Whitewater controversy Ruddy, a reporter for Richard Mellon Scaife's "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review", helped fuel much of this speculation with claims that Starr had not pursued this line of inquiry far enough. On January 26, 1996, Hillary Clinton testified before a grand jury concerning her investments in Whitewater. This was the first time in American history that a first lady had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. She testified that they never borrowed any money from the bank, and denied having caused anyone to borrow money on their behalf. Parallel to the Independent Counsel track, both houses of the United States Congress
Whitewater controversy him to provide an illegal $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, the partner of the Clintons in the Whitewater deal. Hale's defense strategy, as proposed by attorney Randy Coleman, was to present himself as the victim of high-powered politicians who forced him to give away all of the money. This self-caricature was undermined by testimony from November 1989, wherein FBI agents investigating the failure of Madison Guaranty had questioned Hale about his dealings with Jim and Susan McDougal, including the $300,000 loan. According to the agents' official memorandum of that interview, Hale described in some detail his dealings with Jim Guy