WASHINGTON -- Congressional hearings into the Whitewater affair were winding down Friday amid partisan sniping before a House panel and an clash between White House special counsel Lloyd Cutler and a Republican senator.


As members of the Senate Banking Committee continued to question the role of Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman, Cutler appealed for mercy, saying Altman had "suffered enough."


In the House Banking Committee, Chairman Henry Gonzalez denounced Republican charges that the White House had tried to interfere with an investigation of a defunct Arkansas savings and loan institution, saying they had been shown to be exaggerated and distorted.


Republicans counterattacked, charging that a string of witnesses before Friday had lost their memories over what had occurred and referring to contradictions among witnesses.


Before the Senate panel, whose five days of hearings have been more intense and less partisan than the House sessions, Cutler said evidence had shown unequivocally that the White House had not sought to influence the investigation.


He acknowledged mistakes had been made in numerous White House-Treasury contacts over a decision by the Resolution Trust Corporation to refer its probe of the Madison Guaranty savings and loan to the Justice Department for possible criminal action in a case in which President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were possible witnesses.


The head of Madison and his wife were partners with the Clintons in the failed Whitewater real estate development in Arkansas more than a decade ago.


Missouri Republican Christopher Bond angered Cutler when he said "people cut corners, shaved the truth and lied" and suggested that documents might have been shredded.


Cutler accused Bond of judging unfairly and told him he came from a party that was responsible for Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandal of the Ronald Reagan administration.


Bond shot back that Cutler had "tried to throw a bucket of Watergate on top of me" and later Cutler apologized to the senator.


After several senators had again raised the issue of Altman's truthfulness, Utah Republican Robert Bennett asked how the Treasury official could testify in future with any credibility.


Cutler replied Altman had admitted error and shown contrition. "He has been made to suffer enough and he can continue to be a very good public servant," he said.