Susan McDougal’s Release Is Urged

David Pryor, a former Arkansas governor and senator who is friendly with President Clinton and the family of Whitewater figure Susan McDougal, pleaded with a judge to let her out of prison. “I know this family and I felt it was time for her to be released,” Pryor said, explaining his Dec. 23 meeting with the judge. U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright said Pryor persisted during the meeting, despite her warning that McDougal’s case was off-limits. Wright ordered McDougal jailed for contempt on Sept. 6, 1996, after she refused to testify before the grand jury investigating Clinton.