White House Staff Made Calls On Hubbell's Behalf (4/1/97)

White House: Starr Subpoenas McLarty

House To Issue More Subpoenas In Hubbell Probe

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 3) -- Former White House Chief of Staff Thomas "Mack" McLarty has been subpoenaed by Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr to testify in the investigation related to Webster Hubbell, CNN has learned.

McLarty is being called on to testify about his role in recommending the former assistant attorney general to potential clients, after Hubbell left the Justice Department and before he pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges involving clients at his former law firm.

A White House source said the administration anticipated that Starr would seek more information from McLarty and current Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, because of news reports this week related to calls they made on Hubbell's behalf.

A subpoena for Bowles could still be in the works, the source said.

Meanwhile, the House committee investigating campaign finance abuses planned to issue 25 more subpoenas Friday focusing on documents related to Hubbell, Craig Livingstone and Johnny Chung, CNN sources said.

Among those to be subpoened by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), is Susan Thomases, close friend and adviser to the President Clinton and the first lady, sources said.

The panel is looking into Hubbell's employment record between the Justice Department and his embezzlement plea.

Seventeen of the impending House subpoenas relate to Hubbell's hiring, according to CNN sources. The administration officials reportedly helped Hubbell land lucrative jobs. Hubbell and the White House both deny that the jobs were a payoff.

Information sought from companies

The subpoenas request information from the organizations involved in hiring him, including former Democratic National Committee official Truman Arnold's company, Clinton-friend Bernard Rapoport's company, and CNN's parent company Time Warner, among others.

A key question for prosecutors is when White House officials assisting Hubbell first knew he was under criminal investigation.

Hubbell said he could not remember exactly when he realized he was under investigation, saying he was in a state of denial that lasted long after his resignation from the Justice Department in March 1994.

Hubbell, a close confidant of the president, left the agency amid reports of a billing dispute with the Little Rock law firm where he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were partners.

At least three top administration officials, including McLarty and Bowles, made calls to find Hubbell work in the days that followed Hubbell's resignation.

Thomases is being asked to produce documents relating to Hubbell, the Lippo Group and James Riady, among others.

The legal defense fund of Craig Livingstone, the former head of White House personnel security, will also be subpoenaed. Until now, Livingstone has not been associated with the campaign finance controversies. He was central to the FBI files probe.

Johnny Chung, an Asian-American entrepreneur, will be subpoenaed along with his company, Automated Intelligence Systems.

Following an audit, the Democratic National Committee decided to return the $366,000 contributed by Chung and his company. Chung gave a $50,000 check to the first lady's chief-of-staff.