Micah Morrison, Daily Caller - On February 9, this reporter provided more details on the [Whitewater] case, based on a newly obtained confidential document. The document included a description of the case against Mrs. Clinton “in the legal terms of an indictment.”
The new document, disclosed today by Judicial Watch, goes further. A thirty-two page OIC memo titled “HRC Order of Proof,” it spells out in great detail the evidence that would have been presented at Mrs. Clinton’s trial.
The April 1998 memo includes the names of 121 witnesses, discussions of evidence, and aspects of grand jury testimony to be used at trial, forming a virtual road map to the sweeping criminal case against the Whitewater conspirators. It’s a rare inside look at a major federal case on the brink of indictment.
Prosecutors ultimately decided not to indict Mrs. Clinton, calculating that they could not win the complicated, largely circumstantial case against such a high-profile figure. But while the general outline of the case is known, the “Order of Proof” is definitive, nailing down forever a number of disputed issues. Among them:
— The cover-up of Clinton financial misdeeds in Arkansas began in earnest on a specific date: March 7, 1992. That’s when a story on Whitewater by New York Times reporter Jeff Gerth “hit the wire.”
— Documents from the Rose Law Firm — Mrs. Clinton’s former employer at the center of the growing scandal — were passed to a campaign aide in the firm’s “parking lot that night.” In other words, as the “Order of Proof” shows, the Rose Law Firm Partners — Mrs. Clinton, Webster Hubbell and Vincent Foster — were in on the cover-up from the get-go.
— The Gerth story set off a furious Clinton effort to locate documents and shut down witnesses.
— The Gerth story led to renewed interest by the Resolution Trust Corp. in the corrupt bank at the center of the story, Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. Madison was “already on the list of S&Ls to be revisited,” having been the subject of earlier probes and a prior criminal case."
— Tulsa-based senior RTC investigator Jean Lewis — later the subject of a vituperative campaign of personal destruction by the Clinton side—was dispatched “by her local supervisor and someone in Washington to go to Little Rock to determine if Whitewater had caused [Madison] a loss.” That is, a nascent criminal inquiry, triggered by press reports, was underway at the height of the presidential campaign.....
— Lewis visited Little Rock in April, 1992, and drew up Criminal Referral C-0004, which was sent “directly to the Little Rock U.S. Attorney and Little Rock FBI on 9/1/92.”
— U.S. Attorney Paula Casey—a Clinton associate — and the Little Rock FBI office agreed to hold the criminal referral “in abeyance until after the election.” Meanwhile, the FBI and RTC investigations moved forward. Nine more RTC criminal referrals involving Madison-related schemes were drawn up.
— Shortly after Bill Clinton won the election, U.S. Attorney Casey recused herself and the probe was passed to a career Justice Department prosecutor, Donald Mackay. Mackay — not the later, much-reviled Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr — made many of the key early moves in the probe.
— A Justice Department — not independent counsel — probe was underway on July 20, 1993, when search warrants were obtained in Little Rock for Whitewater-related investigations. That night in Washington, Vincent Foster, the former Rose Law Firm partner serving as both the Clintons’ personal lawyer and White House deputy counsel, committed suicide.
— Two senior Justice Department officials — David Margolis and Philip Heymann — are on the “Order of Proof” witness list. In the immediate aftermath of Foster’s death, Margolis and Heymann received White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum’s consent to search Foster’s office. Then Nussbaum “reneged.”
— Heymann — the Deputy Attorney General of the United States — was “[v]ery upset over the matter” and “[a]sked Bernie what he was trying to hide.” (P. 22)Here are some of the Progressive Review's notes on the Whitewater story:
— Numerous witnesses would testify they saw documents being removed from Foster’s office, including papers that resembled the Rose Law Firm billing records — under subpoena at that time and nowhere to be found.
1978
Clinton is elected governor.
The Clintons and McDougals buy land in the Ozarks for $203,000 with mostly borrowed funds. The Clintons get 50% interest with no cash down. The 203 acre plot, known as Whitewater, is fifty miles from the nearest grocery store. The Washington Post will report later that some purchasers of lots, many of them retirees, "put up houses or cabins, others slept in vans or tents, hoping to be able to live off the land." More than half of the purchasers will lose their plots thanks to the sleazy form of financing used.
Governor Clinton appoints Jim McDougal an economic development advisor.
1981
Hillary Clinton writes Jim McDougal: "If Reagonomics works at all, Whitewater could become the Western Hemisphere's Mecca."
1984
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board issues a negative report on Madison Guaranty, questioning both its lending practices and its financial stability. The Arkansas Securities Department begins to take steps to close it down. Wikpedia: "Starting in 1982 and operated by Jim McDougal-Susan McDougal, Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan failed in the late 1980s. On April 14, 1997, Jim McDougal was convicted of 18 felony counts of fraud conspiracy charges. The counts had to do with bad loans made by Madison S&L. This S&L was partnered with Whitewater Development Corporation, the subject of Whitewater probe and owned, in part, by Bill and Hillary Clinton."
Tens of thousands of dollars in mysterious checks begin moving through Whitewater's account at Madison Guaranty. Investigators will later suspect that McDougal was operating a check-kiting scheme to drain money from the S&L.
1987
According to the McDougals, the Whitewater files are transferred to the Clintons. In the 1992 campaign, the Clintons will say they can not find the records.
1992
After the election Vincent Foster meets with James McDougal and arranges for him to buy the Clintons' remaining shares in Whitewater Development Co. for $1,000.
1993
The Washington Times will report that Whitewater files were removed from Vince Foster's office after his death.
1995
A burglar breaks into the car of White House lawyer Cheryl Mills as she was preparing to testify before a Senate committee on the Whitewater affair. Taken, according to a friend, were her notes on handling Vince Foster's papers after his death.
1997
LD Brown, a former Arkansas state trooper who worked on Clinton's security details, claims he was approached on a bus in England and offered $100,000 and a job to change his Whitewater testimony. A second offer was allegedly made in Little Rock.
1999
Deputy special prosecutor Hickman Ewing reveals that a criminal indictment against Hillary Clinton concerning Whitewater had been prepared but never presented to a grand jury.
This is the sort of issue that waiting in the wings of this campaign.And denial that it is a problem won't change the vote count.
1 comment:
She was just getting warmed up then for her gig as Sec of State, rounding up donations for favors. The media would have scorched Colin Powell in the same situation. She and Bill are perhaps the greatest grifters of our political age...
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