Thursday March 1 3:03 PM ET Top Clinton Aides Say They Opposed Rich Pardon

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three of former President Clinton (news - web sites)'s top aides told Congress on Thursday they argued against the last-minute pardon for billionaire Marc Rich (news - web sites), but believed Clinton made his decision based on the merits of the case.

Former chief of staff John Podesta, White House counsel Beth Nolan and close adviser Bruce Lindsey said the Rich pardon was discussed at two staff meetings in the final days of Clinton's presidency, including a ``heated'' meeting the day before it was granted.

``The staff informed the president that it was our view that the pardon should not be granted,'' Podesta told the House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites), which is investigating whether the pardon was linked to donations to Democratic causes or Clinton's presidential library by Rich's ex-wife Denise.

Beth Dozoretz, the former finance chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites), refused to testify before the committee, invoking her constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Denise Rich also has declined to answer questions before the committee.

Rich fled to Switzerland 17 years ago to avoid prosecution on racketeering, wire fraud, income tax evasion and illegal oil trading charges and received a pardon from Clinton on his last day in office on Jan. 20.

``We never discussed any matters relating to any of the things alleged by his critics,'' Podesta said of discussions with Clinton about the Rich pardon. ``There was no wrongdoing.''

Didn'T Expect Pardon To Be Granted

All three aides said they initially did not believe the pardon would be granted.

``I did not have a sense at that meeting, or until the 19th, that he was inclined to grant a pardon,'' said Nolan, describing the meeting that day about potential pardons as ``heated.''

[What this report doesn't mention is that at around 2 a.m. on the 20th, Nolan called Rich's attorney, Jack Quinn, to ask him about the accuracy of the charges against his client. As the Committee Chairman commented, you have to wonbder why she called the guy's attorney and not the Justice Department. . . OG]

The House panel subpoenaed the three aides in its widening investigation of possible influence peddling or links between campaign donations and the pardon of Rich and others on Clinton's last day in office. Denise Rich gave more than $1 million to Democratic candidates and groups and $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library.

Apart from the separate criminal investigation, the Rich case has also drawn the attention of the New York state tax authorities, who announced on Thursday they were suing Rich for income tax evasion.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said it wanted $137 million owed on money Rich made in the 1980s while in control of two companies that admitted fraud involving illegal oil trading.

In his opening statement at the committee hearing, Republican Committee Chairman Dan Burton, a long-time Clinton critic, said the former president's last-minute pardons set a double standard.

``The appearances that are being created here are obvious. If you have friends in high places you can get around the law. It makes it look like we have one system of justice for the rich and powerful and another system of justice for all the rest of us,'' he said.

Burton said he was sorry that neither Denise Rich nor Dozoretz were prepared to testify.

Democrats Defend Right Not To Testify

Democratic members on the committee defended the constitutional right not to testify and said efforts to keep investigating Clinton needed to stop sometime.

``We could spend months investigating the details of all of President Clinton's pardons but I seriously question whether it makes sense for us to conduct another redundant investigation,'' said the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Henry Waxman (news - bio - voting record) of California.

Committee investigators got a brief peek on Wednesday at the names of those donors who contributed more than $5,000 to the library and won an agreement from Clinton attorney David Kendall for a broader review of those donors that investigators suspect might be linked to the pardon of Rich or others.

The committee had subpoenaed information on all donors contributing more than $5,000 to the Clinton library fund, and threatened library officials with contempt if they did not comply.

Kendall attended the hearing, sitting among the audience taking notes.

Dozoretz was recruited by Rich's attorney Jack Quinn to lobby Clinton on the pardon. Quinn, a former White House counsel under Clinton, has testified that Dozoretz spoke to Clinton about Rich at least twice.

Among the other cases being probed by Congress are those of a convicted swindler and a major cocaine dealer who paid some $400,000 to Hugh Rodham, Clinton's brother-in-law, to advance their bids for clemency.

Rodham ultimately gave the money back after Clinton and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites) complained.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001