Stephen A. Smith (born May 15, 1949) is a

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

communications professor who was a top gubernatorial aide to

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, helping the governor run his office. He is an internationally known

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

scholar and author of numerous books. Smith became part of

Ken Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who as independent counsel authored the Starr Report, which served as the basis of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of mem ...

's investigation during the

Whitewater scandal The Whitewater controversy, Whitewater scandal, Whitewatergate, or simply Whitewater, was an American political controversy during the 1990s. It began with an investigation into the real estate investments of Bill Clinton, Bill and Hillary Clint ...

; he remained loyal to Clinton. Smith confessed to getting a phony loan from David Hale's company, saying it was to go for a "disadvantaged" political consulting firm Smith operated in the 1980's. The $65,000 loan in fact was for an overdue bank loan Smith had with

Jim Guy Tucker James Guy Tucker Jr. (June 13, 1943 – February 13, 2025) was an American politician, businessman and attorney who served as the 43rd governor of Arkansas from 1992 until his resignation in 1996 after his conviction for fraud during the White ...

. He pleaded guilty on June 8, 1995, to one

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

count of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

. Smith received a

presidential pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

in 2001, one of 140 controversial pardons Clinton issued on his last day of his presidency. Smith wrote a fictional book, ''The Star Chamber'', about his experiences under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

John Wilkes.

References

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

Caught In The Whitewater Net
Washington, May 19, 1998 * April 28, 1996

(see

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

). * ''Time''
Would You Pardon Them?
Feb. 18, 2001

External links

''The Star Chamber'', Amazon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen People pardoned by Bill Clinton 1949 births Living people University of Arkansas faculty American sociologists Arkansas Democrats Whitewater controversy