Special Counsel Gets Arkansas Office Space

The federal government signed a three-year lease Thursday for office space for special counsel Robert B. Fiske Jr., who will investigate President and Mrs. Clinton’s dealings with a real estate developer and savings and loan owner.

The 6,491 square feet of office space leased for Fiske and his staff in an office building in west Little Rock is on the same floor as the local FBI office.

Leonard Murphy, regional real estate director for the General Services Administration, which leased the space for Fiske, said the length of the lease does not necessarily mean the investigation will last three years.

“We overestimated a little so we could get the best deal,” Murphy said. He said the special counsel’s space will cost $94,120 a year.

Murphy said Fiske did not say how long he would be working in Little Rock, which Fiske has described as the “center of gravity” for the investigation.

Fiske’s review aims to find “whether any individuals or entities have committed a violation of any criminal law” with regard to the Clintons’ involvement with Whitewater Development Co. Inc., Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan and a company called Capital Management Services.

The Clintons were 50-50 partners in Whitewater, a 230-acre real estate development in Marion County, with James B. McDougal, owner of Madison Guaranty.

McDougal and the Clintons have denied any wrongdoing.

The Clintons also have said they lost about $69,000 in the Whitewater venture.