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 land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

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 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 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

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

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

scholar and author of numerous books. Smith became part of Ken Starr's investigation during the Whitewater scandal; 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 1980s. The $65,000 loan in fact was for an overdue bank loan Smith had with

Jim Guy Tucker James Guy Tucker Jr. (born June 13, 1943) is an American politician and attorney from Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 43rd governor of Arkansas, the 15th lieutenant governor, state attorney general, and U.S. repre ...

. He pleaded guilty on June 8, 1995, to one misdemeanor count of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

. 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 John Wilkes.

References

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

(see Court TV). * ''Time''
Would You Pardon Them?
Feb. 18, 2001

External links

''The Star Chamber'', Amazon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen Recipients of American presidential pardons 1949 births Living people University of Arkansas faculty American sociologists Arkansas Democrats Whitewater controversy