ROGER CLINTON - Lawyer admits payment from Gambino family

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[OG Note: When I first moved to Arkansas, one of the first things I was told--and by many people--is that Hot Springs, where Bill's mother used to live and play the ponies, was a popular retirement area for New York organized crime figures. It's not the sort of thing you ask questions about but I have no reason to disbelieve what I was told.]

ET

'Mafia link' to Roger Clinton cash By Ben Fenton

THE half-brother of Bill Clinton received £35,000 from a man whose father has been linked to America's most powerful crime family.

Roger Clinton's lawyer, Bart Williams, admitted yesterday that the money came from the son of Rosario Gambino, who is serving 45 years for heroin dealing. Congressional investigators are now looking at a possible link between such payments and consideration by the Clinton White House in January of a pardon for the alleged mobster.

Files on Gambino were sent to the White House, but no pardon was granted. However, the furore over pardons and commutations given by Bill Clinton to various unsavoury figures, as well as to his half-brother, further tainted the image of the former president.

Mr Williams said his client had been given the money by Tommy Gambino, whom he said was "a friend for many years". "I'm not going to comment on what the payment was for or about," Mr Williams told the New York Times. "I am going to say it was not related to Roger Clinton's assisting Tommy Gambino's father in his parole effort or any other effort."

The money paid to Roger Clinton in 1999 was in the form of a cheque drawn on a company owned by the children of Rosario Gambino. He is said to be a distant cousin of Carlo Gambino, founder of the Mafia family that bears his name. Despite a series of arrests, it remains the most powerful organised crime outfit in America.

Rosario Gambino, 59, is also said to be a member of the family. He has denied both connections.

-- Anonymous, June 29, 2001

Answers

WIRE: 06/28/2001 7:27 pm ET

Roger Clinton Refuses to Explain $50,000 Payment

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Roger Clinton, former President Bill Clinton's half-brother, declined to explain to a congressional panel investigating White House pardons why he got $50,000 from the daughter of a convicted heroin trafficker.

"Mr. (Roger) Clinton respectfully declines," Bart Williams, Roger Clinton's attorney, wrote in a letter in response to Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican and chairman of the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee.

Burton, whose panel has been investigating the pardons Clinton approved on his final day in office, had no immediate comment on the letter, received by his panel late on Wednesday, an aide said.

The trafficker in question, Rosario Gambino, is a reputed organized crime figure serving a 45-year sentence in California and did not receive a pardon.

But The New York Times on Thursday said a person close to Gambino's son, Tommy, said Roger Clinton had led the family to believe he could help obtain a presidential pardon.

"Whatever he said to him made Tommy Gambino think it was a lock," the newspaper reported.

The Times also quoted attorney Williams as saying the money was unrelated to any effort to help Rosario Gambino.

"Tommy Gambino is a friend of Roger Clinton's and has been for many years," Williams said. "I'm not going to comment on what the payment is for or about. I am going to say it was not related to Roger Clinton's assisting Tommy Gambino's father in his parole efforts or any other effort."

Williams told the newspaper Roger Clinton made at least one attempt on Rosario Gambino's behalf, writing a letter to a parole commission in late 1998 or early 1999.

Burton received the response from Williams three days after asking Roger Clinton to explain the $50,000 check and whether it was related to seeking a grant of clemency for Gambino.

Burton said Roger Clinton received the check on Sept. 27, 1999, from Anna Gambino, his daughter.

Williams, in his letter to Burton, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, wrote: "Like anyone else who values his own privacy and who respects the privacy of those close to him, Mr. Clinton will not submit willingly to a general warrant."

The Times said in the final days of the Clinton administration, the White House told the Justice Department it was considering a presidential pardon of Gambino.

Many of the pardons granted by Clinton are also being examined by the U.S. Attorney's office in New York.

-- Anonymous, June 29, 2001


Regardless of what the money was for, did Roger Clinton include it on his income tax? Not to mention the 250K.

-- Anonymous, June 30, 2001

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