Clinton Queried In Campaign Probe
President Clinton was questioned under oath for about four hours Friday by Justice Department officials investigating possible violations of campaign finance laws during the 1996 campaign.
Vice President Al Gore also was interviewed by the Justice Department Campaign Finance Task Force on Tuesday.
In a brief statement released late Friday, the White House said, "The president and the vice president cooperated fully with the task force and voluntarily agreed to be interviewed this week."
White House spokesperson Joe Lockhart was asked whether the president sticks by his earlier assertions that he has done nothing wrong. "All of his statements still stand," he said.
The White House refused further comment.
A White House source told CBS News Correspondent Bill Plante the president is not a target in the investigation.
Attorney General Janet Reno established the task force to investigate allegations that illegal foreign and corporate donations were made in the 1996 presidential campaign.
Federal prosecutors also are investigating whether the White House tried to obstruct investigators by failing to surrender e-mails related to 1996 campaign fund-raising allegations.
The task force has indicted 24 people and has talked with several Clinton-Gore donors, including organizers of a controversial 1996 dinner Gore attended at a Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif.
Gore acknowledges attending that dinner but says he didn't know it was a fund-raising event, but the vice president's role in the fund-raiser has continued to dog his presidential campaign this year.
After Friday's White House disclosure, Gore's spokesman said the vice president's lawyer was assured Gore is not a target of the Justice Department Campaign Finance Task Force.
Gore held a press conference on his campaign plane returning to Washington from Michigan but said he couldn't discuss the substance of the task force interview because it was a legal proceeding.
Asked whether he worries that the investigation will harm his campaign for president, Gore said, "I have no feelings about it."
Clinton's interview was conducted under oath in the Treaty Room of the private White House residence, with White House counsel Beth Nolan in attendance, along with Clinton's private lawyers David Kendall and Nicole Seligman.
Five members of the task force conducted the interview: a prosecutor, four FBI agents and a court reporter.
A White House official said he believed this was Clinton's third interview on campaign finance. Gore has been questioned five times under oath involving various investigations during the Clinton administration.
The vice president was questioned for four hours Tuesday in the dining room of the vice presidential residence by Robert Conrad, head of the Justice Department task force.
Gore spokesman Lehane said the vice president was accompanied in his interview by his attorney, Neal, and b attorney Elizabeth Brown of the vice president's office.
Gore's staff said they delayed telling reporters about the interview at the request of President Clinton's private lawyers, who asked that public disclosure until after the president's interview.