Whitewater scandal

The scandal developed after the death of deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster, when it was learned that chief White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum[?] had removed documents concerning the Whitewater corporation from Foster's office. At Clinton's request, an independent counsel 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 a Little Rock, Arkansas businessman to make a loan that would benefit him and the owners of Morgan Guaranty, and that an Arkansas bank had concealed transactions involving Clinton's gubernatorial campaign in 1990. The Paula Jones[?] and Monica Lewinsky sex scandals also developed out of this investigation.

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 bankruptcy of Madison Guaranty. However, in 1998, the independent counsel Kenneth Starr (who had replaced Robert B. Fiske, Jr.[?]), released a report in which he charged Clinton with perjury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and abuse of authority. Cinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in December, 1998, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and tried in January, 1999. Clinton was acquitted on both counts.

Republicans, in their severe attempts to delegitimate Clinton, suffered a substantial political backlash, and Clinton was able to serve his last two years in office without much continued political attack.

On January 26, 1996 his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning her investments in Whitewater.