floor Treaty would take no action against the Clinton White House? Or was Room. The subject was the scandal commonly known as File- he using the session to make a final assessment-to look the first sate-the Clinton White House’s improper acquisition of hun- lady in the eye-before going forward with an indictment? dreds of FBI files on Republicans from previous administrations. Whatever the answers, such questions were soon forgotten According to several published accounb, the first lady told Starr amid news of the Monica Lewinsky affair (unbeknownstto Mrs. she didn’t know anything about the retrieval of the files. And Clinton, Starr had begun that probe on the Monday before she said she didn’t know who hired Craig Livingstone, the White their Wednesday meeting). Still, the White House session on House operative who ran the file project. It was a story she had Filegate raises questions about the Starr investigation. Starr- told many times in the past; not surprisingly, news of the meet- along with his predecessor, Robert Fiske- has spent four years ing was buried deep inside the next day’s papers. and about $40 million investigating the constellation of events But there was one intriguing fact about the session. Given the now known simply as Whitewater. His probe has resulted in war of words that has erupted lately between Mrs. Clinton and three trial convictions-including one ofa sitting governor-and Starr, the meeting was remarkably free of acrimony. In fact, it was twelve guilty pleas. But where did the investigation stand at the downright upbeat. “She was very friendly,” says a person who moment Monica Lewinsky sent Stan moving in a new direction? knows what went on in the room. Of course, that may have had Was Starr about to move aggressively on a broad range of new something to do with the length of the meeting; the whole thing charges against the Clintons and their associates? was over in about ten minutes. It appears the answer is no. Extensive interviews with several .. .. .. .. , .. .. ., . .. .. .. .. .. , ., . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ,. .. .. .. .. .. .. sources close to the independent counsel’s office, along with con- BYRONYORK is an investigative writer with TAS. versations with nearly a dozen defense lawyers involved in the The American Spectator . Ap T i 1 I 9 9 8 LICENSED TO UNZ.ORG 25 ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED case, plus a look at recent court documents, After the trial, Jim McDougal decided all suggest that most of what we know as The mysterious appearance of to cooperate with Starr and changed his Whitewater was actually winding down at story, saying Bill Clinton did indeed know the time of the Lewinsky revelations. Mrs. Clinton’s billing records in the about the loan. Then Starr’s prosecutors The investigation, which at times has brought the newly convicted Susan seemed like an amorphous, far-reaching White House residence is likely to McDougal in front of the Little Rock grand search for facts, has now become narrowly jury. She was given immunity and asked focused on just a few issues. Although those remain a mystery; no indictments whether she had ever discussed the loan issues are not yet resolved, they appear head- with Clinton and whether, to her knowl- ed toward conclusions that, while they will there. Nor in the removal of docu- edge, the president had testified truthfully not exonerate the Clintons, will at least let at the trial. McDougal refused to answer, them off the legal hook. There is, for exam- ments from Vince Foster’s office. leading Judge Susan Webber Wright to cite ple, the fraudulent $ym,ooo government- her with civil contempt of court. Since backed loan that was obtained by the Clin- then, she has served nearly 18 months in jail tons’ former business partner Susan McDougal. Part of that and has loudly accused Starr of police-state tactics. illegal money went into the Whitewater corporation, and Starr Susan McDougal’s intransigence has put Starr in a bind: he has been trying to determine whether Bill Clinton lied in 1996 needs more witnesses if he is to make a case against the presi- when he denied any knowledge of it. There is a good chance that, dent. A possible breakthrough occurred in late February when for- unless new evidence appears or some crucial witness decides to mer Arkansas governor Jim Guy Tucker -already convicted in the cooperate, Starr will not be able to make a case. Another issue is first Whitewater trial-pleaded guilty to a second set of felony the money paid to former Clinton confidant Webster Hubbell, charges unrelated to Whitewater. Facing time in jail, Tucker allegedly as payoff for his refusal to cooperate with Starr. Again, might provide new information on Castle Grande. Or he might Starr needs more evidence-which might be shaken loose by be willing to talk about an October 1993 White House meeting with indicting Hubbell again-to prove that the payments were hush Clinton, a session that took place as government regulators were money. If Starr doesn’t get the help he requires, both investiga- bearing down on the Madison case (the two bitter rivals later said tions will likely end without any further action. they discussed Arkansas highways). But sources close to Starr’s Beyond that, much of the rest of the Whitewater investiga- office are simply not sure precisely how helpful Tucker will be. tion is nearly over. The mysterious appearance of Hillary Rod- “He potentially has a lot of information, and by virtue of his ham Clinton’s old Rose Law Firm billing records in the White background and stature, he’s more credible” than Jim McDou- House residence is likely to remain a mystery; no indictments gal or David Hale, says one knowledgeable source. But another there. The removal of documents from Vincent Foster’s office warns that the simple fact that Starr agreed to a plea deal with following his suicide will also probably conclude with no pros- Tucker does not in itself mean that Tucker has extremely valu- ecutions. In addition, Starr’s probe of the firings of the White able information. Perhaps, he says, Starr had nearly as much House Travel Office staff seems largely complete, and, bar- motivation as Tucker to make a deal. Pointing to “the prospect of ring the appearance of new information, it appears unlikely a lengthy trial of a former governor who was forced out of office he will take any action there. And the same is true with Filegate. and who is a convicted felon already,” this source says that per- “As a whole, it’s a reasonable conclusion that some parts of the haps “there was not enough there to make it worth the expendi- investigation have been effectively completed,”says another per- ture of resources to prosecute it.” son with knowledge of Starr’s operation. “If there were going to So Tucker remains a question mark. And as Starr assesses be charges brought in those areas, they probably would have Tucker’s value, he still has to decide what to do with Susan been brought by now.” McDougal. There is no indication that she will ever cooperate. She has made it clear that she is content to stay in jail rather than THE LOAN answer questions about Bill Clinton’s involvement in White- First, the issue of the illegal $ym,ooo loan to Susan McDougal, water. Serving out all her sentences won’t be a problem, the Clintons’ former business partner. It is possibly the central McDougal’s attorney recently told the Washington Post. “She crime ofWhitewater, at least the Arkansas phase of Whitewater. can do this time,” the lawyer said, “standing on her head.” Both McDougal and her husband Jim have been convicted on Starr’s team is hoping McDougal’s resistance will be soft- fraud charges relating to the loan-but the question remains ened by a recent appeals court decision upholding her fraud whether Starr will be able to charge anyone else. conviction. There is some basis for that hope. As she finishes Witness David Hale, who earlier pleaded guilty to fraud serving 18 months for contempt, she will be transferred to a fed- charges, has said that Clinton knew about-indeed, showed inter- eral prison to begin serving her Whitewater sentence. In that est in-the loan (which was never paid back). At the McDougal prison she will not be free to appear in the media-as she did trial, both Jim and Susan McDougal denied that Clinton played recently on CNN’s “Larry King Live”-and thus will be less any role in the loan arrangements. And Clinton himself testi- able to keep her case in the public eye. That might diminish fied-under oath and on video tape-that he had nothing to do her hopes for a bonanza in book and movie rights and nudge her with the fraudulent loan and did not know anything about it. in the direction of cooperating with Starr.