Editorials
Monday, November 16, 1998THE indictment of Webster Hubbell by a federal grand jury shows that independent counsel Kenneth Starr isn't about to close up shop now that he has submitted his report on the Monica Lewinsky affair to Congress. The indictment has to do with the Clintons' involvement in the Whitewater real estate deal in Arkansas, the original subject of Starr's investigation starting four years ago. Starr shows he hasn’t
ended his investigationHubbell was a partner of Hillary Clinton in the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock and a golfing partner of the president. The Clintons brought him to Washington and appointed him to a high-ranking position in the Justice Department.
The new indictment charges Hubbell with 15 felony counts related to the federal banking regulators' investigation of some of the original Whitewater allegations. He is accused of making false statements and committing mail fraud and perjury in connection with his testimony. The Rose Law Firm performed work for the savings and loan owned by the Clintons' partners in Whitewater, James and Susan McDougal. The indictment involves those transactions and other matters.
The indictment followed the disclosure that John Huang, a central figure in the investigation of Democratic Party political fund-raising practices, had obtained limited immunity in Starr's investigation of Hubbell and was cooperating with the prosecutor.
The immunity agreement was part of Starr's efforts to determine whether hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to Hubbell by friends of the president were designed to buy Hubbell's silence in the Whitewater investigation. Huang is said to have told Starr's investigators that he was unaware that Hubbell did any work for a $100,000 payment he received in 1994 from Huang's employer, the Riady family of Indonesia.
Hubbell pleaded guilty in 1994 to embezzling money from the Rose Law Firm by overbilling clients, and served nearly 17 months in prison. Last April a federal grand jury indicted him on charges of tax evasion and fraud, alleging that he evaded taxes on more than $850,000 in income taxes on the money he had embezzled and on money received from Clinton supporters.
However, a federal judge threw out the case last July, ruling that the tax indictment exceeded Starr's authority as independent counsel. The new indictment against Hubbell seems to avoid that problem.
Because Hubbell was such a close associate of the Clintons, it appears that successful prosecution of Hubbell may open the way to further charges against the president and first lady relating to the Whitewater affair. Hubbell claimed that Starr's prosecutors were trying to pressure him into giving false testimony about the Clintons. Clearly the pressure is there, but whether Starr is trying to get Hubbell to testify truly or falsely is a matter of opinion. If Starr succeeds, Whitewater could re-emerge as a major problem for the Clintons.
THE world has witnessed another round of the cat-and-mouse game between Saddam Hussein and the Western powers. Once again the mouse has escaped. Saddam backs off
With President Clinton on the verge of ordering bombing attacks on Iraqi military targets, Saddam pledged to resume cooperation with United Nations weapons inspectors. As in previous confrontations, the Iraqi dictator manipulated world opinion by first attaching what appeared to be conditions to his agreement to cooperate, then withdrawing those conditions when it became clear that Washington wasn't buying them.
Even after backing down, Saddam was claiming victory. His vice president said Iraq had proved to the world "that our views are correct," preposterous as it sounds. But the fact remained that Saddam had once again escaped unscathed after defying the United Nations.
It's a repeating cycle of frustration for the United States, which has been forced to prepare its forces time and again to launch punishing raids on Iraq for its defiance of the United Nations, only to see Saddam pull back at the last minute.
Clinton said the best solution is a new Iraqi government, and he vowed to increase support for Saddam's opponents. But in the seven years since the Gulf War Saddam has been able to suppress all opposition and there is no indication that he is more vulnerable now.
Saddam is hoping the world will tire of this game and accept his demand to end the sanctions against Iraq. Washington has little choice but to hang in there and try to outlast him.
THE no-alcohol New Year's Eve party in downtown Honolulu for the last eight years has been rescued from near-oblivion. The First Night organization encountered financial problems and was unable to continue. But the idea has been picked up by a new coalition comprised of the city-county, Starbucks Coffee, Mothers Against Drunk Driving-Hawaii, HMSA and the Hawaii Community Foundation. New Year’s Eve
The program is now called Starbucks Starlight MADDness -- a rather unwieldy name, but what the heck. The concept is the same: to provide entertainment in a non-alcoholic setting in order to reduce the number of drunks on the road and the danger of auto accidents. MADD hopes to turn the event into a fund-raiser. Lanyards featuring the Starlight MADDness badge will be sold for $4 starting early in December.
The action will take place on the Honolulu Civic Center grounds adjacent to Honolulu Hale and at the state Capitol -- a scaling down from previous years' programs that included many downtown sites. However, there will still be plenty of room for fun. It's a safe and sane alternative to booze.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
