Judge Reinstates Lying Charge Against Hubbell

WASHINGTON —  A federal appeals court Tuesday reinstated one of the charges that Webster L. Hubbell lied to conceal his and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s work on an Arkansas land development when they were attorneys in Little Rock.

The three-judge panel gave independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr a victory by reinstating the first count of a 15-count indictment against Hubbell, a former law partner of the first lady and a longtime friend of President Clinton.

The appeals court said U.S. District Judge James Robertson made a mistake in dismissing the first count of the indictment that charged Hubbell with false statements on the grounds that it was too vague.

“We do not see how Count 1, having incorporated by reference the 85-paragraph introductory section detailing the allegations, can be thought insufficient” to fairly inform Hubbell of the charge against which he must defend himself, the appeals court ruled.

The Hubbell case stemmed from Starr’s long-running investigation into the Clintons’ failed Whitewater land deal in Arkansas in the 1980s. Hubbell, a former top Justice Department official, is scheduled to go on trial Aug. 9.

According to the indictment, Hubbell helped his father-in-law, Seth Ward, conceal a shady transaction with Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan, the thrift owned by the late James B. McDougal, the Clintons’ Whitewater business partner.