Barbour Takes A Jab At Clinton's Whitewater Testimony

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, April 26) -- President Bill Clinton says he doesn't want his Whitewater testimony, to be videotaped this Sunday, to be "abused in any way" by Republicans (165K WAV sound).

Too late for that. "I'd like to congratulate Bill Clinton for a presidential first," Republican Party National Chairman Haley Barbour said today in a statement. "He's the first president to be deposed on Sunday, then turn around and offer a crime package on Monday."

The administration hopes the political fallout from the president's participation in the Little Rock-based Whitewater trial won't get any worse than that. Clinton's lawyers will argue against releasing the tape publicly, since "we don't want to see it in a campaign ad," as press secretary Mike McCurry told reporters.

The president spent much of Thursday preparing for his testimony, which will be attended by the judge and lawyers for both sides. Clinton is not on trial, aides have been carefully and often pointing out. "He isn't being asked to testify by the prosecution here," White House Whitewater counsel Mark Fabiani told the Associated Press. "The president's cooperating as any citizen would."

Clearly, though, there's a lot riding politically on Clinton's testimony and the outcome of the Whitewater trial, in which Clinton's former business partners, Jim and Susan McDougal are defendants. A conviction would give the inquiry legs, while an acquittal could bring strong pressure on Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr to wrap up his inquiry.

Starr himself has recently come under fire for representing corporate clients opposed to the Clinton adminstration's agenda. Some are saying he should resign. Asked Thursday his view on the allegations against Starr, Clinton said, "The facts are what they are and they're plain for all to see now."

Other sitting presidents besides Clinton have testified in trials. Gerald Ford was deposed by videotape in the trial of Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, convicted of attempting to assassinate Ford. Jimmy Carter testified twice, once in a grand jury inquiry of banker Robert Vesco and also in a case against a Georgia state senator.

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