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Whitewater Scandal 4/25/1997 Independent counsel Kenneth Starr is investigating payments made to Webster Hubbell, a former law partner of Hillary Clinton's at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, after he left the Justice Department amidst investigations into the Whitewater scandal. Two of President Clinton's top political advisers, Erskine B. Bowles and Thomas F. ”Mack“ McLarty, contacted friends to secure financial help for Mr. Hubbell. ”To date, investigators have learned of more than $500,000 in payments to Hubbell from a dozen or so entities that year, including $100,000 from the Indonesia-based Lippo Group that is at the center of the campaign financing controversy,“ reports The Washington Post. Webster Hubbell was familiar with Hillary Rodham Clinton's work with the savings and loan owned by James B. and Susan McDougal, the Clintons' business partners in the Whitewater land venture. Additionally, both he and Mrs. Clinton were involved in Castle Grande, a real estate project that was founded on sham land sales and phony loans intended to enrich insiders at Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. This raises the question of whether or not the first lady tried to hide her involvement in the project and whether Hubbell concealed Mrs. Clinton's work on Castle Grande and other projects by removing files on them from the Rose Law Firm. Commenting on the actions of Mr. Bowles and Mr. McLarty, the President said, ”From what I know about them, they were just . . . people who were genuinely concerned that there was a man who was out of work who had four children. And as I understand it, they were trying to help him for no other reason than just out of human compassion.“ What is even more interesting about Clinton's comment is its stark contrast with what he said earlier this year. In January when Clinton was asked about Hubbell's windfall, he responded, ”I can't imagine who could have ever arranged to do something improper like that. I knew nothing about it, none of us did, before it happened.“ However, the fact that the Indonesian conglomerate Lippo is run by longtime Clinton supporters and contributors, the Riady family, casts doubt on the President's assertion that the payments were not ”hush money“ for his silence in the Whitewater probe. The committee, which will hold hearings this summer, still wants to know exactly where the money came from and what kind of ”work“ he did to earn it. |
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