Reno Reviewing Allegations Hale Was Paid By Conservative Group
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 2) -- Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday she is reviewing allegations that a witness in Independent Counsel Ken Starr's Whitewater investigation was paid or given other perks by conservative groups.
The allegations concern Judge David Hale, who was convicted of misusing small business administration funds and claimed then-Gov. Bill Clinton had pressured him into making a large loan to Susan McDougal. According to a wire service report, a woman in Arkansas, Caryn Mann, claims Hale was paid for information about the Whitewater investigation by a conservative Washington group.
Reno said the matter is "on my desk, to be specific. I am looking at it, trying to consider what is the appropriate step to take."
The Associated Press reported Hale was given free use of a fishing cabin and car provided by a group which publishes the conservative magazine "American Spectator." The contact for the group, Parker Dozhier, was Mann's ex-boyfriend, and she claimed Dozhier and Hale often discussed Whitewater and sent information to the Spectator, according to AP. Dozhier denies that but Mann says she also saw him giving Hale cash.
Reno said she had not finished reviewing the allegations and could not conclude the "seriousness" of the matter. "I think it must be pursued," she said, "and I want to make a determination as to how it should be pursued."
Hale has alleged that the president participated in a conversation about an illegal $300,000 loan and has described a coordinated effort among Clinton's associates in 1992 to obscure their involvement in questionable transactions.
Clinton has denied the charges, and his lawyer has characterized Hale as an unreliable witness who has lied repeatedly to the court.
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