Whitewater controversy facts for kids
The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton in the Whitewater Development Corporation.
A March 1992 New York Times article published during the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign reported that the Clintons, then governor and first lady of Arkansas, had invested and lost money in the Whitewater Development Corporation.
Lewis looked for connections between the savings and loan company and the Clintons, and on September 2, 1992, she submitted a criminal referral to the FBI naming Bill and Hillary Clinton as witnesses in the Madison Guaranty case.
David Hale, the source of criminal allegations against the Clintons, claimed in November 1993 that Bill Clinton had pressured him into providing an illegal $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, the Clintons' partner in the Whitewater land deal.
Jim Guy Tucker, Bill Clinton's replacement as governor, was convicted of fraud and sentenced to four years of probation for his role in the controversy.
Neither Bill Clinton nor Hillary Clinton were ever prosecuted, after three separate inquiries found lack of evidence linking them with the criminal conduct.
Images for kids
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The White River, near Flippin, Arkansas, and the intended site of the Whitewater Development Corporation's vacation homes.
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Hillary Rodham Clinton worked on the third floor of Rose Law Firm. Her billing records from the mid-1980s would become the subject of intrigue during the Whitewater controversy.
