Clinton's Testimony From The Second Whitewater Trial

Cast of Characters

Jim Leach Leach, an Iowa House Republican, accused the RTC of stonewalling on Whitewater documents in March 1994 during a floor speech. In July 1995, as the new chairman of the House Banking committee, Leach led a new set of House hearings into White House-Treasury contacts which featured Jean Lewis' dramatic allegations of administration interference.

Jean Lewis Formerly on the Resolution Trust Corporation team investigating Whitewater and Madison, Lewis resigned after telling House lawmakers there was "a concerted effort to obstruct, hamper, and manipulate the results of our investigation of Madison" by top RTC officials. Testifying under oath, Lewis said her superiors at RTC altered criminal referrals she prepared.

Bruce Lindsey A longtime Arkansas associate, Lindsey attended Georgetown University with Bill Clinton and came to the White House where he has functioned a top if somewhat inconspicuous political advisor. He became noticed more after Starr named him an unindicted co-conspirator in the second Whitewater trial, on allegations Lindsey arranged meetings between then-Gov. Clinton and Arkansas banker Robert Hill, one of the defendants.

James McDougal Bill and Hillary Clinton Whitewater partner, McDougal was convicted in the first Whitewater trial of essentially using his now-defunct savings and loan, Madison Guaranty, as a piggy bank for his various business schemes, among them the Whitewater land development. After being convicted on 18 felony counts, McDougal began to cooperate with Starr's investigation in August 1996 in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. Initially facing 84 years, he was sentenced to a three-year term. McDougal died March 8, 1998 of an apparent heart attack while incarerated at a Bureau of Prisons medical facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

Susan McDougal Convicted along with her former husband James and former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, Mrs. McDougal was sentenced to two years in prison for her Whitewater crimes but was slapped with another 18 months' worth of contempt of court sentence after refusing to testify before Starr's Little Rock federal grand jury. In numerous jailhouse interviews, Mrs. McDougal has said Starr is unscrupulously pursuing Clinton for partisan ends. Still to come for Susan: she'll stand trial on charges she embezzled from her former employer, conductor Zubin Mehta.

Mack McLarty Former White House chief of staff, McLarty denied Hillary Clinton was behind the firing of the White House travel office staff, though his notes cited "HRC pressure" regarding Travelgate. In a letter to Kenneth Starr, House Government Reform and Oversight chairman William Clinger (now retired) said McLarty may have committed perjury regarding Travelgate and the FBI files matter. McLarty was named by Clinton as special envoy to the Americas last December.

Bernard Nussbaum Hillary Clinton's former boss on the Senate Watergate Committee, Nussbaum joined the Clinton Administration as White House counsel. He reluctantly resigned over allegations of improper contact with officials investigating the Clinton's involvement with the failed Madison Guaranty. Nussbaum was subsequently ensnared in the FBI files flap, and Starr is following up on a Republican congressional report which said Nussbaum may have perjured himself to hide an "aggressive damage-control operation" that obscured the involvement of top adminstration officials.

Charles Ruff -- Becoming President Clinton's fifth White House counsel in January, Ruff, a former Watergate prosecutor, took over the job from Jack Quinn who resigned in December 1996. Ruff is expected to argue before the Supreme Court that Hillary Clinton's Whitewater notes, taken by former White House deputy counsel Jane Sherburne, fall under the attorney-client privilege and should not be turned over to Kenneth Starr. Ruff has been threatened with a contempt of Congress citation unless he turns over certain fund-raising documents under subpoena.

Paul Sarbanes A Democratic senator from Maryland, Sarbanes was the ranking member of the Senate Whitewater Committee. He and his Democratic colleagues concluded the Clintons and their associates had not engaged in any wrongdoing.

Kenneth Starr Formerly the solicitor general for President George Bush, Starr replaced New York attorney Robert Fiske as independent counsel in August 1994. Though he has had a reputation for fairness, Starr, a Republican, has been buffeted by critics who say he is motivated by politics. Starr may not have helped his image by maintaining private clients with interests opposed to the Clinton Administration, and by addressing conservative groups during the last 18 months. Perhaps even more damaging was his flip-flop in mid-February when, after word leaked he had accepted the deanship of Pepperdine law school, he reversed himself four days later and promised to remain with the investigation.

Josh Steiner -- Formerly Treasury chief of staff at the tender age of 28, Steiner essentially told Senate investigars he had lied to his diary, which said Clinton "was furious" at Roger Altman's decision to recuse himself. "Persuaded George [Stephanopoulos] that firing him [the RTC investigator] would be incredibly stupid and improper," the notes read. "I wish that my diary was more accurate," Steiner told incredulous Republicans and sympathetic Democrats.

Susan Thomases A close friend and former Children's Defense Fund colleague of Hillary Clinton, Thomases, a New York corporate attorney, was brought on to help the Clintons respond to Whitewater inquiries in 1992. Senate Whitewater investigators grilled her on the handling of the contents of Vincent Foster's office immediately following his death, and, citing 184 instances where she claimed memory lapse, referred Thomases to Kenneth Starr for possible criminal prosecution.

Jim Guy Tucker Convicted of bank fraud in the first Whitewater trial, Tucker resigned as Arkansas governor shortly after the verdict came down May 28, 1996. He was sentenced to four years' probation and probably escaped jail time because of his failing liver. But he got a transplanted liver in December 1996, and once he has recuperated, Tucker faces another trial in September, on charges that he obscured profits from a lucrative cable TV deal.

Maggie Williams Formerly the first lady's chief of staff, Williams was grilled by Senate Whitewater investigators on whether she shepherded documents out of Vincent Foster's office the night he died. Williams volunteered for and passed two lie detector tests backing up her statements, and though Senate Whitewater investigators were suspicious, they did not refer Williams to Kenneth Starr for possible criminal investigation.

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