NEW questions about the possible role of Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton in an illegal Whitewater land deal have been raised in a report by a government agency.
The report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) does not accuse Mrs Clinton of any criminal wrongdoing but concludes that she did some work as a lawyer in 1986 which facilitated fraudulent commission payments in an illegal property deal.
Mrs Clinton's lawyer, Mr David Kendall, said the report "does not allege that Mrs Clinton did anything wrong or had any knowledge of any illegal intention" concerning a property transaction.
This was later described in a government report as "sham" sales and cost taxpayers almost 54 million.
Meanwhile, President Clinton has said he believes that independent counsel, Mr Kenneth Starr, a Republican appointed to investigate all aspects of Whitewater is out to "get" him and Mrs Clinton.
Asked would he give a pardon if re-elected to Jim and Susan McDougal, former business partners of the Clintons who have been convicted of fraud, the President said he had given it "no consideration". Mrs McDougal has accused Mr Starr of putting pressure on her to incriminate the Clintons in wrongdoing. Having refused to give a straight answer to questions, she is serving a contempt of court sentence.
The report has found that Mrs Clinton and a fellow partner in the Rose law firm in Little Rock, Mr Webster Hubbell, did work which "appears to have facilitated the payment of substantial commissions" to Mr Hubbell's father in law. The document drafted by Mrs Clinton was used "to deceive federal bank examiners as to the true nature of the payments", the report says.
Mr Hubbell who worked for a while in the White House is now serving a jail sentence for tax evasion.
The report will now be sent to Mr Starr but it is considered unlikely that he will take any action on it or any other aspects of the complex Whitewater affair until after the Presidential election on November 5th.