January 31, 1996
Web posted at: 4:00 p.m. EST
From CNN Producer Terry Frieden
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Partisan wrangling erupted during Wednesday morning's session of the Senate Whitewater hearings, where testimony about questionable business dealings in Arkansas took a back seat to party politics.
During the first hour of testimony, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Maryland, demanded that Republican questioning of the first witness be cut off in mid-sentence to strictly comply with the committee's rules. (162K AIFF sound or 162K WAV sound)
When Sarbanes' chief counsel, Richard Ben-Veniste, pointed out the Republicans' time was up, a fuming Chairman Alfonse D'Amato said, "You're not running this committee. You may think you are, but you are not." (213K AIFF sound or 213K WAV sound)
Wednesday's tense meeting came on the heels of a broad Democratic attack on D'Amato for not bringing the hearings to an early end. Democrats are fighting D'Amato's request for an additional $600,000 to continue the hearings for weeks or months beyond the current February 29 deadline.
Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois has likened the Whitewater investigation to the "never-ending" O.J. Simpson trial. Sen. Minority Leader Tom Daschle, implying political motives on the part of the GOP, said Tuesday that D'Amato ought to resign as chairman of the Whitewater committee as long as he is a leader of Sen. Robert Dole's presidential campaign.
In Wednesday's hearings, a former vice president of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, David Fitzhugh, testified that the head of the S&L, James McDougal, gave him a building with no money down and no possibility of losing money.
Fitzhugh acknowledged accepting McDougal's offer to become owner of the building on property in the development called Castle Grande. But Fitzhugh denied he was aware of any fraudulent activities at the now defunct S&L.
McDougal was a business partner with Clinton and his wife Hillary in the Whitewater real estate deal. Mrs. Clinton has denied doing any significant work for McDougal's Castle Grande project, but Republicans claim that recently discovered legal billing records indicate otherwise. Mrs. Clinton testified for four hours before a grand jury last Friday as to her role in the Whitewater deal.
The Castle Grande project turned out to be a series of sham transactions to help friends of McDougal before his S&L collapsed. Republicans say it cost taxpayers nearly $4 million.
Testifying with Fitzhugh was White House aide Bob Nash. Nash said presidential adviser Bruce Lindsey -- both in 1993 and again last year -- inquired about the brief conversation a decade ago that Nash witnessed between Clinton and James McDougal.
Republicans are trying to show that the Clinton-McDougal conversation dealt with Castle Grande. But Nash said the 5- to 10-minute conversation, which took place at McDougal's office trailer in Castle Grande, dealt with "pleasantries" and he was unable to recall specifics.
Nash said he assumed Lindsey asked about the matter because of all the controversy surrounding Whitewater.
![[Imagemap]](/US/images/9601/navbar.gif){kind=small}
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.