Prosecutor Says Claims By Mcdougal ‘Unethical’

Claims by Susan McDougal that prosecutors have harassed her to implicate President Clinton brought a sharp response Saturday from Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

McDougal and her lawyer are “brazenly trying to deceive the public,” Starr said in a statement.

“Their continued attempts to mislead the public … are outrageous and unethical.”

On Friday, McDougal said prosecutors harassed her in an effort to obtain incriminating information against the president and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who were Whitewater partners with her and her ex-husband James McDougal.

McDougal refused to answer questions about the president before the Whitewater grand jury and faces up to 18 months in jail for contempt of court, beginning Monday.

She said nothing will make her talk.

“I feel like I’ve been run over by a $60 million bulldozer trying to get to Bill Clinton,” she said Friday.

McDougal also claimed prosecutors offered a light prison term in exchange for information about the Clintons, but decided to recommend a harsher sentence when she refused.

Starr said McDougal and her lawyer were told that “under no circumstances would we recommend a specific sentence to the court on her felony convictions or do anything to limit the court’s sentencing discretion.”

McDougal also is scheduled to start a two-year prison term Sept. 30 for misusing a $300,000 loan - $25,000 of which prosecutors say went toward the purchase of land for the Whitewater venture.