Crime pays much better than consulting--a littlefrom DJV's bible CNN---how they swept this under the rug I'll never know---
Pardons may tarnish Clinton legacy
(CNN) -- Many U.S. presidents have left a trail of controversial pardons in their wake. Former President Bill Clinton is no exception.
The 176 people who were pardoned or had prison sentences commuted by Clinton on his last day in office include: An accused tax swindler who is the former husband of a major Clinton donor; two felons who paid Clinton's brother-in-law $400,000 to lobby on their behalf; and the former president's own half-brother.
Adding fuel to the firestorm is the fact that some of the pardons bypassed the usual Justice Department procedures.
The web of close Clinton associates linked with the pardon requests extends into the successful New York senate campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton, putting the former first lady directly in the line of fire.
The pardon of billionaire fugitive Marc Rich triggered the initial barrage of criticism, opening the door to a federal investigation.
Rich fled to Switzerland after his 1983 indictment on charges of racketeering, wire fraud, illegal oil trading with Iran and evading more than $48 million in taxes. The financier was born in Belgium but grew up in the United States.
Although Rich was out of the country, he had some powerful allies on U.S. soil. His former wife, Denise Rich, has made more than $1.3 million in political contributions to the Democratic Party since 1993, including $70,000 to Hillary Clinton's campaign and $450,000 for the Clinton presidential library in Arkansas. She wrote a letter to the president in December, pleading with him to pardon her former husband.
Rich's lawyer was former White House counsel Jack Quinn, who delivered a massive petition to Clinton seeking pardons for Rich and his partner, Pincus Green.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak also personally lobbied Clinton to pardon Rich.
The outrage following the Rich pardon prompted Clinton to defend himself in an op-ed article that appeared in the New York Times on February 18, 2001. Clinton wrote that while he waived the criminal charges against Rich and Green, the two men are still liable for any civil charge the government might bring against them.
"The suggestion that I granted the pardons because Mr. Rich's former wife, Denise, made political contributions and contributed to the Clinton library foundation is utterly false," Clinton wrote. "There was absolutely no quid pro quo. Indeed, other friends and financial supporters sought pardons in cases which, after careful consideration based on the information available to me, I determined I could not grant."
However, revelations of pardons Clinton granted to people linked to friends and supporters kept growing as the list of his 11th-hour actions was further scrutinized.
Sen. Hillary Clinton said that she herself had been unaware until the evening of February 19 that her brother, lawyer Hugh Rodham, received $400,000 to lobby for two wealthy felons.
Under pressure from his sister, Rodham said he would return the money he was rewarded after clemency was granted for Almon Glenn Brawell, who was convicted of mail fraud and perjury, and Carlos Vignali, a cocaine trafficker.
Sen. Clinton told a news conference that she was "disappointed" and "heartbroken" when she learned about the roles of her brother and husband in the commutations.
The new senator also had to deflect criticism over the disclosure that her campaign treasurer, William Cunningham III, helped obtain clemency for Robert Fain and James Manning, two tax felons from Arkansas.
Cunningham acknowledged at a news conference that he received $4,000 in legal fees to prepare Justice Department applications on behalf of Fain and Manning, restaurant operators from Little Rock. Cunningham's law partner is Harold Ickes, Clinton's former White House deputy chief of staff and an adviser to Hillary Clinton. Cunningham said that television producer Harry Thomason, a long- time Clinton friend from Arkansas, also played a role in seeking pardons for Fain and Manning.
Hillary Clinton's budding Senate career grew even more complicated after the Associated Press reported on February 23 that Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White was expanding her probe of the Rich pardon and investigating whether Clinton commuted the sentences of four Hasidic Jews in exchange for votes for his wife.
Kalmen Stern, David Goldstein, Benjamin Berger and Jacob Elbaum were convicted of swindling more than $40 million in government money. Clinton reduced the jail terms of the men, who are members of the Hasidic New York community of New Square. The community voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton on November 7.
Hillary Clinton had acknowledged earlier that she sat in on a December meeting with supporters of clemency for the four men, but said she played no part in her husband's decision to commute their sentences.
Former President Clinton's younger half-brother, Roger Clinton, has also been questioned about his involvement in the presidential pardon process.
Julia Payne, an aide to Bill Clinton, acknowledged that Roger Clinton once made a personal appeal for clemency by handing his half brother a list of "about five or six" friends and acquaintances and asking the president to consider them.
Roger Clinton denied reports that he received money to push for pardons and Payne said that none of the people on the list he gave the president were given clemency.
But Roger Clinton was more successful on another front. His half brother pardoned him for a 1985 conviction on cocaine charges.
Written by Carol Clark, CNN.com writer/editor
