![[Imagemap]](/US/images/nav_us.gif){kind=small}
January 15, 1996
Web posted at: 8:55 p.m. EST
From Correspondent Jeanne Meserve
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Hillary Rodham Clinton now says that she might volunteer to testify before the Senate Whitewater Committee but adds that she wants to answer some of the questions in a non-partisan format. And even though Democrats are showing their support for the first lady, the road ahead looks long and bumpy.
Mrs. Clinton plunged into her book tour with an appearance on a nationally syndicated radio talk show Monday. But the tour has been shadowed by a series of criticisms of the first lady. Senate Whitewater Committee Chairman Alfonse D'Amato says that she has something to hide, and an investigation has been launched into allegations that she fired long-time employees of the White House travel office. Top that off with New York Times columnist William Safire calling her a "congenital liar."
So Mrs. Clinton's book tour has taken on a two-fold purpose. "I think it is important to talk about the book I have written about America's children and that is what I am going to try to do plus answer all questions," she said in the WAMU radio interview.
But even the first lady acknowledges that answering questions in interviews may not be enough to clear up questions about her character.
"This is going to be known as the 'Cotton Candy Scandal.' Once you bite into it, it is just a bunch of air."
-- Bob Bennett, Hillary Clinton's attorney
She is considering voluntarily appearing before the committee of her chief Whitewater accuser, D'Amato. "If that is the kind of cooperation that is needed to end this matter, I am more than willing to do whatever it takes. I'm considering everything, including going to the South Pole," Mrs. Clinton said on the Diane Rehm Show. (179K AIFF sound or 179K WAV sound)
But one Republican member of the committee says that he would not welcome her appearance. "We've done a pretty solid job of finding out what really went on and turning up the things we need to turn up. And you turn it into the kind of circus it would become with the first lady and all the television, it might, in fact, get in the way," Senator Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said.
Mrs. Clinton's attorney, Bob Bennett, says that the committee can dig all it wants and will find nothing. "This is going to be known as the 'Cotton Candy Scandal.' Once you bite into it, it is just a bunch of air," Bennett said.
Washington's Democratic Party elite, attending a recent private book party for the first lady, sported buttons and stickers of support. One said. "Don't Pillory Hillary," referring to the anicient practice of locking one's head and hands in a wooden frame to expose them to public ridicule.
There were also words of support during a presidential appearance in Atlanta Monday for Martin Luther King Day commemorations. "Mr. President, stay strong. Tell Mrs. Clinton to stay strong. We're not going to let her be attacked either," Atlanta Mayor William Campbell said as the crowd roared its approval of his statement. (94K AIFF sound or 94K WAv sound)
But the first lady is sure to come under more scrutiny as Whitewater hearings resume Tuesday.
And the House committee investigating the White House travel office firings hears testimony Wednesday.
Although she won't be present at either event, Mrs. Clinton will most certainly be in the spotlight.
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.