MRS. CLINTON'S CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The Inspector General ofthe Resolution Trust Corporationhas concluded that First Lady Hillary Clinton's former law firm did not tell the government of possible conflicts of interest concerning seven troubled financial institutions it represented. One of the clients was Madison Guaranty, the failed savings and loan owned by the Clintons' Whitewater partners.The Rose Law Firmwas paid nearly $400,000 by the government for handling the Madison failure; 40 percent of the fees were attributed to work done by Mrs. Clinton. (The White House has said thatMrs. Clinton's work on the case was minimal.) The RTC report was released today along with written statements the Clintons made last spring explaining their roles in Whitewater. In his statement, President Clinton denied that hehad ever pressured former Arkansas municipal judge David Hale to make an improper federally-backed loanto one of his Whitewater partners.