Editing Arkansas Project (section)

==Background==
In the 1980s and 1990s, the politically conservative ''[[American Spectator]]'' magazine received donations from conservative benefactors. The Arkansas project began shortly after Richard Mellon Scaife, one of the largest donors to the magazine, directed that his donations be used for stories aimed at investigating potentially scandalous material regarding the Clintons. According to R. [[Emmett Tyrrell]] Jr., editor-in-chief of the ''Spectator'', the idea for the Arkansas Project was hatched on a fishing trip on the [[Chesapeake Bay]] in the fall of 1993. The "Arkansas Project" name that later became famous was conceived as a joke; the actual name used within the ''Spectator'' and the Scaife foundation was the "Editorial Improvement Project".

Project reporter/investigators were hired, including [[David Brock]], who later described his role at that of as a Republican "hitman",<ref name="legacy" /> and [[Rex Armistead]], a former police officer who was reportedly paid $350,000 for his efforts.<ref name="Blinded">David Brock. ''[[Blinded by the Right|Blinded by the Right:The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative]]''. Three Rivers Press. (p. 228). Brock refers to his part of the project and the wider scope of [[Theodore Olson|Ted Olson]].</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Secondary source needed for material involving Brock, plus Brock's credibility is questionable.|date=August 2017}} Also assisting the project was Parker Dozhier, a bait shop owner who was reportedly obsessed with bringing down Bill Clinton.<ref name="wapo2">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/scaife092998.htm Anti-Clinton Billionaire Goes Before Grand Jury], ''Washington Post'', September 29, 1998</ref> They were tasked with investigating the Clintons and uncovering stories tying the Clintons to murders and drug smuggling as well as adultery.<ref>[[Murray Waas]], [http://www.salon.com/news/1998/03/26news.html Behind the Clinton cocaine smear]. ''[[Salon.com]]'', 2000.</ref>

According to Brock, Armistead and Brock met at an airport hotel in Miami, Florida, in late 1993. There, Armistead laid out an elaborate "Vince Foster murder scenario",  a scenario that Brock later claimed was implausible.<ref name="blinded">David Brock. ''[[Blinded by the Right]]''. ''Three Rivers Press'', pp. 218–19.</ref><ref name="WaPo">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/scaifeside050299.htm  'Arkansas Project' Led to Turmoil and Rifts], ''The Washington Post'', May 2, 1999, p. A24,<!--access date 2006-05-03--></ref> Regardless, by the end of 1993, Brock was writing stories for the Spectator that made him "a lead figure in the drive to" expose Clinton.<ref name="legacy">[http://old.mediatransparency.org/issue.php?issueID=4 David Brock & the Watergate Legacy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725110417/http://old.mediatransparency.org/issue.php?issueID=4 |date=2011-07-25 }} ''Media Transparency.''</ref>

[[Theodore Olson|Ted Olson]], who would later represent [[George W. Bush]] in ''[[Bush v. Gore]]'' and be named [[United States Solicitor General|U.S. Solicitor General]], was a board member of the American Spectator Educational Foundation, and is thought to have known about or played some role in the Arkansas Project.<ref name="salon">Tapper, Jake [http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/11/19/lawyers/index.html "Boies vs. Olson"], [[Salon.com]]|, November 19, 2000 <!--access date 2009-04-27--></ref> His firm [[Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher]] provided $14,000 worth of legal services, and he himself wrote or co-authored several articles that were paid for with Project funds. During Olson's Senate [[advise and consent|confirmation hearing]] for Solicitor General, majority Republicans blocked Senator [[Patrick Leahy]]'s call for further committee inquiries on the subject of Olson's ties to the Arkansas Project.<ref>http://archive.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/05/14/archive/index.html , Salon.com, May 14, 2001</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.salon.com/news/1998/08/cov_13news.html |title=Salon Newsreal &#124; False Witness, Part 2 |access-date=2007-08-27 |archive-date=2009-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531154125/http://archive.salon.com/news/1998/08/cov_13news.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>