In 1977, the state pollution control agency reissued the license for Tyson's Green Forest plant on the condition that the company meet with city officials to work out a plan for treating its wastes. But the state never enforced the order, and in May 1983 the waste from the plant seeped into the town's drinking water. Residents became ill, and 15 months later Governor Clinton declared the town a disaster area.
Bill Clinton served as Arkansas Attorney General from January 3, 1977 – January 9, 1979 and as Governor from January 9, 1979 – January 19, 1981 and January 11, 1983 – December 12, 1992.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Clinton
In 1978 and 1979, lawyer and First Lady of ArkansasHillary Rodham engaged in a series of trades of cattlefutures contracts. Her initial $1,000 investment had generated nearly $100,000 when she stopped trading after ten months. In 1994, after Hillary Rodham Clinton had become First Lady of the United States, the trading became the subject of considerable controversy regarding the likelihood of such a spectacular rate of return, possible conflict of interest, and allegations of disguised bribery,allegations that Clinton strongly denied. There were no official investigations of the trading and Clinton was never charged with any wrongdoing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_cattle_futures_controversy
The White House said today that Hillary Rodham Clinton made $6,498 in a commodities-trading venture in 1980 and never reported the profit to the Internal Revenue Service.
The disclosure was the latest in a series of revised explanations about the Clintons' real-estate ventures and commodities investments beginning in the late 70's. Mrs. Clinton had previously said through her lawyers and aides that she invested $5,000 in the account, lost $1,000 and withdrew from additional trading shortly after the birth of her daughter, Chelsea, in 1980.
After disclosing the problem today, the White House said, the Clintons paid the Internal Revenue Service and the Arkansas state government $14,615 in back taxes and interest.
Starting in October 1978, when Bill Clinton was Attorney General and on the verge of being elected Governor, [Hillary] was guided by James Blair, a friend, lawyer, outside counsel to Tyson Foods, Arkansas' largest employer, ... Blair in turn traded through, and relied upon cattle markets expertise from, broker Robert L. "Red" Bone of Refco, a former Tyson executive ...
At one point she owed in excess of $100,000 to Refco as part of covering losses, but no margin calls were made by Refco against her. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_cattle_futures_controversy#Trades_and_first_exposure
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial interest, or otherwise, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation of the individual or organization.
The presence of a conflict of interest is independent of the occurrence of impropriety. Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before any corruption occurs. A widely used definition is: "A conflict of interest is a set of circumstances that creates a risk that professional judgement or actions regarding a primary interest will be unduly influenced by a secondary interest." … The conflict in a conflict of interest exists whether or not a particular individual is actually influenced by the secondary interest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest
The investments, made in a commodities trading account that was opened three weeks before Mr. Clinton was elected Governor in 1978, substantially altered the finances of the Clintons. At the time, Mr. Clinton was Attorney General. He and his wife were rising stars in Little Rock whose salaries were modest by the standards of their peers.
The proceeds helped them to buy a home, to invest in securities and real estate and eventually to provide a nest egg for their young daughter, according to the couple's associates and a review of the family's financial records.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange records indicated that $40,000 of her profits came from larger trades initiated by James Blair. According to exchange records, "Red" Bone, the commodities broker that facilitated the trades on behalf of Refco, reportedly because Blair was a good client, allowed Rodham to maintain her positions even though she did not have enough money in her account to cover her activity. For example, she was allowed to order 10 cattle futures contracts, normally a $12,000 investment, in her first commodity trade in 1978 although she had only $1,000 in her account at the time.
This paper investigates the odds of generating a 100-fold return in the cattle futures market. We employ cattle futures data for the period October 11, 1978, through July 31, 1979, to compute the probability of obtaining such a return. The tests are constructed to give the investor the benefit of the doubt whenever doubt exists. The most conservative finding is that the probability is one in approximately thirty-one trillion. Assuming that the return is made in the most efficient way possible, this probability falls to approximately 1.5×10−16.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02920493
Mrs. Clinton initially told aides that she had turned a $1,000 commodities investment into a $100,000 profit by studying the financial news and placing trades herself.
Earlier this month, White House officials conceded that James B. Blair, a family friend and a lawyer for one of the state's largest companies, Tyson Foods Inc., had played an advisory role in placing the trades.
Today, she said she had relied heavily on the advice of Mr. Blair.
"I did the trades," she said. "They were my trades. I was responsible for them. But I did them on the advice of Jim Blair, and very often he placed them for me."
If Mrs. Clinton was worried about the perception of a sweetheart deal between herself and someone who represented the largest agribusiness in Arkansas while her husband was Governor, it didn't show.
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101940502-164301,00.html
Price manipulation. In 1983, Blair testified he believed Refco and [Thomas Dittmer] were manipulating cattle prices during the time he advised Clinton. He said Refco brokers and customers, trading together, "helped" move cattle prices, in part by controlling delivery of live cattle to market. "They wanted to see the market go up or see it go down. There wasn't any money to be made if it didn't move," Blair said.
Refco and Dittmer have denied any manipulation. But they, along with Bone, were disciplined in 1979 by the exchange for repeatedly violating exchange rules and reporting requirements while trading cattle in 1978 and 1979. The exchange levied a $250,000 fine against Refco, then the largest penalty ever imposed on a broker. Bone agreed to a three-year suspension of his right to trade on the exchange.
Blair now denies favoritism by the Springdale brokers. But David Jeffrey, a dentist who traded in Springdale during the same time as Clinton, raised the issue in a suit against Refco, and in a complaint he filed with the exchange against Dittmer, Bone and Jack Musteen, a Springdale broker.
Update: For those that think none of this ever happened at all and is a “fake GOP scandal” here is Hillary defending it:
x YouTube Video