Report Urges Limiting Suits Over Whitewater

In a bit of good news for the White House, a government report advises against suing anyone associated with the Whitewater land venture, including President and Mrs. Clinton, in the failure of an Arkansas savings and loan, officials confirmed Sunday.

However, the report leaves open the possibility that the government could sue other entities, including the first lady’s former law firm, which handled legal work for the S&L; before its failure in 1989, the officials said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.

The report was prepared by a law firm hired by the Resolution Trust Corp. to help the government decide whether anyone should be sued to recover taxpayer losses from Madison Guaranty.

The report supports the Clintons’ longstanding claim that they had nothing to do with Whitewater Development Co.’s day-to-day operations, according to officials familiar with the document.

The report found that Whitewater could have cost the failed S&L;, where the land venture had its chronically overdrawn checkbook, between $88,000 and $134,000, the officials said.

But it said those losses were small enough that a lawsuit would not be worth the expense. The failure of the S&L; cost taxpayers more than $60 million.

The RTC report has not been made public and is being reviewed by regulators and Whitewater special counsel Kenneth W. Starr.