First lady defends family

"I want our family to be left alone. We didn't do anything wrong," she told The Daily Oklahoman. "I think in my lifetime this has been one of the most painful, hurtful experiences, and I don't feel like either one of us or our kids deserve it. My kids feel like we've been attacked. You bet it hurts."

In a separate interview with the Tulsa World, the first lady said no laws or ethics rules were broken when the Keatings were paid $240,000 from 1989 through 1997 by Jack Dreyfus, founder of the Dreyfus Mutual Funds.

"He just wanted to do something nice for our children," she said.

She said Dreyfus had nothing to gain and no strings were attached to the gifts. Gov. Frank Keating has said the same thing.

Dreyfus first gave the money to Keatings' three children in 1990 when Frank Keating was serving as acting deputy secretary with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Dreyfus continued to send money after Keating returned to Oklahoma in 1993 to become governor.

Keating arranged meetings for Dreyfus with state and federal prison officials so Dreyfus could promote the drug Dilantin, an anti-seizure medication he believes will calm prisoners. The drug never was adopted in Oklahoma for any use other than its original purpose.

"I don't think it's fair for us to be second-guessed on the front page of newspapers," Cathy Keating said. "Our children have been through unbelievable emotional stress. They've done nothing to deserve this."

The gifts were disclosed publicly in a Newsweek article published earlier this month that suggested the money from Dreyfus was one of the reasons President Bush did not choose Keating for U.S. attorney general.

The information about the gifts came from paperwork Keating sent to Bush for Keating's consideration as vice president. The information was not required on the application form, but Keating decided to include it under a section titled "other."

Asked if she regrets the decision to volunteer the information, Cathy Keating said, "You bet I do. It's not anybody's business but ours."

She said the money was received $10,000 at a time by check either written to one of the children or to the governor with the intent the money be spent on the children. The children signed over the checks to their parents, and the money was deposited in the Keatings' joint account.

Some of the money was invested in bonds and stocks, including the Dreyfus Fund that no longer is managed by Dreyfus.

Frank Keating has said the money from Dreyfus was spent on his children's education, as his benefactor intended, and on summer programs and educational programs.

The media and Democratic Party critics requested the family produce information to show how the money from Dreyfus was received, deposited and spent. The Keatings resisted until Thursday. They said the information is private and not subject to open records laws.

The documents show how much the Keatings have spent on education for their children from 1990 through May when their son graduates from Southern Methodist University and their oldest daughter graduates from the University of Oklahoma law school.

The information showed the family spent a little more than $518,000 on four degrees, travel during college, tutors, automobiles, health insurance, private high school tuition and uniforms.

During the same time period, the Keatings earned an average of $229,000 a year.

"Because of the kindness of Jack Dreyfus, we were able to do a lot of things for our children that we wouldn't have been able to do," Cathy Keating said.

"I may be living in a dream world, but I don't know anybody who would turn down a legal gift of somebody wanting to help their children."