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A t the core of Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr's five-year, $47 million investigation of President Clinton have been allegations made by a former Arkansas municipal court judge, David Hale, that while Clinton was governor of Arkansas, he pressured Hale to make an illegal and fraudulent $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal, the president's friend and business partner. In the fall of 1997, Starr even drafted an impeachment referral to the House of Representatives alleging that there was "substantial and credible evidence" that Clinton might have committed perjury regarding the Hale matter. Salon's reporting on Hale and Whitewater raised serious questions about the veracity of Hale's allegations and the conduct by Starr in leading the Whitewater probe. Partly as a result of those stories, a federal grand jury examined allegations that Hale accepted financial assistance and gratuities from conservative activists. Moreover, Starr ultimately never sent his Whitewater referral to the House because of the new questions raised about Hale's credibility as a witness against the president. Murray Waas, who reported the Salon stories, won the Society of Professional Journalists Award for Depth Reporting for his coverage of Whitewater. Verdict on Starr's witness By Murray S. Waas and Suzi Parker Whitewater figure David Hale is found guilty on Arkansas state criminal charges (03/27/99) Tainted witness By Murray Waas The Arkansas trooper who corroborated David Hale's story received payments from the American Spectator (01/12/99) Brother on brother By Murray Waas Whitewater witness David Hale attempted to suborn perjury by his own brother by asking him to falsely corroborate illegal acts by President Clinton (11/17/98) The mark of Cain: A tale of two brothers By Murray Waas Though they traveled the same path from the family dirt farm through law school, the Hale brothers turned out different as night and day (11/17/98) Scaife tells why he cut off Spectator's funding By Murray Waas The reclusive billionaire points the finger at fellow Arkansas Project conspirators in testimony before the federal grand jury (10/01/98) Protected witness, Part Two By Murray Waas Law enforcement records obtained by Salon reveal a two-year effort by Kenneth Starr to impede the Arkansas prosecution of David Hale (09/30/98) The other woman By Murray Waas Of all the women swirling around President Clinton, perhaps only one was a true victim. (9/11/98) Protected witness By Murray Waas How Ken Starr tried to prevent state prosecutors from charging his prime witness with defrauding poor black people of burial insurance (09/10/98) The other grand jury begins By Murray Waas Now it is Kenneth Starr's inquiry that is the object of a secret federal grand jury probe, as the plot continues to thicken (08/24/98) False Witness Part Five By Michael Haddigan and Murray Waas Looting the temple of Justice. Why there will never be a Whitewater Report from Ken Starr (08/21/98) False Witness Part Four By Murray Waas Whitewater's untold story. In an exclusive interview, William Watt, a key witness in Kenneth Starr's Whitewater probe, charges that Starr's investigators ignored information he provided them that undermined the case against President Clinton (08/17/98) False Witness Part Three By Murray Waas The $50,000 lie. The Whitewater case wasn't the only time David Hale invoked Bill Clinton's name -- falsely -- to help himself (08/14/98) False Witness Part Two By Murray Waas Taking care of David Hale. A Salon investigative report reveals how Kenneth Starr's key Whitewater witness secretly hooked up with a prominent anti-Clinton attorney (08/13/98) False Witness By Murray Waas Key Kenneth Starr witness David Hale's strategy for getting out of legal trouble: blame President Clinton (08/12/98) Clinton takes the offensive By Murray Waas The first lady helped craft an aggressive strategy after the president finally revealed details of the Lewinsky affair to her. (08/11/98) Starr's investigation to be investigated By Murray Waas Former Justice Department watchdog Michael J. Shaheen will probe alleged payments to key Whitewater witness David Hale (06/03/98) Investigating a conflict By Murray Waas Kenneth Starr is proposing an "independent" investigator to look into the David Hale payments probe. The question is, how independent? (05/05/98) The smearing of Judge Woods By Joe Conason, Gene Lyons and Murray Waas How newspaper articles of questionable origin were used by Kenneth Starr to remove a federal jurist in a Whitewater case (04/22/98) Salon Exclusive: Starr deputy met with Scaife's private investigator By Murray Waas Whitewater prosecutor Hickman Ewing did not fully report on meetings with anti-Clinton operative (04/20/98) Scaife investigator targeted CNN reporter By Murray Waas Private details about TV correspondent's life ended up in House Committee files (04/17/98) White House jumps into Starr "conflict" fray By Jonathan Broder and Murray Waas President Clinton's chief lawyer demands that the independent counsel recuse himself from the David Hale investigation. (04/14/98) Arkansas trooper considered demanding money from President Clinton By Murray Waas Source for Los Angeles Times' "Troopergate" story discussed trading silence about Clinton's private life for hundreds of thousands of dollars. (04/09/98) Kenneth Starr has lost his credibility By Joe Conason and Murray Waas Legal experts raise questions about the prosecutor's apparent conflicts of interest (04/08/98) Turning the tables on Starr By Murray Waas and Jonathan Broder Attorney General Janet Reno considers investigating key Whitewater witness David Hale (04/03/98) The men who kept Paula Jones' lawsuit going By Murray Waas How associates of billionaire Clinton-hater Richard Mellon Scaife propped up her legal battle (04/02/98) Salon exclusive: Justice Department considers investigating key Starr witness By Murray Waas and Jonathan Broder FBI recommends probe of alleged payments to Whitewater witness David Hale (03/27/98) Behind the Clinton cocaine smear By Murray Waas Conservative billionaire funded secret investigation of Clinton's alleged drug connections (03/26/98) Portrait of a bag man By Jonathan Broder and Murray Waas Parker Dozhier was allegedly funneling money to a key Whitewater witness and running an intelligence-gathering and dirty tricks operation -- out of a bait shop (03/23/98) The ties that bind By Murray Waas and Jonathan Broder The lawyer who contributed $50,000 to Paula Jones' legal fund also served as counsel for Richard Mellon Scaife's anti-Clinton Arkansas Project (03/18/98) Salon exclusive: the road to Hale By Jonathan Broder and Murray Waas Key Whitewater witness David Hale received secret cash payments from anti-Clinton billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife (03/17/98) Show us the money By Murray Waas Paula Jones' patron accuses her legal fund of defrauding the public. (03/12/98) Paula Jones' mysterious benefactor By Jonathan Broder and Murray Waas Who's behind a secret $50,000 donation to the legal fund of Clinton's accuser? (03/12/98) The Falwell connection By Murray Waas How the Rev. Jerry Falwell and a California political organization helped finance and orchestrate an extensive anti-Clinton propaganda campaign (03/11/98)