SUSAN MCDOUGAL ON TRIAL
				The Clinton Scandal Nov. 23, 1998 (Embezzlement Acquittal) Nov. 24 1998 Update March 8, 1999 (Jury Selection - Federal Trial) March 10 Update March 11 Update Discuss the Case March 16 Update March 18 Update March 22 Update March 23 Update March 24 Update March 25 Update March 30 Update April 1 Update April 2 Update April 5 Update (Morning) April 5 Update (Afternoon) April 7 Update (Morning)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Court TV) — Susan McDougal returned to the stand Thursday for a third day of testimony, after three years of steadfast silence in the face of prosecutors' demands that she answer questions about President Clinton's involvement in Whitewater.

Her testimony thus far has been strong on conviction and short on recollection.

She asserted that Starr's prosecutors had a political agenda to "get" the president, and claimed that her late ex-husband, James McDougal, lied about Clinton's complicity in Whitewater to get a shorter prison term. He died in prison one year ago.

But she failed to remember any details of the 1980s land development that landed she and her husband in hot water along with the Clintons, their business partners in the scheme.

In two days of cross-examination by prosecutor Mark Barrett, McDougal said more than 40 times that she didn't recall various business deals, even though some of the checks were in her name. James McDougal handled the financial affairs, she said.

Susan McDougal is on trial for criminal contempt and obstruction of justice for refusing to cooperate with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr's investigation. She has already spent a year and a half in jail for civil contempt, and was also convicted of fraud in 1996.

McDougal said she didn't trust Starr and felt his prosecutors they would twist her answers to suit their own goal of creating a case against President Clinton.

"I think Ken Starr had a plan and it was to convict me so that he could then get testimony against the president," McDougal testified on Wednesday, referring to her 1996 trial.

"Ken Starr didn't pick the 12 jurors," retorted Barrett. McDougal said Starr provided witnesses who lied to convict her.

On the stand Wednesday, Susan McDougal claimed that her late ex-husband fabricated stories about President Clinton's involvement in fraudulent Whitewater dealings and urged her to do the same.

"If you don't tell this story, you're going to jail," she said he warned her. He even suggested that she say she had an affair with Clinton. McDougal insisted that Clinton's videotaped testimony was truthful.

She maintained that her then-husband told her to do this because "he did not want to die in jail," she testified. James, who at first refused to cooperate with Starr, changed his mind after he was convicted, McDougal said.

James McDougal was given a light sentence for his cooperation. Facing up to 84 years, he was sentenced to only three. However, he died in federal prison in March 1998.

McDougal testified that she remembered her husband testing different versions of his story, asking her: "What do you think about the way I say this, does this sound believable?"

McDougal alleged that at one point her ex-husband suggested she could get a deal with Starr's office if she simply testified that Clinton was present for a discussion about a fraudulent $300,000 loan.

"If you come in and say this you can write your own ticket," she quoted McDougal as telling her. Former municipal judge David Hale also testified that Clinton knew about the loan. Hale was sentenced to 28 months in jail for fraud. McDougal said he lied too.

On Tuesday, McDougal tearfully testified that her ex-husband was "a control person," had a temper and experienced mood swings, but would not concede at first that he had a problem. She said he suffered from manic depression and had serious health problems.

The jury at McDougal's trial is only responsible for determining her guilt or innocence of the two charges facing her. However, lawyers on both sides have used the trial to revive issues stemming from the Whitewater land deal and investigation themselves.

Prosecutors showed Hillary Clinton's videotaped grand jury testimony, reintroducing the issue just as the first lady contemplates a run for the Senate. The defense, meanwhile, has used the trial to attack Starr's tactics in the Whitewater investigation.

Communications professor Steven Smith, who pleaded guilty in 1995 to a conspiracy charge in the Whitewater scandal, testified earlier this week that the Starr prosecutors were only interested in information that supported their version of events.

Another defense witness, Richard Holiman, said he believed prosecutors subpoenaed McDougal's brothers to intimidate her into cooperating with their inquiry.

Court TV's Kathryn Rubenstein, Catherine Heins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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