Christopher Wade is a retired

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

broker A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be confu ...

/owner of Ozarks Realty Company in

Flippin, Arkansas Flippin is a city in Marion County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,345 at the 2020 census. The city was named for the Thomas H. Flippin family and was incorporated in 1921. The Thomas H. Flippin Chapter of the Arkansas State Socie ...

. He was the real estate agent associated to the Clinton's

Whitewater controversy 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 and Hillary Clinton and their as ...

in Arkansas.

Career

Wade was a real estate broker/owner of Ozarks Realty Company in

. In 1974, Wade was Realtor of the Year in Arkansas.

Personal

Wade's father was Milton Wade, who started in real estate in the 1960s. In February 1971, the Wade family purchased the real estate company. Wade's ex-wife Rosalee is currently the Principal Broker of Ozarks Realty Company.

Whitewater controversy

Chris Wade was the real estate broker for

Jim McDougal James B. McDougal (August 25, 1940 – March 8, 1998) was a native of White County, Arkansas, and his wife, Susan McDougal (the former Susan Carol Henley), were financial partners with Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in the real estate venture ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

for the Whitewater Development Corporation. He sold the lots for the Clintons and McDougals. He ended up buying some of the land from them. In 1985, Jim McDougal traded the few remaining Whitewater lots to Wade for an airplane and the assumption of $35,000 in bank debt to 1st Ozark. The Clintons and McDougals were still personally obligated on the note. He came into front page national news as a result of the Whitewater investigations. On March 21, 1995, Wade pleaded guilty to two felony counts including bankruptcy fraud. Wade entered a guilty plea of one felony violation for making a false report to overvalue property influencing a Bank, S&L, or a federal agencies-bankruptcy fraud to the Whitewater

special prosecutor In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exis ...

Kenneth Starr Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer and judge who authored the Starr Report, which led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, know ...

. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the loan fraud. On Jan 20, 2001, President Bill Clinton's last day in office as the President, Wade was pardoned for Bank fraud, false statements on a loan application (18 U.S.C. §§ 152, 1014).Lacey, Marc. With just hours to go in his presidency, Bill Clinton issued a pardon to Chris Wade, which became part of the Bill Clinton pardons controversy.

References

External links

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

''All Politics, Arkansas Roots''
April 12, 1999 * ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''
''Caught in the Whitewater Quagmire''
August 28, 1995; Page A01

''Summary of the Evidence'' * CNN, ''All Politics
FBI agent traces money trail at McDougal trial
', March 12, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Chris American real estate brokers Living people People from Marion County, Arkansas Recipients of American presidential pardons Whitewater controversy 1945 births