First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's role in the Whitewater land deal is looming at least as large as President Clinton's involvement.
Investigators are looking at questions about the deal during Clinton's tenure as governor of Arkansas, including:
Did Hillary Clinton have a conflict of interest in dealing with state bank regulators? Hillary Clinton was on a $ 2,000-a-month retainer from James McDougal, owner of Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan and the Clintons' partner in Whitewater.
In April 1985, when Madison badly needed cash, Hillary Clinton wrote the state's securities regulator just appointed by Gov. Clinton, Beverly Bassett Schaffer, for approval of a deal to sell S&L stock. Schaffer approved in a "Dear Hillary" letter. Federal regulators balked, saying it was too risky; the stock wasn't sold.
Did Clinton do anything to help keep Madison afloat? Investigators hope to determine whether Clinton intervened on behalf of the S&L or whether his connection to its owner was enough to keep federal examiners at bay after they found suspicious loans to McDougal family members.
Were funds diverted from Madison to Clinton's gubernatorial campaign fund? McDougal held a fund-raiser, reportedly netting $ 35,000, to pay off a Clinton campaign debt; investigators say many donations were in the form of cashier's checks on Madison.
Did the Clintons get a sweetheart deal in Whitewater? That's an underlying question. An auditor hired by Clinton in 1992 says the president lost $ 68,900. But $ 58,900 was in a loan from Madison.
What did Vincent Foster, a colleague of Hillary Clinton's at her law firm and later a White House lawyer, know? After Foster's suicide last year, the White House emptied his office files, including Whitewater papers. The White House says Foster's files will go to the Justice Department.
