Susan McDougal
Encyclopedia
Susan McDougal is one of the few people who served prison time as a result of the Whitewater controversy
although fifteen individuals were convicted of various federal charges. Her refusal to answer "three questions" for a grand jury about whether President Bill Clinton
lied in his testimony during her Whitewater trial led her to receive a jail sentence of 18 months for contempt of court
. This comprised most of the total 22 months she spent in incarceration. McDougal received a full Presidential pardon from outgoing President Clinton in the final hours of his presidency in 2001.
. The McDougals were partners with Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton
in the failed Whitewater
real estate venture in the 1980s.
McDougal separated from Jim McDougal in the late 1980s and moved to Los Angeles
, where, from 1989 until 1992, she worked in Los Angeles as a personal assistant to former actress Nancy Kovack, the wife of conductor Zubin Mehta
. In late 1993, McDougal was charged with embezzling money from the Mehtas, and began preparing her successful defense against the charges.
On August 5, 1994, Kenneth Starr
became Independent Counsel
to prosecute Whitewater participants, including Susan McDougal. Federal trial began in 1996. During that trial, the government's star witness, Arkansas banker and former municipal judge David Hale
, claimed that then-Governor Bill Clinton had discussed an illegal $300,000 loan with himself and McDougal. Hale was himself under investigation for having defrauded the Small Business Administration
out of $3.2 million. He also unsuccessfully sought to have his brother, Milas Hale corroborate his testimony against Clinton.
McDougal was convicted of her role in Whitewater on May 28, 1996, and sentenced to spend time in prison for four counts of fraud and conspiracy relating to the Whitewater scandal, but her prison term did not begin until March 7, 1998 due to other court proceedings. Following James McDougal conviction and prior to his sentencing, he began cooperating with the Office of Independent Counsel (OIC), and tried to persuade his former wife to do the same in order to avoid a prison sentence. Susan's defense lawyer, Mark Geragos
, stated that her ex-husband told her that deputy independent counsel W. Hickman Ewing Jr. would be able to "get Clinton with a sex charge" before the 1996 election if she agreed to lie and say she had had an affair with Clinton. She denies ever having an affair with Clinton. Ewing told reporters during a break in the proceedings that he never heard of such a plan, saying "I never talked to Jim McDougal
about that, and I wouldn't. I never heard any discussion along those lines in my office ever at the time frame she's talking about".
Susan McDougal rejected her ex-husband's advice, and the sentencing hearing began August 19, 1996. After the judge levied a sentence of two years in federal prison, but before she left the courtroom, Starr had Susan McDougal served with a subpoena for another Whitewater grand jury, to begin two weeks later.
: "Simply telling the truth cost Steele everything she had, almost landed her in jail [for perjury], and jeopardized her custody of her adopted son."
McDougal's grand jury testimony included her response
"Get another independent counsel and I'll answer every question". She was publicly rebuked for refusing to answer "three questions" about whether President Clinton had lied in his testimony during her Whitewater trial, particularly when he denied any knowledge of an illegal $300,000 loan. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright
sentenced her for civil contempt of court.
From September 9, 1996 until March 6, 1998, McDougal spent the maximum possible 18 months imprisonment for civil contempt, including 8 months in solitary confinement
, and subjected to "diesel therapy
," the practice of hauling defendants around the country and placing them in different jails along the way. In her case, from Arkansas to "Los Angeles to the Oklahoma City transfer center, and then on to the Pulaski County Jail in Little Rock, Arkansas".
. After serving four months on the Whitewater fraud conviction, McDougal was released for medical reasons.
After her release, her embezzlement trial in California began. McDougal was acquitted of all twelve counts of embezzlement later in 1998. A suit in 1999 against Nancy Mehta for malicious prosecution
was settled out of court. McDougal's trial for criminal contempt-of-court and obstruction of justice charges began in March 1999. The jury hung 7-5 in favor of acquittal for contempt of court, and found her not guilty on the charge of obstruction of justice. In 2001, in the final hours of his presidency, President Bill Clinton granted Susan McDougal a full Presidential pardon.
but lost to incumbent Congressmember John Culberson
; he was elected to the Harris County Department of Education Position Seven At-Large in late 2008. Another brother, Bill "Friendly" Henley, served a term in the Arkansas State Senate. Susan made an appearance and a speech at the announcement of his candidacy. McDougal currently lives and works in Camden, Arkansas
.
Whitewater (controversy)
The Whitewater controversy was an American politics controversy that began with the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed business venture in the 1970s and 1980s.A New York...
although fifteen individuals were convicted of various federal charges. Her refusal to answer "three questions" for a grand jury about whether President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
lied in his testimony during her Whitewater trial led her to receive a jail sentence of 18 months for contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
. This comprised most of the total 22 months she spent in incarceration. McDougal received a full Presidential pardon from outgoing President Clinton in the final hours of his presidency in 2001.
Biography
McDougal was born as Susan Carol Henley, the daughter of James B. Henley and Laurette (Mathieu) Henley. Susan McDougal was married from 1976 until 1990 to the late James B. McDougal, also of Little Rock, ArkansasLittle Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
. The McDougals were partners with Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
in the failed Whitewater
Whitewater (controversy)
The Whitewater controversy was an American politics controversy that began with the real estate investments of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed business venture in the 1970s and 1980s.A New York...
real estate venture in the 1980s.
McDougal separated from Jim McDougal in the late 1980s and moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where, from 1989 until 1992, she worked in Los Angeles as a personal assistant to former actress Nancy Kovack, the wife of conductor Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
. In late 1993, McDougal was charged with embezzling money from the Mehtas, and began preparing her successful defense against the charges.
On August 5, 1994, Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
became Independent Counsel
United States Office of the Independent Counsel
United States Office of the Independent Counsel was an independent prosecutor — distinct from the Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice — that provided reports to the Congress under . The office was terminated in 1999 and replaced by the U.S...
to prosecute Whitewater participants, including Susan McDougal. Federal trial began in 1996. During that trial, the government's star witness, Arkansas banker and former municipal judge David Hale
David Hale (Whitewater)
David Hale is a former Arkansas municipal judge, a former Arkansas banker, and a self proclaimed Bill Clinton political supporter—though he never made substantial contributions to any of his campaigns. He alleged the charges that resulted in the Whitewater scandal trials. He worked with Jim...
, claimed that then-Governor Bill Clinton had discussed an illegal $300,000 loan with himself and McDougal. Hale was himself under investigation for having defrauded the Small Business Administration
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...
out of $3.2 million. He also unsuccessfully sought to have his brother, Milas Hale corroborate his testimony against Clinton.
McDougal was convicted of her role in Whitewater on May 28, 1996, and sentenced to spend time in prison for four counts of fraud and conspiracy relating to the Whitewater scandal, but her prison term did not begin until March 7, 1998 due to other court proceedings. Following James McDougal conviction and prior to his sentencing, he began cooperating with the Office of Independent Counsel (OIC), and tried to persuade his former wife to do the same in order to avoid a prison sentence. Susan's defense lawyer, Mark Geragos
Mark Geragos
Mark John Geragos is an Armenian/ American criminal defense attorney who defended the musician Michael Jackson, actress Winona Ryder, politician Gary Condit, and Susan McDougal. He was also involved in the Whitewater scandal. He also represented Scott Peterson, in another trial that received...
, stated that her ex-husband told her that deputy independent counsel W. Hickman Ewing Jr. would be able to "get Clinton with a sex charge" before the 1996 election if she agreed to lie and say she had had an affair with Clinton. She denies ever having an affair with Clinton. Ewing told reporters during a break in the proceedings that he never heard of such a plan, saying "I never talked to Jim McDougal
Jim McDougal
James B. "Jim" McDougal , a native of White County, Arkansas, and his wife, Susan McDougal , were financial partners with Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the real estate venture that led to the Whitewater political scandal of the 1990s...
about that, and I wouldn't. I never heard any discussion along those lines in my office ever at the time frame she's talking about".
Susan McDougal rejected her ex-husband's advice, and the sentencing hearing began August 19, 1996. After the judge levied a sentence of two years in federal prison, but before she left the courtroom, Starr had Susan McDougal served with a subpoena for another Whitewater grand jury, to begin two weeks later.
Whitewater grand jury and civil contempt of court
During the grand jury, McDougal stated her full name "for the record", then refused to answer any questions. In her book, McDougal explained that "I feared being accused of perjury if I told the grand jury the truth. The OIC had accepted David Hale's lies as the truth. They were also now relying on Jim McDougal's lies, which they'd carefully helped him construct. If I came in and directly contradicted those two -- whose testimony had been used to convict me of four felonies -- I feared the OIC would next accuse me of perjury." She also writes that she feared the same fate as Julie Hiatt Steele who had contradicted the testimony of White House aide Kathleen WilleyKathleen Willey
Kathleen Willey was a White House volunteer aide who, on March 15, 1998, alleged on the TV news program 60 Minutes that Bill Clinton had sexually assaulted her on November 29, 1993, during his first term as President...
: "Simply telling the truth cost Steele everything she had, almost landed her in jail [for perjury], and jeopardized her custody of her adopted son."
McDougal's grand jury testimony included her response
"Get another independent counsel and I'll answer every question". She was publicly rebuked for refusing to answer "three questions" about whether President Clinton had lied in his testimony during her Whitewater trial, particularly when he denied any knowledge of an illegal $300,000 loan. U.S. District Court Judge Susan Webber Wright
Susan Webber Wright
Susan Webber Wright is a United States federal judge, presently serving as a district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas...
sentenced her for civil contempt of court.
From September 9, 1996 until March 6, 1998, McDougal spent the maximum possible 18 months imprisonment for civil contempt, including 8 months in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
, and subjected to "diesel therapy
Diesel therapy
Diesel therapy is a form of punishment in which prisoners are shackled and then transported for days or weeks. It has been described as "the cruelest aspect of being a federal inmate." It has been alleged that some inmates are deliberately sent to incorrect destinations as an exercise of diesel...
," the practice of hauling defendants around the country and placing them in different jails along the way. In her case, from Arkansas to "Los Angeles to the Oklahoma City transfer center, and then on to the Pulaski County Jail in Little Rock, Arkansas".
Post civil contempt of court incarceration
Following her release on March 7, 1998 for civil contempt of court, McDougal began serving the two-year sentence for her 1996 conviction. Soon after, the OIC indicted McDougal on criminal contempt-of-court charges, and charged her with obstruction of justiceObstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
. After serving four months on the Whitewater fraud conviction, McDougal was released for medical reasons.
After her release, her embezzlement trial in California began. McDougal was acquitted of all twelve counts of embezzlement later in 1998. A suit in 1999 against Nancy Mehta for malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution
Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort, while like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is brought without probable cause and dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution...
was settled out of court. McDougal's trial for criminal contempt-of-court and obstruction of justice charges began in March 1999. The jury hung 7-5 in favor of acquittal for contempt of court, and found her not guilty on the charge of obstruction of justice. In 2001, in the final hours of his presidency, President Bill Clinton granted Susan McDougal a full Presidential pardon.
Life since the Clinton presidency
McDougal has been an advocate for prison reform. One of her brothers, Jim Henley, ran as a Democrat in the 2006 election for Texas's 7th congressional districtTexas's 7th congressional district
Texas District 7 of the United States House of Representatives is a Congressional district that serves a small area of western Harris County...
but lost to incumbent Congressmember John Culberson
John Culberson
John Abney Culberson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party and the Tea Party caucus...
; he was elected to the Harris County Department of Education Position Seven At-Large in late 2008. Another brother, Bill "Friendly" Henley, served a term in the Arkansas State Senate. Susan made an appearance and a speech at the announcement of his candidacy. McDougal currently lives and works in Camden, Arkansas
Camden, Arkansas
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the southern part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Long an area of American Indians villages, the French also made a permanent settlement here because of its advantageous location above the Ouachita River. According to 2007 Census...
.
External links
- “Womemories” - Susan McDougal - 10-minute extract from a one-hour interview from December, 2004.
- “Memories” meets Susan McDougal - Hour interview with Susan McDougal from December, 2004.
- "The trials and tribulations of Susan McDougal" CNN.com - April 8, 1999
- Washington Post time line
- "A Deal Gone Bad" CNN.com 1996