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The Arkansas Project was a series of investigations (mostly funded by conservative businessman Richard Mellon Scaife through his staff at the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'') that were initiated, as some believe, with the intent of damaging the reputation of President Bill Clinton.〔David Brock. ''Blinded by the Right:The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative. Three Rivers Press. (page 228). Brock refers to his part of the project and the wider scope of Ted Olson.〕 Scaife spent nearly $2 million on this anti-Clinton project.〔Neil A. Lewis.(Almost $2 Million Spent in Magazine's Anti-Clinton Project, but on What? ). New York Times. April 15, 1998〕 The investigations included the reexamination of the death of White House aide Vincent Foster (who officially committed suicide but is believed by some to have been killed), the investigation of an illegal 1970s' real estate investment that Bill and Hillary Clinton had made in a development known as Whitewater, and the re-opening of allegations that then Governor Bill Clinton had sexually harassed an Arkansas state employee. ==Background== In the 1980s and 1990s, the politically conservative ''American Spectator'' magazine received donations from conservative benefactors. The Arkansas project began shortly after Richard Mellon Scaife, one of the largest donors to the magazine, directed that his donations be used for stories aimed at investigating potentially scandalous material regarding the Clintons. According to R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., editor-in-chief of the ''Spectator'', the idea for the Arkansas Project was hatched on a fishing trip on the Chesapeake Bay in the fall of 1993. The "Arkansas Project" name that later became famous was conceived as a joke; the actual name used within the ''Spectator'' and the Scaife foundation was the "Editorial Improvement Project." Project reporter/investigators were hired, including David Brock, who later (after reversing his political stance) described himself as a Republican "hitman",〔 and Rex Armistead, a former police officer who was reportedly paid $350,000 for his efforts.〔 Also assisting the project was Parker Dozhier, a bait shop owner who was reportedly obsessed with bringing down Bill Clinton.〔(Anti-Clinton Billionaire Goes Before Grand Jury ), ''Washington Post, September 29, 1998〕 They were tasked with investigating the Clintons and uncovering stories tying the Clintons to murders and drug smuggling as well as adultery.〔Murray Waas, (Behind the Clinton cocaine smear ). ''Salon.com'', 2000.〕 According to Brock, Armistead and Brock met at an airport hotel in Miami, Florida, in late 1993. There, Armistead laid out an elaborate "Vince Foster murder scenario", a scenario that Brock later claimed was implausible."〔David Brock. ''Blinded by the Right. ''Three Rivers Press'', pages 218–219.〕〔( 'Arkansas Project' Led to Turmoil and Rifts ), ''Washington Post'', May 2, 1999, page A24,〕 Regardless, by the end of 1993, Brock was writing stories for the Spectator that made him "a lead figure in the drive to" expose Clinton.〔(David Brock & the Watergate Legacy ) ''Media Transparency.''〕 Ted Olson, who would later represent George W. Bush in ''Bush v. Gore'' and be named U.S. Solicitor General, was a Board Member of the American Spectator Educational Foundation, and is thought to have known about or played some role in the Arkansas Project.〔Tapper, Jake ("Boies vs. Olson" ), Salon.com|, November 19, 2000 〕 His firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher provided $14,000 worth of legal services, and he himself wrote or co-authored several articles that were paid for with Project funds. During Olson's Senate confirmation hearing for Solicitor General, majority Republicans blocked Senator Patrick Leahy's call for further committee inquiries on the subject of Olson's ties to the Arkansas Project.〔(), Salon.com, May 14, 2001〕〔()〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arkansas Project」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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