A long-time Arkansas friend and aide to President Clinton, Vincent Foster, 48, was found dead July 20 in a park in Virginia. He had died of a gunshot wound to the head.
Foster, deputy counsel to Mr. Clinton, was said to have been depressed over press reports critical of the way his office handled various White House controversies, including the firing of employees in the White House travel office.
Investigators ruled his death a suicide. In the remnants of a note found in his office, Foster was critical of the FBI, the Republican Party, and the media. He was especially critical of the editors of the Wall Street Journal, whom he accused of lying with impunity. He wrote that in Washington, "ruining people is considered sport."
Among the files found in Foster's office were records of the Clinton's investment in the Whitewater Development Co., a development veture that failed. The Clintons said Foster had the files because he had been a law partner with Mrs. Clinton in Arkanas and had handled the Whitewater matter as their attorney. Those files were turned over to the Clinton's personal attorney.
The Clintons said they lost money on the investment and there was nothing unusual in the files. However, Republicans charged that the Clintons may have benefitted illegally, claiming their partner in Whitewater may have diverted funds from a failing savings and loan to them.
The Clintons denied doing anything wrong. The partner did as well.
At year's end the Clintons had not been charged with doing anything wrong but had instructed their lawyer to turn over the files from Foster's office to the Justice Department. Pressure was also building at year's end for the president to call for a special counsel to look into Whitewater.
