Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403130084
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"Of course I made mistakes," Clinton said in an interview with Newsweek magazine, discussing the handling of the controversy over the Arkansas land development deal.
Clinton said that "this thing has gotten blown so out of proportion" and that she regretted not recognizing sooner that journalists would pursue the matter if details were not provided.
In a separate interview with Time magazine, Clinton said, "We made lots of mistakes. We never should have made the investment, for one." She said another mistake was "not appreciating how other people view" the controversy.
Her public comments, however, were unlikely to silence her critics, including Republicans calling for congressional hearings where the witnesses could include the first lady.
Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., told CNN's "Evans and Novak" on Saturday that he thought it would not be appropriate to call her before Congress now.
But he added, "I do believe that Mrs. Clinton should be and will be held accountable, as anyone else who exercises great power in government. And she does exercise great power in this government. Let's not kid ourselves."
Until the interviews with the two news magazines late Saturday, Clinton has had little public comment on the matter.
New public opinion polls suggested Saturday that Whitewater has affected how Americans view the president's wife.
A new CBS-New York Times poll said 27 percent had an unfavorable view of her, compared with 23 percent a month ago. A Newsweek poll also found that Clinton's unfavorable rating climbed to 42 percent from 29 percent in February. Meanwhile, a Time-CNN poll said half the people still consider her more ethical than most politicians.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was involved in the Whitewater land deal in the 1970s both by managing her family's financial affairs and as an Arkansas attorney who represented Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, which had ties to Whitewater. She also reportedly resisted giving Whitewater files to federal investigators and argued against the appointment of a special counsel to probe the matter.
"Clearly there were lots of missteps along the way. I'd be the first to say that," Clinton told Newsweek.
She attributed her failure to respond more fully to Whitewater to not "understanding why [journalists] were pursing what to me seems so insignificant" a matter and said she regretted not focusing on it earlier "to try to deal with it."
Clinton told the magazine that "I get my back up every so often" about having to answer questions she believes have no connection with her husband's public life. She suggested that also played a part in mistakes made in connection with responding to Whitewater.
"I really have been pulled kicking and screaming to the conclusion that if you choose to run for public office you give up any zone of privacy at all," she told Newsweek.
The White House has been considering various ways for the Clintons to get their side of the Whitewater story out. One option was for them to make a joint television appearance to try to put Whitewater questions to rest. Instead, they opted for her talk with the news magazines.
Until the interviews, she had made few detailed public comments about Whitewater.
In a March 4 interview with Elle magazine, she accused critics of mounting a "well-organized and well-financed attempt" to undermine the Clintons and their policies.
"They have yet to come forward with anything other than the wildest kind of paranoid conspiracies," she said in that interview.
by CNB