U.S. judge rules against Hubbell in third indictment

SUSAN ROTH
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge Tuesday rejected a defense argument against the latest indictment of Webb Hubbell, the former Justice Department official and friend of President Clinton, in the Castle Grande land deal.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that the third indictment of Hubbell stemming from the Whitewater investigation did not result from documents Hubbell produced under an immunity agreement with independent counsel Kenneth Starr.
His ruling means Hubbell's scheduled June 14 trial can go on, though it probably will be delayed.
Hubbell's attorneys had argued that Starr's case was tainted by business records and testimony the former associate attorney general gave Starr in 1996 under a limited grant of immunity from prosecution.
Starr offered the limited immunity as part of an investigation into whether the White House set up "hush money" payments to Hubbell in 1994 to keep him from telling Starr details of illegal Whitewater activities by the Clintons.
Robertson also allowed a break in pretrial work for the case while Starr's prosecutors pursue an appeal to the judge's dismissal of a major count against Hubbell.
Last month, Robertson dismissed the charge accusing Hubbell of scheming to conceal work on the failed Castle Grande deal done by him and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hubbell's former law partner at the Rose Law Firm. Robertson said the allegations in the count were too vague.
The appeal is now expected to delay the trial, and the judge also postponed today's deadline for a witness list from Starr's office. The list is eagerly awaited because of the possibility that Starr could call Hillary Clinton, to whom the indictment refers 36 times, though not by name.
Starr's office had no comment on the victory Tuesday. Laura Shores, Hubbell's attorney, denied that the ruling was a major setback, saying, "We're prepared to go to trial and ready to get it over with as soon as possible."
Hubbell, 51, remains accused of making "false and fraudulent" statements and representations to U.S. banking regulators, who claimed the Castle Grande deal involved "insider dealing, fictitious sales and land flips."
He was also charged with committing perjury before the House Banking Committee during 1995 congressional Whitewater hearings. This indictment was handed down last November, as the impeachment inquiry against the president was heating up.
Hubbell has protested that the charges amount to a punishment for his failure to provide Starr with evidence against either of the Clintons.
Still undecided is an appeal by Starr of the dismissal of a 10-count tax evasion indictment against Hubbell and his wife, Suzy Hubbell, as well as his accountant, Mike Schaufele of Little Rock, and Little Rock lawyer Charles Owen.

Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.

This article was published on Wednesday, April 14, 1999

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