ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997 TAG: 9704230045
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LITTLE ROCK, ARK.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Prosecutors also seek testimony from Susan McDougal, who refused to cooperate earlier and is still jailed for contempt of court.
A federal judge Tuesday extended the Whitewater grand jury investigation six more months after prosecutors disclosed they have gathered ``extensive evidence'' of possible obstruction of justice.
The office of independent counsel Kenneth Starr cited the obstruction probe as well as substantial new information from James McDougal, a former business partner of President and Hillary Rodham Clinton, in requesting that the grand jury's term be extended to Nov.7.
The panel is set to expire by May7.
U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright approved Starr's request.
``This grand jury has ... heard extensive evidence of possible obstruction of the administration of justice,'' said the court papers filed with Wright. The papers said Starr wants to examine possible ``concealment and destruction of evidence and intimidation of witnesses.
``There have been efforts by some persons and entities to challenge subpoenas, and there have been assertions of privilege,'' the court papers added.
Prosecutors told the court they still wanted the testimony from McDougal's ex-wife, Susan, who was convicted with her husband on fraud charges last year. She has refused to testify before the Whitewater grand jury in Little Rock and is jailed for contempt of court.
Prosecutors have been investigating:
Payments to Whitewater witness Webster Hubbell arranged by longtime friends of the president. The investigation centers on whether the payments were designed to discourage Hubbell from giving prosecutors information about the president and first lady.
Whether the president lied in sworn testimony last year denying any knowledge of a fraudulent $300,000 federally backed loan to Susan McDougal.
The disappearance and mysterious reappearance of Hillary Clinton's law firm's billing records outlining her work for McDougal's failing savings and loan in Arkansas. The records vanished and turned up in the White House more than two years after investigators subpoenaed them.
Deputy prosecutor W. Hickman Ewing said at the federal courthouse that James McDougal's cooperation during the last nine months was only part of the material the grand jury was examining.
``They're not through with their business. There's still other witnesses to be called, other records to be subpoenaed,'' Ewing said.
Hubbell resigned from the Justice Department in March 1994 amid what then was called a billing dispute at the Rose Law Firm, where he worked with Hillary Clinton. In December 1994, Hubbell admitted bilking clients out of more than $400,000 and pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion.
The Whitewater grand jury in Little Rock was seated May 7, 1996, for a one-year term. Prosecutors may ask for extensions, but court rules prohibit a grand jury from sitting more than two years.
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