Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312230206
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"We did not do anything wrong," Clinton declared during an interview with wire service reporters, referring to charges that as Arkansas governor his bodyguards drove him to encounters with women and delivered gifts to them.
He refused to answer a direct question about whether the sexual allegations were true. "We've put out a very strong statement about it and I don't really have anything to add," he said.
Clinton apparently was referring to a statement by senior White House aide Bruce Lindsey on Monday night, which denied misuse of the troopers.
Clinton did deny offering federal jobs to ensure silence, as two Arkansas state troopers who went public this week alleged. "That absolutely did not happen," the president said.
"The allegations on abuse of the state or the federal positions I have, it's not true," he said. The White House has confirmed that Clinton did call some members of his gubernatorial security detail to see what was being said about him.
Clinton also said he would cooperate with a federal probe of Arkansas land dealings in which he and his wife had an interest. He insisted an independent accounting firm had found no impropriety. The land dealings were financed by Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, a thrift run by a Clinton associate.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole on Wednesday joined Republican efforts to force Senate hearings on Madison Guaranty, which is under investigation by the Justice Department.
"The American people deserve a thorough and independent review of the whole Madison Guaranty-Whitewater affair," Dole, R-Kan., said in a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Donald Riegle, D-Mich.
Jim Leach, top Republican on the House Banking Committee, asked Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint a special counsel to look into the matter.
The White House admitted this week that files related to the land dealings and Whitewater Development Corp., in which the Clintons had a financial interest, were removed from the office of White House deputy legal counsel Vince Foster shortly after he committed suicide this summer. The files were turned over to the Clintons' personal attorney.
Federal investigators say the files may be relevant to two Justice Department inquiries. One involves the circumstances of Foster's suicide. The other is looking into whether the land deal played a role in the collapse of Madison Guaranty, which cost taxpayers more than $60 million.
"We'll do the best we can to cooperate," Clinton said when asked if he would surrender the file. "I have no reason to believe anyone thinks there is anything in there relevant to any ongoing federal matter, but if anyone thinks we have any relevant information, obviously we intend to cooperate."
The Clintons have said they lost $69,000 on the deal, and a full accounting was made public during the presidential campaign.
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by CNB