First, what were Whitewater and Watergate? Whitewater started as a land development of riverfront property in Arkansas in the 1980s. The Clintons received a large share of the development without putting up any money. The development went bad, so additional capital was needed. There is evidence and testimony suggesting that this cash was obtained illegally from

"I don't think it is a legitimate comparison," says Ben-Veniste, the former chief minority counsel on the Senate Whitewater Committee who also ran a task force under Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski. "At the heart of Watergate was a gross abuse of presidential power, whereas Whitewater has its roots in activities that occurred a decade before Clinton became president." He also points out that it seems likely that Nixon not only was involved in the Watergate cover-up, but also was aware of the 1972 break-in. He bases this on new evidence, including the diaries of the late H.R. Haldeman, Nixon's chief of staff. He claims that no hard evidence links the Clintons to any criminal wrongdoing.

aid back. As for Watergate - though it was revealed by the Senate Watergate committee as an unprecedented abuse of presidential power that was extremely dangerous to the country, it is remembered 25 years later as a strange and unsuccessful burglary in the Watergate office building by people linked to the reelection committee of Nixon. But Watergate was so much more than a political burglary. The Senate hearings showed Watergate was composed of constant criminality by the Nixon White House, and was driven by an extreme commitment to maintain control of power by any means, including criminal conduct. It included the break-in of a psychiatrist's office for the purpose of smearing Daniel Elsberg - the leaker of the Pentagon Papers; the misuse of the IRS and other federal agencies to punish those on the president's "enemies list"; the illegal wiretapping of journalists and members of Nixon's own administration; and the purposeful editing of government documents to enhance a political agenda.2

The cover-up was not an unreasonable response to an unimportant event. Actually, it became necessary because of the threat that the co-conspirator's abuses of governmental authority might become known if measures were not taken. Therefore, the key difference between Watergate and Whitewater is simple - Watergate was about the flagrant abuse of power trusted to the nation's highest elected and appointed officials. Whitewater is about President and Mrs. Clinton's wrongdoings that affected some of their investment deals that they had gone into with James McDougal the decade before Clinton was elected.

Another difference between Whitewater and Watergate was the presidents' wives. Pat Nixon never was touched by the scandal as far as the public knows. One the other hand, Hillary Rodham Clinton, although she attempts to deny it and scoffs at allegations to the contrary, was deeply involved not only in Whitewater but in almost every bit of scandal that has touched the Clinton White House.18

In Watergate, Nixon directed the deputy director of the CIA to falsely claim to the FBI that national-security interests of the United States would be jeopardized by a full investigation of the money trail left by the Watergate burglars. Nixon's advisers were instructed by the president to lie under oath. Perjury was committed by several of these officials, including the former attorney general and Nixon's chief of staff. Evidence of one of the

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