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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SOROS who wrote (311)	9/15/1998 6:16:00 PM
From: DD™	Respond to of 1151

THE FIRST LESBIAN, HRC, NEXT FOR INDICTMENT? HILLARY'S NEXT IN STARR CROSS HAIRS By DICK MORRIS YOU can be sure Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't much like Kenneth Starr's report to Congress. But the two sentences that she must have minded the most had nothing to do with sex, her husband or Monica Lewinsky. For her, the most ominous sentences in Starr's report to Congress are: Evidence is being gathered on ... the Rose Law Firm's representation of Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan Association ... All phases of the investigation are now nearing completion. Now, Hillary is waiting for the other shoe to drop. This reference in the Starr report is threateningly specific. It does not cite Whitewater or the Madison S&L in general. Instead, it specifically homes in on the role Hillary'slaw firm - and Hillary - played in representing Madison. Earlier in the report, while tracing the history of his probes, Starr mentions the scrutiny of legal work done by the Rose Law Firm, including the First Lady on the Castle Grande real-estate deal. One big reason Hillary is so vocal in defending her husband and attacking Starr is that she is likely to be next on the griddle. The published facts are that Hillary handled the legal work on a sham sale of land to Webster Hubbell's father-in-law. If Madison had bought the land, the S&L would have exceeded the proportion of its assets it was allowed to invest in real estate, so it needed a straw man and a compliant lawyer. The question is whether Hillary was just a lawyer on the deal, or was conscious of the deception - and helped to perpetrate it. To help resolve the question, Starr subpoenaed the billing records for Hillary's work on the deal, but they had mysteriously disappeared from the Rose Law Firm. For a time, then-Assistant Attorney General Hubbell hid them in his basement. The White House was unable to produce them in response to Starr's subpoena. Later, they turned up in the White House residence with Hillary's fingerprints on the cover page and on the page concerning her billings for the sham sale. If Starr finds Hillary did something wrong, there would appear to be no legal obstacle to stop him from indicting her. For Hillary, Monica is a sideshow. Castle Grande is the main event. The looming presence of the other shoe is a strong unspoken factor in the First Lady's actions these days. It's likely why she was so insistent that her husband excoriate Starr during the president's disastrous mea culpa speech of Aug. 17. Perhaps it is also why he gratuitously inserted language defending their actions in Whitewater, even though it had nothing to do with his grand-jury testimony. It probably has a lot to do with her decision to stand by her husband in the Monica mess. She's going to need all the help she can get, and shoring up her husband's popularity ratings is, for her, an act of self-defense. Without the other shoe dropping, President Clinton looks as if he can survive the current scandal. His ratings didn't take the expected nose-dive over the weekend. He seems to be getting a handle on what contrition is all about. Starr has shot his bolt, and Clinton is still standing. Congress isn't going to stay in session in October with the November elections ahead, and there are limits to what a lame-duck Congress can and will feel free to do with a new one waiting in the wings. The more the process is strung out, the closer it is to the end of Clinton's term, and the less likely impeachment is. Finally, there is no way a Republican Congress can afford to impeach and remove from office a Democratic president unless polls show that an overwhelming majority of the country agrees. Right now, the polls are running 2-to-1 against impeachment or resignation. Censure seems the administration's most attractive fallback option. That's probably why the White House is peddling the line to its journalistic mouthpieces - like Al Hunt of The Wall Street Journal - that censure would be a severe punishment. But there is another shoe there: the Castle Grande-Rose Law Firm investigation. What happens if Hillary is indicted? Does she fight it out in court? Does she admit wrongdoing and plead to a more minor offense to avoid prison? My bet is that she will want to fight it out in court. She is not going to let her reputation be destroyed without a vigorous fight. The line between legally representing wrongdoers as a lawyer and illegally covering up the wrongdoing is a tough one to establish. With high approval ratings, a popular husband as president, and public sympathy over Lewinsky, she might just tough it out and win. But what if she doesn't win? What if she is convicted? If she is facing a conviction and he is facing impeachment, and everything is going to hell, don't rule out the possibility that he might pardon her and then resign, knowing the jig is up. Bottom line: Bill Clinton would give up his presidency to save Hillary from prison. Bet on it. He isn't the most faithful husband, but he is one of the most loyal. nypostonline.com DD