Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: McDougal Says She Won't Talk > LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Susan McDougal has turned down > what prosecutors said was her last chance to tell what > she knows about the financial affairs of President > Clinton and his wife. > > The next move is Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's. > > Prosecutors threatened Mrs. McDougal with criminal > contempt when she refused for a second time to answer > questions before the Whitewater grand jury Thursday. Her > lawyer, Mark Geragos, said they didn't charge her. > > ``I don't think that anything's been resolved,'' Geragos > said after meeting with the judge and Starr's deputies. > ``This is kind of a game of chicken. Somebody's going to > have to blink at some point.'' > > Prosecutors had said they had new questions for Mrs. > McDougal and that she risked a contempt citation and > more jail time if she didn't talk. > > She didn't talk. > > ``I told them the same thing I've been saying ... I'm > somebody who has been in jail and has really paid a > price,'' Mrs. McDougal said on her way back to jail. ``I > didn't want them to think I was contemptuous of them.'' > > Prosecutors refused to comment at day's end. > > It wasn't clear when prosecutors and Geragos would meet > next. The grand jury expires May 7. > > Mrs. McDougal was brought here from California, where > she was being held for Whitewater crimes while awaiting > trial on an unrelated embezzlement charge. > > In the federal case here, a judge could impose a prison > term of up to six months without requiring a trial. If > prosecutors sought more severe penalties, they would > have to indict her and hold a trial -- something her > lawyer said would give her a forum to complain that > Starr was trying to get her to lie about the Clintons. > > ``This is not a woman who's afraid for one minute of a > jury trial on criminal contempt,'' Geragos said. ``She > would welcome the opportunity.'' > > Starr has offered Mrs. McDougal immunity from > prosecution for anything she might say as long as she > doesn't commit perjury. Mrs. McDougal said her version > of the truth differs from Starr's and fears that if she > doesn't follow his line, she could be penalized for > lying. > > Mrs. McDougal has repeatedly said she knows of no > illegal activity involving the president or first lady. > > At her previous grand jury appearance, Mrs. McDougal was > asked whether Clinton knew about a fraudulent $300,000 > loan she received in 1986 and whether he testified > truthfully at her 1996 trial, in which she was convicted > of four felonies. > > She refused to answer the questions -- even after being > granted immunity -- and was sent away for 18 months. Her > contempt citation expired last month and she began > serving a two-year prison term for fraud convictions in > her Whitewater trial. > > Prosecutors had said they would ask Mrs. McDougal about > evidence developed since her earlier grand jury > appearance. Most recently, the grand jury has been > looking at land developed by her ex-husband, James > McDougal, who died in federal prison last month. > > McDougal ran the failed Madison Guaranty Savings and > Loan that is at the center of the Whitewater > investigation. He was convicted in the same trial that > ended in convictions for Mrs. McDougal and then-Gov. Jim > Guy Tucker, who has appeared before the grand jury twice > this month. > > Mrs. McDougal was being held in Los Angeles while > awaiting a trial on a charge that she embezzled money > from symphony conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
