Clintons Hope To Get Less Controversial Home Loan
01:32 p.m Sep 25, 1999 Eastern
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton and his wife Hillary hope soon to get a new loan for a suburban New York house they are buying that would allow them to drop a controversial guarantee from an influential Democratic friend, sources said Saturday.
The Clintons' deal with fund-raiser Terence McAuliffe, in which he agreed to personally back a $1.3 million loan from Bankers Trust to allow the Clintons to buy the $1.7 million home, has come under fire from public interest groups and Republicans who maintain it is essentially an improper gift.
Sources familiar with the situation said the Clintons are considering options from several lending institutions to pay for the house in Chappaqua in Westchester County north of New York City.
They said the Clintons plan to apply for a new loan within days, as White House lawyers Bruce Lindsey and Cheryl Mills review possible arrangements.
The sources said people helping the Clintons with the deal received offers from potential lenders who said there was no reason why the couple could not qualify for a conventional loan because of their anticipated post-White House earning power despite $5 million in legal debts.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say whether the criticism over the loan motivated the Clintons to seek a change. They said only that it was not unusual to change loan arrangements ahead of the closing on the purchase.
The Clintons' closing on the five-bedroom house is scheduled for Nov. 1.
They have said they plan to use the house as a home base whether or not Mrs. Clinton wins the New York Senate seat she has all-but-announced she is seeking.
The loan deal with McAuliffe drew criticism because he is raising millions for the Clintons' legal defense, Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., and for Mrs. Clinton's Senate campaign.
The New York Times reported Saturday that the Clintons had a hard time finding a home they wanted and putting together the financing.
It said the Clintons sought financial assistance from former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and former White House chiefs of staff Thomas ``Mack' McLarty and Erskine Bowles -- all who declined.
Bowles had originally committed to being the guarantor but declined on Sept. 1, just three days after the Clintons signed an agreement to buy the house under the condition their loan would be guaranteed.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. |
