WASHINGTON -- A federal court has upheld one subpoena issued by the Resolution Trust Corp. as part of its Whitewater investigation, but dismissed another.
U.S. District Court Judge Harold H. Greene last Friday ordered James B. McDougal, head of the failed Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, to comply with the agency's subpoena. Mr. McDougal had not responded to a court order seeking reasons why the subpoena should not be enforced.
However, Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker told the court that he should not be required to obey the subpoena because the RTC lacked jurisdiction.
The court granted Gov. Tucker's request. Citing "a dearth of precedent," Judge Greene wrote that the appropriate federal statute did not explicitly impart his court with jurisdiction over Gov. Tucker, and that he was reluctant to interpret the law in a way that would imply that his court did have jurisdiction.
"Where there is such a gap in the statutory scheme, the court should be loath to fill the gap unless ... there is a clear need for the court to do so," Judge Greene wrote. "No such need exists in this case.
"The RTC can always bring its enforcement action in Arkansas, where the district court would clearly have ... personal jurisdiction."
The RTC has not yet decided whether it will appeal the court's decision or attempt to issue a subpoena to Gov. Tucker through an Arkansas court, according to RTC spokesman Stephen Katsanos.
"We do have to keep in mind that this issue is one that could have been heard here. We disagree with the decision," Mr. Katsanos said. "Going to a local court would probably be the most expeditious way of going about it, but we have to look at that in the context of the overall program. It could be that we want to consider appealing the decision here.
"We're still very interested in getting information that may be in Gov. Tucker's possession, so that's still an issue for us," he added.
