iates clearly broke the law during these years in Arkansas. The McDougals, most notably, were both found guilty of fraud.Hillary Clinton represented the S&L before the State Securities Department, headed by Clinton appointee Beverly Bassett Schaffer, who also once represented Madison as an attorney. Schaffer approved an unusual stock sale to help save the troubled Madison, despite federal complaints about McDougal's business practices. Federal investigators looked into those actions, which are central to the allegation that the Clintons helped keep Madison open long after it was broke, as a favor to McDougal.According to CNN.Com Madison collapsed in the mid-1980s, leaving American taxpayers with a $68 million bailout bill. However, The Rose law firm that Hilary worked for, having once represented Madison, then represented the government in the case. In 1989, McDougal was indicted on charges of bank fraud and other violations related to Madison's failure. He was later acquitted in 1990.Madison S & L and McDougal's travails led to other questions about Bill Clinton's role -- questions of whether Madison funds were diverted by McDougal to pay Whitewater debts or funneled into Clinton's gubernatorial campaign. The suspicion of funneling arises from a 1985 fund-raiser McDougal organized to cover Clinton's campaign debt. It raised $30,000, $12,000 of which came in the form of Madison cashier's checks. Investigators believe the money came directly from the S&L's deposits. The main focus however, was still that the Clintons allegedly received a large share of the development without putting up any money and other specific Whitewater happenings. When the development went sour, additional capital infusions were needed, and there is evidence and testimony suggesting that these cash infusions were obtained illegally from the federal government and never paid back.According to the October 31, 1994 editorial “Evidence in Whitewater C...
