Republicans quickly labeled the database "a hotel link with the Lincoln Bedroom."
President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton ordered the computer system in 1993 to track lawmakers, reporters, political supporters and others who attended White House functions. Invitation lists, thank-you notes and other social correspondence were developed from the list of at least 200,000 names.
Clinton spokesperson had told reporters and skeptical congressional investigators that the database was not used to track political donors or solicit donations.
Now Truman Arnold is saying in interviews that the database helped the Democratic National Committee identify prospects for increased donations. He also said it made it easier to reward long-ignored donors with White House visits, trips aboard Air Force One, Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers, and presidential coffees.
"It was most helpful to us because we were looking to the disaffected," the former party finance chair told the Los Angeles Times. "The database helped us to see who had been invited to what."
It also had detailed records - birth dates, telephone numbers, fax numbers, pet projects, nicknames, dietary needs. In many cases, notations indicated that a person was a party donor.
"If people who give money are treated with special graces and made to feel they're appreciated, they'll come right back and give the next time," Arnold, an oilman and longtime Clinton backer from Texarkana, Texas, told Time magazine.
Rep. David McIntosh, the Republican chair of a House panel investigating the database, said, "There is something wrong with having a system in the White House that keeps track of all donors, sets up a hotel link with the Lincoln Bedroom, sets up airline reservations on Air Force One and sets up a restaurant with White House coffees."
A committee spokesperson said Arnold may be asked to testify before the panel.
Without directly disputing Arnold's quotes or the publications' characterizations of his comments, White House spokesmen said they were confident the database was only used for official purposes. A Democratic National Committee statement said Arnold did not have direct access to the database but information from it was forwarded "through the appropriate channels."
Federal law prohibits the White House from putting a taxpayer-financed program to partisan use.
The database investigation also is making more trouble for the first lady. Internal documents made available to the House panel show Mrs. Clinton and the president ordered the database.
Peppered with questions at an economic event, Mrs. Clinton said she recommended a computer system to keep track of official events. "Insofar as I know, that is how it was used," she said.
Arnold's remarks add another layer to the cash-for-access controversy, In other developments:
Barry Toiv, deputy White House press secretary, said Arnold and party officials received limited information from the system - and only to help give the White House lists of political supporters that the Democratic National Committee wanted at White House events.
Arnold did not return repeated telephone calls to his office. The DNC statement did not dispute his "special graces" comment - or the bulk of the magazine and newspaper reports. "Generally, when people feel good about their charity or their politics, they will contribute repeatedly to those causes," the statement quoted Arnold as saying.
Clinton has defended the practice of inviting donors to the White House, saying nobody expects a president to turn his back on supporters once he gets to the Oval Office.
Toiv said that is how Arnold would receive database information:
"If the DNC, in the context of putting together a list of people that they might want to ask to be invited to an event here, asked the question, 'Was this particular person invited to previous events? Or did this person previously attend events at the White House?' then it would be entirely appropriate for the social office to answer that question," Toiv said.
AP PHOTO
President Clinton is escorted through the Pentagon by Defense Secretary William Cohen and Cindy Bowman, a member of the Air Force Honor Guard.