Prosecution Ends Its Case With Little on Clinton Role

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —  Prosecutors concluded their case in the Whitewater trial Monday by throwing fraud allegations at President Clinton’s partners in the failed real estate venture, but they backed away from challenging Clinton’s trial testimony.

Chief prosecutor Ray Jahn barely mentioned Clinton’s name in his three-hour closing argument. He said only that the president was unaware of many of the allegedly illegal deals carried out by his Whitewater partners, Susan and James B. McDougal, and by Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker in the mid-1980s.

Clinton’s supporters worry he could suffer political wounds if the McDougals are found guilty of conspiracy and fraud. But Jahn made no direct challenge to the president’s credibility Monday, even though the two clashed repeatedly during Clinton’s videotaped testimony, which was played to the court Thursday.

In it, Clinton emphatically denied allegations from the prosecution’s star witness, David Hale, that he once pressured Hale to extend an illegal $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal in 1986.

A former Little Rock investment banker, Hale says he was part of the alleged conspiracy to defraud. He turned over evidence as part of a plea bargain with Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel leading the probe into Clinton’s personal and political finances. Prosecutors allege that $50,000 of the $300,000 loan was used to pay off Whitewater expenses.

In his closing argument Monday, Jahn did not address the stark differences between Clinton’s testimony and that of Hale. Defense attorneys told reporters after the court was adjourned that the reluctance to take on Clinton demonstrated weakness in the government case.

“They certainly did not question his credibility. They did not challenge it,” said Buddy Sutton, attorney for Tucker. The defense teams will begin presenting its closing argument today.