A L S O+T O D A Y Finally, the Flynt Report By Carol Lloyd Are these smutty tales true? Let the reader beware The unhappiest allies By Gabriel Kahn Italians question NATO moves in Kosovo as the country braces for more refugees Day Two: The airstrikes persist NATO bombards Yugoslavia for the second night, saying it will attack, disrupt, degrade, devastate and destroy Yugoslav forces unless Milosevic capitulates Outlaw nation? By Laura Rozen Even Serbs who hate Milosevic are outraged at NATO bombing   T A B L E+T A L K Don't ask, don't Teletubbie? Know of any other gay icons for children? Do tell in the Headlines area of Table Talk   How-to, why-not and what-for -- find it all at barnesandnoble.com Search by:  Keyword Title Author     R E C E N T L Y The bombing begins By Jeff Stein Will NATO strikes push the Serbs to peace talks, or engulf the region in bloody chaos? (03/25/99) The Kosovo myth By Christopher Ott A battle fought 600 years ago animates the Serbian lust for a province now populated by Albanians (03/25/99) Banned in Belgrade By Janelle Brown The Web provides links to Serbian diatribes, Albanian liberation dispatches and Yugoslav radio you can't get in Yugoslavia (03/25/99) Where does Elizabeth Dole really stand on abortion? By Daryl Lindsey The question won't go away (03/24/99) Susan McDougal's moment of truth By Suzi Parker Bad day for Starr as she says Clinton told the truth about Whitewater loan (03/24/99) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		Verdict on Starr's witness Whitewater figure David Hale is found guilty on Arkansas state criminal charges. BY MURRAY S. WAAS AND SUZI PARKER | LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- David Hale, the central witness to the Whitewater investigation of independent counsel Kenneth Starr, was convicted late Thursday night on charges that he deceived Arkansas regulators about the solvency of an insurance company that he once owned. But he was sentenced to only 21 days in prison, as jurors seemed to honor pleas for leniency, given Hale's health problems. Hale was convicted of a single felony count of placing $150,000 into the bank account of his National Savings Life Insurance Company, only to withdraw the funds days later. Arkansas prosecutors charged that those bank transfers were sham transactions designed by Hale to lead insurance regulators to falsely believe the firm was solvent so that they would not shut it down. The conviction of Hale on the state charges was a setback to Starr's four-year, $40 million Whitewater probe. Hale has been the most important witness to the Whitewater phase of Starr's investigation, and this new criminal conviction only raises additional questions about the reliability of Hale as a federal witness. Hale's testimony in federal court in 1996 helped Starr convict then-Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, and James and Susan McDougal, the Clintons' partners in their failed Whitewater real estate investment, on fraud charges. More importantly, Hale has also been Starr's chief witness against President Clinton: Hale had alleged that in l986, while Hale headed a federally subsidized lending company, then-Arkansas Gov. Clinton pressured him to make a fraudulent and illegal $300,000 loan to Susan McDougal. In the fall of 1997, Starr considered sending an impeachment referral to the House of Representatives alleging there was evidence that Clinton had committed perjury to a federal jury by denying under oath that he had pressured Hale to make the loan to Susan McDougal, according to federal law enforcement sources. The referral ultimately was not sent, because many on Starr's staff believed that there was not enough evidence to substantiate Hale's claims. A later consideration of making such a referral was stymied, sources said, because Hale had by then become the focus of a seperate federal grand jury investigation into his allegedly receiving cash payments and gratuities from conservative political activists. N E X T+P A G E+| Starr's claims "hogwash"