Whitewater Story Wrong, White House Says Indictments Expected In February, Usa Today Reports

The White House disputed Wednesday a newspaper story that says the Clinton administration expects a new round of Whitewater indictments by the end of February.

USA Today quoted Jane Sherburne, the White House counsel who coordinates Whitewater matters, as saying that charges are likely to include some present or former staffers.

Neither the White House nor Sherburne has any expectation of indictments, Sherburne said in a statement.

Sherburne said that a reporter who interviewed her said he expected the Whitewater prosecutor would seek indictments by the end of the year. Sherburne said she responded that the prosecutor was unlikely to decide before February whether to seek indictments.

“The statements attributed to me in USA Today were taken out of context,” and, “as a result, USA Today has published a grossly misleading story,” Sherburne stated.

The newspaper said today that it stands by the story.

The newspaper quoted Sherburne as saying that “with (prosecutor Ken Starr) taking testimony from Jim McDougal until February and the time it will take to confirm anything he says, no indictments (are likely) before then.”

McDougal, a partner with Clinton and his wife in the Whitewater real estate investment, is scheduled to be sentenced in February. He was convicted in May on 18 fraud charges.

Among other things, Starr is investigating whether Clinton, as Arkansas governor, knew about an illegal $300,000 Small Business Administration-backed loan made to McDougal - as alleged by an Arkansas businessman now serving time in federal prison for his role in the proceeding.

Starr also is looking into whether Hillary Rodham Clinton lied under oath about her work for McDougal.