Mystery Man in pardons scandal

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Published February 21 - 27, 2001 villagevoice.com exclusive

Former U.S. Attorney Who Once Bit Stripper Prepared Pardon Applications Reporters Looking for Kendall Coffey by James Ridgeway

WASHINGTON, D.C., FEBRUARY 22—The mystery man in the Hugh Rodham pardon scandal may turn out to be Kendall Coffey, another Florida lawyer. The current coverage is focusing on Rodham, Senator Hillary Clinton's brother, and the $400,000 he was paid after President Clinton pardoned and commuted the sentences of two men, convicted herbalist swindler A. Glenn Braswell and drug smuggler Carlos Vignali. Rodham says he has returned the money.

But the man who actually prepared the testimonials and applications was Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney appointed by Clinton and lead attorney for the White House in the Elián González case. For the last two weeks reporters have been calling the Coffey, and he hasn't responded. The woman who answered the phone at his office today said that he had no statement at this time, and that she would give him the request for comment whenever he next checked his messages.

Coffey lost his U.S. attorney job for biting a stripper. He had been appointed to replace Janet Reno as federal prosecutor in Miami when she left to be Clinton's attorney general. As U.S. attorney he is remembered for having lost a key drug case against two smugglers who had been accused of importing 75 tons of cocaine, said to be worth $2 billion. It was the biggest drug-smuggling case ever lost by federal prosecutors.

On a February 1996 evening Coffey was at Lipstik, a Miami nude bar, where he had a private session in which stripper Tamara "Tiffany" Gutierrez danced naked for him. Inexplicably, Coffey lunged for her breast and missed, biting her on the arm. He was escorted out of the establishment. Coffey had put his tab on a credit card. When exposed, Coffey resigned.

Most recently, Coffey was in the news as one of the attorneys working on the recount for the Gore campaign in Florida.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001


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