The Whitewater scandal was an American political scandal which began with a New York Times article[1] during the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign and continued into Bill Clinton's presidency. After deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster's death it was learned that chief White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum had removed documents concerning the Whitewater Development Corporation from Foster's office. President Clinton and his wife had invested in this corporation and critics suspected them of fraud in connection with this investment during the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation of the failure due to insolvency of Madison Guaranty, an Arkansas trust company. Three separate inquiries determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the Clintons knowingly participated in any criminal conduct. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Vincent Walker Foster, Jr. ... Bernard W. Nussbaum was formerly White House Counsel under Bill Clinton and during his tenure was accused of being involved in Filegate Category: ... A corporation under investigation related to Bill Clintons White Water scandal. ... The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly referred to as the SEC, is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. ... Madison Guaranty is an Arkansas financial trust company. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 29th 137 732 km² 385 km 420 km 2. ...

Preface to Whitewater

In 1978, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton created a business named Whitewater Development Corporation with friends and Little Rock, Arkansas residents James B. McDougal and his wife, Susan McDougal. As real estate values began a steep decline, their investment of over $200,000 (this money was from David Hale to the McDougals. Hale said he was pressured by Clinton to give the McDougals the loan) and the venture failed. 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Hillary Rodham Clinton (born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York, serving her freshman term since January 3, 2001. ... There is also a Littlerock, California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 29th 137 732 km² 385 km 420 km 2. ... Jim McDougal Husband of Susan McDougal, and financial partners with Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the real estate venture that led to the political Whitewater Scandal of the 1990s. ... Susan McDougal is one of the few people who served prison time as a result of the alleged Whitewater Scandal, though fifteen individuals were convicted of federal charges. ...

Seven years later, in 1985, Jim McDougal set his sights on investment into local residential construction, labeling the project "Castle Grande". With the sale cost floating around $1.75 million for the 1,000 acres (4 km²) he intended to purchase, McDougal was presented with a financial burden outside of his own means. Borrowing from his own Savings and loan, Madison Guaranty, he could only take a maximum of $600,000 to be compliant with the corresponding law. This article is about the year. ... A savings and loan association is a financial institution which specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage loans. ...

McDougal subsequently involved several others to produce the additional funds, including Seth Ward, an employee of the bank who helped funnel the additional $1.15 million required. To avoid potential investigations, the money was moved back and forth amongst several other investors and intermediaries each with a different reason. Seth Ward may refer to: The town of Seth Ward, Texas. ... Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. ...

However, in 1986, their scheme was unveiled by federal regulators who realized that all the necessary funds for this real estate venture had come entirely from Madison. In July of that year, the McDougals resigned; Seth Ward fell under investigation as well as the lawyer who helped him draft the agreement. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The controversy

Relating to the Whitewater failure and the Clintons' legal involvement with Castle Grande, they were repeatedly questioned by reporters about the fiasco following Bill Clinton's bid for the presidency. Early in Clinton's presidency, one of his attorneys Vince Foster officially committed suicide July 20, 1993, at Fort Marcy Park in Virginia. Vincent Foster Vincent Walker Foster, Jr. ... At the end of the Civil War in 1865, the system of fortications (now known as Fort Circle Parks) which surrounded the capital city, Washington DC, were dismantled. ...

At Clinton's request, a special prosecutor was appointed in 1994 by the Department of Justice to investigate the legality of Whitewater transactions. Two further accusations then surfaced: that Clinton had exerted pressure on an Arkansas businessman to make a loan that would benefit him and the owners of Madison Guaranty, and that an Arkansas bank had concealed transactions involving Clinton's gubernatorial campaign in 1990. A special prosecutor is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by the attorney general or Congress to investigate a federal official for misconduct while in office. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Justice Department redirects here. ... This article is about the year. ...

The Clintons were cleared of any wrongdoing in two reports subsequently prepared by the San Francisco law firm of Pillsbury Madison and Sutro for the Resolution Trust Corporation, which was overseeing the liquidation of Madison Guaranty. Nickname: The City by the Bay Official website: http://www. ... The Resolution Trust Corporation was a US government owned asset management company mandated to sell assets (primarily real estate) that had been held as collateral against most of the bad loans of savings and loan associations. ...

On January 26, 1996 Hillary Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning her investments in Whitewater. The Grand Jury inquired into how Vincent Foster's paper ended up in the White House. January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A grand jury is a type of common law jury responsible for investigating alleged crimes, examining evidence, and issuing indictments if they believe that there is enough evidence for a trial to proceed. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ...

Over the course of the investigation, fifteen individuals — including Clinton friends James McDougal and Susan McDougal, White House counsel Webster Hubbel and Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker — were convicted of federal charges unrelated to Whitewater. Four of these were pardoned by Clinton in the final hours of his presidency (see list of people pardoned by Bill Clinton). James Jim Guy Tucker, Jr. ... On January 20, 2001, hours before leaving office, President Bill Clinton used his Constitutional power to pardon 140 people, thus commuting the sentences of those already convicted of a crime, and obviating a trial for those not yet convicted. ...

Starr Report

In 1998, the independent counsel Kenneth Starr sent a report to Congress in which he charged Clinton with perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and abuse of authority in the Paula Jones lawsuit. The report contained details, sometimes explicit, of Clinton's liaisons with Monica Lewinsky. Detractors of the independent counsel criticized Starr for expanding the investigation beyond its initial scope and for the graphic nature of the report. When asked to specify which statement of Clinton's was perjurious, Starr could not answer the question. Kenneth Winston Starr (born July 21, 1946 in Vernon, Texas) is an American lawyer and former judge who was appointed to the Office of the Independent Counsel to investigate the Whitewater land transactions by President Bill Clinton. ... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. ... Obstruction of justice, in a common law state, refers to the crime of offering interference of any sort to the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other (usually government) officials. ... Talking to a witness, hoping for them to lie about what really happened ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article should be translated from material at fr:Liaison. ... Monica Lewinsky as she appeared on the cover of her book, Monicas Story. Monica Lewinsky receives a hug from U.S. President Bill Clinton during a fundraising event in Washington, DC, October, 1996 Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American woman who was thrust into the...

Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and tried by the Senate in January 1999. But in an eery repeat of Starr's failure, none of the prosecutors could specify which lines of Clinton's testimony was perjurious and Clinton was acquitted by the Senate on both counts. Depiction of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson, then President of the United States, in 1868. ... The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C.. This photograph shows a rare glimpse of the four vote tallying boards (the blackish squares across the top), which display each members name and vote as... Seal of the Senate The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the Congress of the United States, the other being the House of Representatives. ...

Clinton's supporters claimed that the charges made against Clinton did not rise to the severity required for the impeachment and removal of a sitting President since they had nothing to do with his official duties. They viewed the wide-ranging investigation as a "witch-hunt" based on the President's personal life. Clinton's detractors argued that the President was effectively the chief law enforcement officer and that false testimony in a court of law was grounds for removal. The heated clashes between Clinton supporters and detractors continued in the media throughout the investigation and impeachment and came to dominate the headlines during the period.

Republicans suffered a substantial political backlash in the wake of the investigations and impeachment. Clinton served his last two years in office without any further attacks of a serious legal nature but continued to be criticized by his detractors for the scandals. Clinton's job approval rating skyrocketed to the mid-seventies during impeachment and he later left office with the highest approval ratings of any president of the twentieth century. The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ...

In April 1999 Judge Susan Webber Wright found Clinton in civil contempt of court for misleading testimony in the Jones case but did not press for any criminal charge. Wright referred her ruling to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Rather than undergo a review by the Arkansas Supreme Court, Clinton voluntarily surrendered his Arkansas law license. Susan Webber Wright is a judge in the United States District Court system. ... Contempt of court is a court ruling which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, deems an individual as holding contempt for the court, its process, and its invested powers. ... The Arkansas Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Arkansas. ...

Ray Report

Kenneth Starr's successor, Robert Ray, released a report in September of 2000 that stated "This office determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that either President or Mrs. Clinton knowingly participated in any criminal conduct." Ray's report effectively ended the Whitewater investigation.

References

• Clinton, Bill (2005). My Life. Vintage. ISBN 140003003X.