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",[SUP]
[2][/SUP] and
Rex Armistead, a former police officer who was reportedly paid $350,000 for his efforts.[SUP]
[3][/SUP][SUP][
better source needed][/SUP] Also assisting the project was Parker Dozhier, a bait shop owner who was reportedly obsessed with bringing down Bill Clinton.[SUP]
[4][/SUP] They were tasked with investigating the Clintons and uncovering stories tying the Clintons to murders and drug smuggling as well as adultery.[SUP]
[5][/SUP]
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."[SUP]
[6][/SUP][SUP]
[7][/SUP] 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.[SUP]
[2][/SUP]
Ted Olson, who would later represent
George W. Bush in
Bush v. Gore and be named
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.[SUP]
[8][/SUP] 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
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.[SUP]
[9][/SUP][SUP]
[10][/SUP]