First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said she testified under oath before a federal grand jury Friday that she did not know how missing Whitewater documents suddenly turned up in the White House.
"I was glad to have the opportunity to tell the grand jury what I've been telling all of you: I do not know how the billing records came to be found where they were found," she told reporters at the courthouse after finishing four hours of unprecedented secret testimony.Hillary Clinton's appearance Friday marked the first time that the wife of a sitting U.S. president has been compelled to testify under oath before a federal grand jury - a 23-member panel of citizens that determines if there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to warrant criminal charges.
The Whitewater records, concerning legal work she did as a private lawyer in Arkansas in the mid-1980s, had been sought by investigators for two years.
The documents suddenly turned up on a table in the White House living quarters last August, discovered by a presidential aide. But the aide did not realize what they were until early this month, and they were then given to investigators.
"I, like everyone else, I would like to know the answer about how those documents showed up after all these years . . . I tried to be as helpful as I could," the first lady said of her testimony. She alone has the right to comment publicly on what occurred behind the closed doors of the jury chamber.
The grand jury is looking into financial affairs involving both the first lady and President Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas in the 1980s.
The investigation centers on an Arkansas land development project called Whitewater, the failed Madison Guaranty savings and loan institution owned by the Clintons' partner in the land deal, and whether there have been any efforts to cover up the affair, which has embarrassed the White House.
Hillary Clinton said other topics were discussed during her grand jury appearance, but most of the questioning focused on the mysterious issue of the missing billing records showing how much work she had done for the savings and loan.
"I am pleased that they were found because they confirm what I have been saying," namely that she did minimal work for the bank, she said.
She was summoned to testify only as a witness and has not been accused of any crime.
Associate White House counsel Mark Fabiani said later that the first lady had not been asked to return. He told reporters that she answered all questions and did not invoke the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination.
"There were no surprises," Fabiani said.
Hillary Clinton's appearance was demanded in a subpoena issued a week ago by Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr, who also plans to hear testimony from White House aides and the Clintons' personal lawyer about the billing records.
Both the first lady and the president deny any wrongdoing in any aspect of the Whitewater affair and have vowed to cooperate in an attempt to bring the criminal investigation to an end.
The president gave his wife support before she left the White House for the heavily guarded U.S. courthouse, where supporters cheered her and opponents held signs urging her to "tell the truth."
"It's not likely to be a very pleasant encounter . . . So the president was there just to reassure her and tell her he loves her and that she'll do a good job and that the grand jurors will see that she's telling the truth," said White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry.
In the evening, Clinton delayed his departure for a Hispanic-American dinner at a local hotel to hear his wife's account of her grand jury appearance.
Polls show many Americans do not believe her statements that she had no idea where the documents - under subpoena for two years - had been or how they suddenly reappeared.
Asked by reporters if she could think of some place else she would rather have been instead of being questioned before the grand jury, she replied, "Oh, about a million other places."