Mud-slinging Repugs send out their best shit-sniffer to probe Clinton's bunghole for remnants of Mark Rich

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Unk's Wild Wild West : One Thread

A miniature version of Janet Reno!!

Ruff-ruff-ruff!! Sniff-sniff! Yap-yap-yap!!

-- dyke bulldog in heat (sniffing@for.shit), February 15, 2001

Answers

Prosecutor Opens Probe of Rich Pardon

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal prosecutor in New York opened a criminal investigation on Wednesday of former President Clinton (news - web sites)'s controversial last-minute pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, already the subject of two U.S. congressional probes.

Federal officials said U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White will examine whether illegal payments were linked to the pardon of Rich, who fled to Switzerland 17 years ago to avoid prosecution on more than 50 counts of racketeering, wire fraud, income tax evasion and illegal oil trading with Iran (news - web sites).

Questions have mounted in recent weeks about possible connections between the pardon, granted in the final hours of Clinton's presidency, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations made by Rich's ex-wife Denise.

At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, the government's chief pardons attorney said he only learned of Clinton's planned pardon of Rich in a midnight call just hours before it was granted and he was not told that Rich was a fugitive.

U.S. Pardon Attorney Roger Adams, who normally shepherds pardon applications through the legal process, told the Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites) the controversial pardons of Rich and his business partner Pincus Green ``were not handled in anything approaching the normal way.''

The House of Representatives Government Reform Committee is also conducting an inquiry into Rich's pardon and whether it was influenced by the donations from Denise Rich or by the involvement of Rich's lawyer, former White House counsel Jack Quinn.

Clinton said in a statement he would cooperate with any ''appropriate'' inquiry, and reiterated that charges he was influenced in his decision by donations to the Democratic Party or to his presidential library fund were ``absolutely false.''

``I made the decision to pardon Marc Rich based on what I thought was the right thing to do,'' Clinton said.

House Committee Chairman Dan Burton, a vocal Clinton critic, agreed after meeting Justice Department (news - web sites) officials on Wednesday to hold off for a week on his effort to grant immunity to Denise Rich in order to compel her testimony to the committee.

Rich has refused to answer 14 written questions about her donations and other issues submitted to her by the committee, citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination.

The one-week delay was requested by federal officials and Burton readily agreed, saying the committee would ``refrain from taking any action that may be harmful to the interests of law enforcement.''

A Justice Department spokeswoman, as well as spokesmen for White and for New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (news - web sites), who headed up the prosecution of Rich in the early 1980s, declined comment on the new federal probe.

White, who was never consulted even though her office brought the initial criminal case against Rich in 1983, was particularly incensed by Rich's pardon. Two of her prosecutors testified to the House committee last week of their ``outrage'' at the action.

At the Senate hearing on Wednesday, Adams said he was not notified of the two pardons until the late-night call from the White House counsel's office -- less than 12 hours before Clinton left office.

The call alerted him to a faxed list of pardon candidates. When he called the counsel's office back, he said he was told there would be little information on Rich and Green for an FBI (news - web sites) check because they had been ``living abroad'' for several years.

Even though the two men were listed as international fugitives by the FBI, he said: ``I was not told they were fugitives. I learned that from the FBI.''

Sen. Arlen Specter (news - bio - voting record), a Pennsylvania Republican who chaired the hearing, questioned the validity of the pardon because the paperwork executing it was completed after Jan. 20 and because it included language indicating it was conditioned on the completion of a sentence. Rich never served a sentence.

Adams said his office just used the ``boiler-plate'' language on the petition for clemency, which was applicable in most pardon cases but not this one. ``It was simply an error on our part,'' he said.

He admitted the actual grant of clemency was completed and signed just last week, but said ``it certainly reflected the action of the president -- then-President Clinton -- taken on Jan. 20.''

Specter told reporters after the hearing he still questioned the pardon's legality. ``I have grave doubts that Mr. Rich has a valid pardon,'' he said.

Senate Democrats did not defend the pardon, saying it was inexcusable. But Sen. Richard Durbin (news - bio - voting record), an Illinois Democrat, urged his Republican colleagues not to use the issue as an excuse to bash Clinton and reminded them of pardons granted by former President George Bush to those convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal.

``They just can't seem to help themselves,'' Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle said of Republican attacks on Clinton. ``I'm sure they'll be investigating Bill Clinton's grandchildren.''

-- Repugs (we.love@the.smell.of.shit), February 15, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ