WASHINGTON, May 13; President Bill Clinton has asserted that he was fully cooperating in the investigation of the Whitewater scam of land development deals in which the Clintons were partners.

The assertion follows a slashing attack on the White House by Whitewater special counsel Kenneth Starr alleging denial of relevant information.

In a meeting of the Associated Press editors yesterday, Starr described as unprecedented the claims of privilege by the White House for its refusal to turn over disputed notes involving First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

``Never in history has this kind of privilege been asserted in a federal criminal proceeding. I view that as significant. It is unhelpful to our investigation when relevant information is denied a grand jury when there are indications of privilege instead of full and complete cooperation'', he declared.

He was even harsher on Susan Mcdougal, former Clinton business partner who refused to testify against Clinton and has been jailed for contempt of court.Susan Mcdougal, Starr asserted, was seeking ``a licence to lie'' in requesting immunity for her testimony about what President Clinton knew of an illegal government loan.

Whitewater has been dogging Clinton during his current central American and Caribbean tour. He declared that his administration had been ``quite cooperative and we will continue to be.''

There is no love lost between Clinton, the White House and Starr. Clinton supporters have let it be known that they view Starr as determined to ``get'' the Clintons. Starr insists he is only after the truth.

Susan Mcdougal said from jail on NBC's ``meet the press'' in reply to Starr's charges, ``If I could ever be questioned under oath in an open forum, in a place where I could get the truth and just tell everything I know, I would be glad. It has never been a problem with telling the truth.''

Apart from the contempt charges which have kept her in jail, she has also been accused of misusing conductor Zubin Mehta's funds when she was managing his accounts.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.