‘The Damage Has Been Done’
The two dozen guilty verdicts that Whitewater special counsel Kenneth Starr won in Arkansas Tuesday spell both political and legal trouble for President Clinton, his wife and aides, analysts said Tuesday.
The verdicts are bound to embolden Clinton’s Republican foes and give an energizing boost to Starr and his ongoing investigation. The prosecutors and the GOP can now hope that convicted defendants James and Susan McDougal, the Clintons’ business partners in the Whitewater land deal, will trade potentially damaging information about the president in return for leniency in sentencing.
“We are obviously encouraged,” Starr said. “What now? We move forward.”
Though the verdict will most certainly revive interest in Whitewater, just as it seemed that the scandal was fading, it is difficult to predict its long-term political effect. To some extent, public attitudes about the confusing Whitewater case have hardened over time.
“It would have been better the other way, but 48 hours from now it’s not going to mean that much for the White House or the president,” said John Podesta, a former White House aide now teaching at Georgetown University.
Nevertheless, Starr’s lawyers are due in court next month to try another group of Clinton’s Arkansas associates on allegations that they acted illegally in raising and handling funds for his 1990 gubernatorial campaign. A grand jury in Washington, meanwhile, continues to hear testimony on whether the Clintons or their advisers have obstructed justice by hiding records or lying to investigators.
Republicans can make considerable political hay from the fact that three more members of Clinton’s old Arkansas crowd have been found guilty of political corruption. Publicity about the verdict will resurrect doubts that many voters have about the president’s character, a nagging problem for him even near the end of a full term in the White House.
Rep. James Leach, the Iowa Republican who has served as leader of the House investigation of Whitewater, reiterated his view Tuesday that Clinton is not guilty of any criminal behavior, but that “as far as the ethical aspects … it’s going to be very serious for him.”
“Whitewater is still a factor. The damage has been done,” said GOP pollster Neil Newhouse. “The steady drip, drip, drip of the press talking about these various investigations makes voters believe that where there is smoke, there is fire.”
Clinton himself told reporters outside the White House that he felt sorry “on a personal level” for his three friends who were convicted but that “the jury has completed its work. We should all accept that.”
Clinton was subpoenaed by defense lawyers and testified on videotape in the trial, in a tape that could yet be made public. The extensive paper trail that Starr’s team compiled, which he credited Tuesday with swaying the jury, did not implicate the president.
Democrats could be heartened, in fact, that Starr’s prosecutors labored mightily to distance their case from the president, repeatedly stating that he “is not on trial” for the illegal activities for which Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker and the McDougals were convicted.
“Why isn’t the president of the United States on trial?” asked lead prosecutor W. Ray Jahn in Little Rock. “Because he didn’t set up any phony corporations … didn’t backdate any leases. He didn’t backdate any documents. … He didn’t lie to any examiners, he didn’t lie to any investigators.”
And Clinton’s aides were happy about the damage that the trial did to the reputation of former Little Rock Judge David Hale, who is the only source on record to claim he was improperly pressured by Clinton to help the failing McDougal banking and real estate empire.
“The independent counsel conceded during the closing arguments that the case had nothing to do with the president and that David Hale made no allegations of illegal activity against the president,” said White House lawyer Mark Fabiani.
Hale’s credibility was battered on the witness stand, and he has refused to appear before the Senate Whitewater Committee. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato of New York, the GOP chairman of the committee, acknowledged last week that without Hale’s testimony the Senate probe may hold no more public hearings.
Neither D’Amato nor Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, would comment Tuesday on the possibility that the convictions in Little Rock would cause the Republicans to change their minds and schedule further Whitewater hearings.
The Senate Whitewater Committee is expected to issue a report in mid-June that is highly critical of the president, Hillary Rodham Clinton, aides and friends. But Democrats believe the report will be tainted by D’Amato’s role as co-chairman of Dole’s presidential campaign.
“In Whitewater, the public has come to three basic conclusions,” said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. “First, that not everything Clinton did was absolutely correct. Second, what happened was a long time ago and not very important. Third, the Republicans have been pursuing a political vendetta.
“It would take a remarkable revelation to move the public from its consensus on those three points,” said Mellman.
xxxx WHAT’S NEXT? Another Whitewater related trial is set to begin June 17 in Little Rock. Two Arkansas bankers are charged with using bank funds to reimburse themselves and others for contributions to the 1990 Clinton gubernatorial campaign.