Bowles Testifies to Whitewater Grand Jury

Whitewater prosecutors questioned President Clinton’s top deputy before a federal grand jury Tuesday, possibly about whether he tried to buy the silence of a key witness.

“Absolutely not,” White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles told reporters as he entered the courthouse.

Bowles emerged from five hours of testimony to say that his appearance had taken so long because he was providing “background.” The White House has said only that Bowles made a few telephone calls on longtime Clinton friend Webster L. Hubbell’s behalf asking business friends if they could help the former associate attorney general.

In addition to investigating decade-old financial transactions in Arkansas, prosecutors are trying to determine if attempts were made by White House aides or presidential supporters to influence witnesses.

Bowles was the first of several presidential aides expected to testify. He was expected to be questioned about telephone calls he made in spring 1994 to try to line up financial help for Hubbell, who had just left the No. 3 Justice Department job under an ethical cloud.

Months later, Hubbell pleaded guilty to bilking his former Arkansas law firm and clients and agreed to cooperate with Whitewater prosecutors. However, Hubbell’s memory lapses have since frustrated investigators.