Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 30, 1994 TAG: 9405300049
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The allegations are contained in a criminal referral - a recommendation by investigators for possible prosecution - written last year and now in the hands of the Whitewater special prosecutor.
The document names Whitewater co-owner James McDougal, Arkansas businessman Charles Peacock III and the Clinton campaign fund as suspects. Mention of the campaign in the referral has been previously reported.
All three vehemently deny any wrongdoing. McDougal's lawyer dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign. Peacock said: "I haven't done anything wrong. . . . The transactions as they have them are not correct." And an aide to Clinton's campaign said she had had no reason to suspect the source of the donations was dubious.
The referral, excerpts of which were obtained by The Associated Press, was written by federal S&L investigators in Kansas City, Mo., who examined Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, an Arkansas thrift owned by McDougal that failed in 1989 at a cost to taxpayers of $47 million.
It cites four checks, totaling $12,000, that were delivered as political donations to Clinton's gubernatorial campaign during an April 4, 1985, fund-raiser hosted by McDougal in Madison's lobby.
Three of the donations were written on Madison cashier's checks. They were in the names of former Sen. J. William Fulbright; Peacock's son, Ken; and Peacock's late business partner, Dean Landrum. A fourth check was drawn from McDougal's personal account at Madison, the referral states.
All were for $3,000 and were deposited in Clinton's campaign account.
The referral alleges that the three cashier's checks were actually covered by money from two larger loans to Peacock that Madison approved the morning of the fund-raiser. Peacock never repaid those loans, the referral charges.
by CNB