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Clinton tapes testimony in Whitewater-related trial

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuter) - President Bill Clinton on Sunday testifies as a defence witness in the trial of two of his partners in the failed Whitewater real estate venture, videotaping his testimony in a closed White House session.

Clinton, who is not accused of any crime in the trial of James and Susan McDougal on bank fraud and conspiracy charges, will be questioned by defence and prosecution lawyers at the White House starting at 1 p.m. (1700 GMT).

U.S. District Court Judge George Howard, who is trying the case in Little Rock, Arkansas, will preside over the session using a video-conference link protected against interception.

Howard ruled in March that Clinton could take the unusual step of videotaping his testimony at the White House to keep the deposition from interfering with his official duties.

Clinton, who went jogging on Sunday morning and then to church, will testify in the Map Room, a large ground floor room where President Franklin Delano Roosevelt received daily briefings on the progress of the Second World War.

Initial estimates were that the testimony would last three to five hours, but lawyers for Jim and Susan McDougal, who are divorced and are no longer friends with the president and his wife Hillary, said on Sunday it might not take that long.

Both McDougals are due to attend the White House session, but the third defendant in the trial, Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, is not, leaving his lawyers to represent him.

David Hale, a former Little Rock businessman, has accused Tucker and Clinton of pressing him to make illegal loans to Susan McDougal, a claim both men have repeatedly denied.

Clinton was subpoenaed to testify in March to address Hale's allegations, which he has labelled "a bunch of bull."

The trial is the first arising from independent counsel Kenneth Starr's probe of a web of questionable, decade-old Arkansas business activities known as the Whitewater affair that have dogged Clinton throughout his presidency.

It is one of several legal proceedings arising from the failure of the Madison Savings and Loan Association, which cost taxpayers an estimated $65 million.

Clinton and his wife Hillary entered into a partnership with the McDougals in the Whitewater real estate venture in 1978. Although their investment lost money, questions have arisen about whether funds for the project were siphoned from the savings and loan, which was also a McDougal holding.

The president's deposition will begin with his questioning by the defendants' lawyers, followed by cross-examination by the government. Defence lawyers will then have a second chance to question Clinton, followed again by the government.

Sam Heuer, the lawyer representing Jim McDougal, said he chooses when to present the videotaped testimony to the jury in Little Rock because his client is named first in the indictment.

"I don't know when I will present, it will be at least a week from now, if not longer," Heuer told Reuters on Sunday.

All the participants in Sunday's session are expected to be ordered not to discuss the substance of Clinton's testimony until it is presented in court.

Although a transcript is likely to be made public after the testimony is released in court, the White House does not want to allow unrestricted access to the video tape, in part to prevent its "misuse" by the president's political enemies.-Reuter