Harding Talks to the FBI : Figure skating: She also talks to the district attorney, seeking to clear her name in the attack on Kerrigan.

Tonya Harding faced questioning by the district attorney and FBI for the first time Tuesday as she sought to clear her name in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan and preserve a berth on the U.S. Olympic team.

Voluntarily appearing with two attorneys, Harding looked somber and stared at the ground as she walked into the FBI office at 1 p.m. to give her version of the events surrounding the Jan. 6 assault at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.

Asked whether Harding would take a lie detector test, an FBI spokesman said: “We’re not going to get into that.”

Jeff Gillooly, Harding’s ex-husband, didn’t take part in the meeting, which lasted several hours.

Authorities, worried about jeopardizing a possible case against Gillooly, have not subpoenaed him or demanded that he come in for questioning. Under state law, a person can invoke his right of silence and, if compelled to give testimony in a grand jury proceeding or other investigatory proceeding, can receive immunity.

“We don’t want to take that chance of him getting immunity,” assistant district attorney John Bradley said.

On her way to see the FBI, Harding was asked whether Gillooly was going to be arrested. “No, he’s not,” she replied. Harding and Gillooly still live together even though they were divorced last year.

Federal charges against Harding are “possible at this point, but remote,” FBI spokesman Bart Gori said before the meeting.

The alleged “hit man” in the attack was due to arrive from Arizona later Tuesday to face charges of conspiracy and assault.

Shane Minoaka Stant, the man accused of striking Kerrigan’s leg, appeared before a judge in Phoenix and agreed not to fight extradition to Oregon. Stant was to be arraigned in Portland today.

Stant turned himself in to the FBI in Phoenix last week after learning there was a warrant for his arrest in Oregon.

In Detroit, Wayne County prosecutor John O’Hair told the Associated Press that, “At this point, we have no evidence here . . . at all about (Harding’s) culpability as far as the episode is concerned.”

He said the Detroit investigation is nearly complete, but in Oregon it is still unfolding. He noted that Oregon authorities haven’t interviewed Gillooly.

Asked if Detroit authorities are investigating Gillooly, O’Hair said:

“They (Oregon) are the ones investigating Gillooly at this time. . . . Gillooly is still a question mark.”

He said Portland authorities have far more information on Gillooly than Detroit authorities.

“We are not privy to the details” of the Portland investigation, O’Hair said. He will travel today to Portland with assistant prosecutor Doug Baker to meet with prosecutors and coordinate the case to determine where it might be put together.

“There are some very significant loose ends that have yet to be nailed down,” O’Hair said.

“If you can have one proceeding in one jurisdiction, that would be the best way to proceed. . . . I think Detroit would be a proper forum. I think there should be one prosecution. It’s yet to be determined if we can resolve this with one trial and one case (or whether there will be separate cases in Portland and Detroit).”

A grand jury in Portland scheduled two hours today to review the assault conspiracy charges against Harding’s bodyguard, Shawn Eckardt. He was arraigned last week and released on $20,000 bail.

Federal and local investigators are trying to determine if Harding’s money, some of it from Olympic sources, paid for the attack on Kerrigan.

Harding, skating again early this morning and still proclaiming her innocence, faced the questioning by authorities amid reports that funds from the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. may have been used to finance the attack.