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 mentioned Whitewater only in passing; Clinton friend and advisor, Vernon Jordan, had tried to help Webster Hubbell financially with "no-show" consulting contracts while he was under pressure to cooperate with the Whitewater investigations. Indeed, it was on this basis that Starr took on the Lewinsky investigation, under the umbrella of the Whitewater Independent Counsel mandate. There was much acrimony from the most fervent critics of the Clintons, after the release of the Starr report on the Foster matter and after Starr's departure and return to the case. The death of Foster had been the source of many conspiracy theories. Christopher