The Week

■ White House aides are split over the issue of pardons for White water felons. Some want them announced at the beginning of President Clinton’s inaugural address, while others think they should wait until the end.

■ Among the Clinton Administration’s lucky breaks this year is the timing of investigations into its misconduct: no Whitewater- or Travelgate-related indictments before November, and now no serious second look into Filegate either. In a recent sworn deposition to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mari Anderson, assistant to Georgetown bouncer cum White House security chief Craig Livingstone, says that contrary to their sworn testimony, Livingstone and other security-office employees knew all along that they were improperly obtaining the files of former GOP officials. She also sheds light on a mysterious six-month gap in a log recording when FBI files were removed from the security office: Livingstone et al. have suggested that the log just wasn’t kept during this period, but Miss Anderson says it was, raising the possibility it was removed as part of a cover-up. (Can you say “18½- minute gap”?) Incredibly, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch agreed to hold no more hearings on the matter before the election in order to win Democratic cooperation on a parks bill. See you next year.

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■ White House aides are split over the issue of pardons for White water felons. Some want them announced at the beginning of President Clinton’s inaugural address, while others think they should wait until the end.

■ Among the Clinton Administration’s lucky breaks this year is the timing of investigations into its misconduct: no Whitewater- or Travelgate-related indictments before November, and now no serious second look into Filegate either. In a recent sworn deposition to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mari Anderson, assistant to Georgetown bouncer cum White House security chief Craig Livingstone, says that contrary to their sworn testimony, Livingstone and other security-office employees knew all along that they were improperly obtaining the files of former GOP officials. She also sheds light on a mysterious six-month gap in a log recording when FBI files were removed from the security office: Livingstone et al. have suggested that the log just wasn’t kept during this period, but Miss Anderson says it was, raising the possibility it was removed as part of a cover-up. (Can you say “18½- minute gap”?) Incredibly, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch agreed to hold no more hearings on the matter before the election in order to win Democratic cooperation on a parks bill. See you next year.