Word: mcdougals
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...difference could be crucial. An inquiry focused narrowly on Whitewater and the failed Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, whose owner James McDougal and then wife Susan were partners with the Clintons in that land venture, might be concluded speedily, but be open to charges of inadequacy. A broader investigation could turn into a fishing expedition lasting for years...
Enter David Hale, an Arkansas judge and head of a lending company that was backed by federal money. Hale claims that in 1986, Clinton, who had appointed him to the bench, and McDougal pressured him to arrange a $300,000 loan to clean up some dubious Madison Guaranty loans. Hale did approve a loan of that amount to McDougal's wife, but $110,000 went into Whitewater. Clinton denied exerting any pressure and said he had been unaware of such money winding up in Whitewater. Hale proposed to Casey that he have himself wired up to record incriminating conversations, perhaps...
...recused herself from both the Hale and Madison cases, but most belatedly, last November. She would have trouble claiming impartiality; she had been a law student of Bill Clinton's and a volunteer in all his campaigns. Her husband works for Arkansas Governor Tucker, who had many dealings with McDougal. After Casey's recusal, the Justice Department in Washington took over the investigation; pending possible appointment of a special counsel, it is being run by Donald Mackay, a senior trial attorney -- and a Republican...
...important to note that no one has offered proof of any criminal activity. Even if anyone did, it would be very difficult to prove the Clintons knew of it and approved. Who would be a credible witness against them? James McDougal insists they did nothing wrong, appearing last week on the tabloid TV A Current Affair to make the point. Even if he were to decide otherwise, he has suffered a mental breakdown. Susan McDougal is separated from him; last week she pleaded not guilty to a California indictment charging her with embezzling $200,000 from symphony conductor Zubin Mehta...
...very least, the Clintons' choices of James and Susan McDougal and David Hale as associates call into question their ability to judge character. And the other questions raised by the affair could come back to haunt Clinton in his probable 1996 re-election run. It may be that the President and his wife are guilty of nothing wrong. All the more reason to agree to have a special counsel conduct a vigorous investigation that is free of any suspicion of bias. Unless that is done, no one will ever really know...