Noose of criminal inquiry tightens around First Lady
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Washington
Clinton 'is accused of 11 crimes'
HILLARY Clinton is more than just an injured spouse. She is also
the target of a wide-ranging criminal investigation by Kenneth Starr
that has yet to reach its final conclusions.
There is no constitutional mechanism for impeaching the First Lady
of the United States. If Mr Starr finds evidence of serious
wrongdoing, Mrs Clinton could be indicted, put on trial, convicted
and sent to the federal penitentiary like any normal citizen.
The press in the United States has been running soft magazine stories
on the state of her emotions - her taut body language as she climbs
the steps of the presidential jet Air Force One with her husband, her
forced smiles, her dignity, her pain.
Commentators have divided into two camps: those who believe that
she was genuinely shocked by the conduct of her husband; and
those who say that her air of frigid reproach is a charade, an
elaborate form of White House spin, to give the impression that Bill
Clinton is being "punished" quite enough at home, and deserves
forgiveness from everybody else.
While this dominates the television chat shows, a relentless judicial
process is at work. Two federal grand juries continue to hear
witness testimony that could put her in jeopardy. Mr Starr has
already secured the criminal convictions of Jim and Susan
McDougal, the business partners of the Clintons in the Whitewater
Development Corporation, as well as the former Governor of
Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker.
The question is where Mr Starr will strike next. There are persistent
rumours in Washington that the next slate of indictments will include
senior White House officials, possibly on charges of obstruction of
justice. The noose is tightening.
Friends of Mr Starr say that he is constrained by impulses of
old-fashioned Southern gallantry - his father was church minister in
Texas - and by the knowledge that the American public does not
wish to see the First Lady hounded from the White House in
disgrace.
Mrs Clinton is increasingly viewed as a sympathetic figure by all
sectors of the population, including the Republicans. Her opinion poll
ratings have reached their highest recorded level. But Mrs Clinton is
a central figure in three of the scandals under investigation by Mr
Starr: Filegate, Travelgate, and the Madison Guaranty/Whitewater
affair.
The Filegate affair involves the illegal request by the White House for
900 confidential Federal Bureau of Investigation files concerning
Republicans and opponents of the President. This has political
resonance, since misuse of the FBI was central to the downfall of
President Nixon in the 1970s. One member of Nixon's staff, Charles
Colson, went to prison for misusing a single FBI file.
The White House aide directly responsible for the 900 files, Craig
Livingstone, was Mrs Clinton's prot‚g‚. Nobody has taken
responsibility for his White House appointment as head of personnel
security, but there are strong indications that the order came from the
First Lady herself. Travelgate resulted from the firing of seven public
servants in the White House travel office, which was done in order
to steer the patronage to friends, including a cousin of Mr Clinton.
Unable to justify the firings, the White House falsely accused the
travel office of embezzling money. It opened an FBI investigation,
and the office director, Billy Dale, was prosecuted. It was a clear
case of malicious misuse of the Justice Department. The trial was a
fiasco, and Mr Dale was acquitted by an irate jury.
There is no question that Hillary Clinton was the driving force behind
the travel office putsch. The White House director of administration,
David Watkins, wrote in a memorandum: "We both knew there
would be hell to pay if we failed to take swift and decisive action in
conformity with the First Lady's wishes."
It remains to be determined whether or not she knew that the staff
had been falsely accused. Finally, there is the Madison Guaranty and
Whitewater affair, which was the original trigger for the Starr
investigation.
The statute of limitations has expired on many of the activities in
question. The key witness, Jim McDougal, has died in prison. His
wife, Susan, has preferred to go to jail rather than testify before a
grand jury.
However, Mrs Clinton could still face problems on a series of
financial investments, notably Flowerwoods Farms and Castle
Grande. She could also face possible charges over testimony about
her legal work for Madison Guaranty, which later went bankrupt,
costing taxpayers a total of $60 million (œ38 million).
The First Lady is not out of the woods yet. |
