"A lot of the players in the fund-raising and Whitewater scandals have pledged their assistance," says TIME Washington correspondent Viveca Novak. "But they haven't provided any real smoking guns." Of course, unlike McDougal, Trie should live long enough to spill -- but he may not have much to say. "Certainly he's acquainted with the other players in the '96 election drive," Novak says. "He may be able to connect the trail to members of the DNC, if he's certain enough for prosecutors to be able to act. But he's not going to be able to finger Clinton." Well, we're used to that by now.
Feds Shake Trie - and a Plea Bargain Falls Out
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Another bit player in the Clinton-scandal family tree is ready to flip. Over-diligent Democratic fund-raiser Charlie Trie, facing five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for arranging illegal campaign donations to the Democratic National Committee from Chinese businessmen, pled guilty and got a sweetheart deal in exchange for cooperating with investigators. But so did Jim McDougal -- and look how much he told them.