McDougal Changing Tune On Clinton-Hale Meeting -- Feb. 10, 1997

As Webb Hubbell Walks, David Hale Talks

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Feb. 12) -- Convicted Whitewater figure Webster Hubbell walked out of a federal halfway house today a free man, saying he has nothing new to tell investigators. Meanwhile, another Whitewater figure still behind bars, banker David Hale, says he has plenty more incriminating information.

Hubbell, a former associate attorney general for President Bill Clinton and a former law partner of Hillary Clinton's at the Rose Law firm in Arkansas, pleaded guilty to two felony charges of tax evasion and mail fraud in December 1994. He was imprisoned until late last year when he was moved to a halfway house. Since Jan. 7, he has been granted home confinement.

Throughout it all, Hubbell repeatedly has been asked to testify about the Clintons' possible involvement in Whitewater matters, but he has often cited memory loss on key matters. "My answers did not always please the investigators, but they were always truthful," he said today in a statement.

And from a jail cell in Texarkana, Texas, Hale told The Associated Press he had only told investigators "a small, small part" of the whole Whitewater saga, and that "a lot more information will come out by the time this investigation is all over."

Hale, a former Arkansas judge and banker, is serving 28 months in jail for mail fraud and conspiracy. He has previously predicted that Hillary Clinton will be indicted by Starr. His key allegation against the president -- that Clinton participated in a conversation about an illegal $300,000 loan -- has reportedly been corroborated recently by James McDougal, another convicted Whitewater figure and Clinton's former business partner.

In the AP interview, Hale described a coordinated effort among Clinton associates in 1992 to obscure their involvement in questionable transactions. "I had a number of conversations in which Clinton allies described how the problem was being handled -- files being gathered so that investigators wouldn't find them later," he said.

Neither Hale nor McDougal are viewed as reliable witnesses, however. Responding to Hale, Clinton lawyer David told AP, "David Hale lied repeatedly when he perpetrated his many frauds, and he even lied to the judge who sentenced him for a few of his felonies. The pattern continues. His inventive and ever-changing fabrications are not worthy of further comment."