Federal regulators said Thursday they found no evidence of conflict of interest by Hillary Rodham Clinton's former law firm when it worked on government cases involving a failed Arkansas thrift.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. recommended no sanctions against the Rose Law Firm in a probe that was one thread of the complex Whitewater controversy.
The FDIC also said Hillary Clinton violated no conflict of interest laws when she represented the government against an Arkansas investment firm owned by Dan Lasater, a Clinton friend and campaign donor.
President Clinton said Thursday the Whitewater criminal investigation will cost taxpayers millions of dollars though "most of it has nothing to do with me."
Clinton called Whitewater "a simple, straightforward thing and it'll be shown to be. . . . I'm amazed by all the twists and turns of interpretation."
Federal regulators investigated whether Webster Hubbell, the No. 3 Justice Department official who once worked at Rose, misled regulators while seeking work for the firm.
The Rose Law Firm represented the FDIC in a case concerning the failed Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, which Rose once represented. James McDougal, the Clintons' partner in Whitewater Development Co. Inc., owned Madison, which failed in 1989.
Special counsel Robert Fiske is investigating whether Madison funds were diverted to Whitewater or used to help retire a Clinton campaign debt.
The FDIC said Hubbell informed it "very generally that the firm had done a small amount of work for the S&L years earlier." Also Thursday:
-- CBS reported the Rose Law Firm recently sent a letter to a potential client saying the firm "has developed relationships with officials who are now in the Clinton administration."
A lawyer for the firm told CBS there was no impropriety.
-- The Rose Law Firm was warned by Fiske not to shred or destroy any Whitewater-related documents or computer data.
A document called a "notice subpoena" was delivered to the firm this week. The Washington Times reported last week some Whitewater papers had been shredded; a Rose partner denied the charge.
-- Fiske said a federal grand jury has brought new criminal charges against David Hale, a Clinton supporter and former judge accused of loan fraud.
The indictment adds the charge that Hale made false statements to the federal Small Business Administration.
Hale claims he made a $ 300,000 SBA loan to McDougal's wife, Susan, at Clinton's request. Clinton denies it.
-- The Los Angeles Times reported Fiske has rented a Little Rock apartment for a year and expects his work to be completed by the time his lease is up.
The special Whitewater grand jury Fiske sought will have an 18-month term; it may meet more than the normal two or three days a month.
-- Fiske said he hopes to have a staff of between five and 10 lawyers in place by Tuesday.
