Prosecutor Subpoenas First Lady Counsel To Ask About Records

In a historic first, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been ordered before a federal grand jury to explain the mysterious discovery of her legal records.

Whitewater independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr last week subpoenaed the first lady to testify this Friday, the White House disclosed in a terse statement Monday.

No other wife of an American president ever has been summoned before a grand jury, historians said.

Lawrence Walsh, the Iran-Contra prosecutor, has said he considered a subpoena for Nancy Reagan but did not follow through.

A spokesman tried to put the best face on the latest twist in the Whitewater case, portraying the first lady as happy to cooperate.

“As the first lady has always said, she is as eager as anyone to resolve questions regarding the billing records,” the White House said in a statement Monday.

The call for Hillary Clinton to testify under oath follows last week’s stunning revelation that last August, a White House aide had found the first lady’s long-sought billing records left in plain view on a table in the Clintons’ living quarters.

The aide, Carolyn Huber, said she put them away. Then, looking at them more carefully late last month, she realized they were documents that Whitewater probers have wanted for two years. She gave them to Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, who arranged to turn them over.

Huber’s testimony led Republicans on the Senate Whitewater Committee to suggest Hillary Clinton could be involved in a criminal cover-up - specifically, an attempt to obstruct justice.

A prominent defense lawyer not connected to the case said the fact that Hillary Clinton has been subpoenaed by Starr indicates that she is not now suspected of criminal conduct. “Grand juries usually do not subpoena targets, although this is not an absolute rule,” the attorney said.

Under federal rules, Hillary Clinton is not permitted to have a lawyer in the grand jury room, though she can keep one outside to consult. Only the prosecutor, the witness, the grand jurors and a court reporter are permitted to attend.

White House spokesman Mark Fabiani said the first lady plans to answer every question without resorting to taking the Fifth Amendment. She will not seek any immunity from prosecution, he said.

Starr has two grand juries hearing evidence in Whitewater cases.

The panel in Little Rock is focused on violations involving the land deal, a failed savings and loan represented by Hillary Clinton’s Little Rock law firm while her husband was Arkansas governor. The Washington panel is concentrating on whether there was an effort inside the White House to obstruct that investigation.

The first lady Clinton has testified under oath three times in the past to federal investigators, but not a grand jury. President Clinton has also given sworn statements.

The demand for her testimony follows two weeks of jarring disclosures that cast doubt on Hillary Clinton’s truthfulness.

The billing records showed she had done 60 hours of work on behalf of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, which was run by the Clinton’s partners in the Whitewater land deal. She had insisted the S&L work was “minimal.”

She also took a hit when a memo surfaced that contradicted her claim of having nothing to do with a purge of the White House travel office.

Earlier Monday, Hillary Clinton offered to respond in writing to questions from Sen. Alfonse D’Amato’s Senate Whitewater Committee. The committee, however, isn’t expected to supply questions to the first lady for at least another week.

“To do it right away would be premature and a mistake,” a GOP Whitewater source said.

The Whitewater panel also asked the Senate to extend its probe beyond Feb. 29. The GOP wants an additional $600,000 and no time limit to continue its investigation.