Politics

Clinton Pardon Under Fire

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 25, 2001 / 11:07 AM EST / CBS

A House committee chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, issued demands Thursday for documents on President Clinton's pardon of billionaire fugitive Marc Rich as Congress began delving into whether the president, in the words of Burton, "had an improper motive for the pardons" of Rich and business partner Pincus Green.

"Former President Clinton has not given an adequate explanation as to why Mr. Rich deserved a pardon," said Burton, an Indiana Republican and frequent Clinton critic, who chairs the House Government Reform Committee.

Rich's former wife, songwriter Denise Rich, donated more than $1.1 million to the Democratic Party from 1993 through last September.

But that fact, apparently, was not mentioned in the extensive pardon application filed on Marc Rich's behalf.

Ms. Rich insists her political donations were unrelated to the president's grant of clemency to her ex-husband, who has been living in Switzerland, where he fled in the 1980s.

Marc Rich's pardon application details an intensive behind-the-scenes legal effort that began with futile meetings 14 years ago with federal prosecutors and ended with clemency from Mr. Clinton in his final hours in office.

Included in the application were 22 letters to Mr. Clinton urging that Rich be pardoned, as well as 55 other letters written to Rich and those working with him.

More Clemency Controversy

Former President Clinton's pardon for Marc Rich isn't the only act of clemency that's drawn fire. Mr. Clinton commuted the sentences of four Hasidic men convicted of stealing $40 million in government funds, and just days before the prosecutor in the case had urged the White House not to reduce their prison time. In a strongly worded letter to White House counsel Beth Nolan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Landis said the case was being watched closely by the New Square, New York, ultra-orthodox Jewish community.

First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, then New York's senator-elect, sat in on the White House meeting between her husband and supporters of clemency for the men. But she said that she played no role in the president's decision and had no opinion about the case.

Hasidic communities typically vote in blocs and Clinton received New Square's 1,400 votes; her Republican rival Rick Lazio received only 12 votes.

After the election, Grand Rabbi David Twersky and New Square's deputy mayor, Izzy Spitzer, were invied to the White House, where they raised the issue of the clemency with the president while the first lady was in the room.
(Associated Press)

Many of the letters expressed gratitude to Rich and Green for their financial largesse to Israeli charitable causes.

The application says Rich and his foundation have "given away over $100 million to charitable, cultural and civic organizations," while Green's foundation "has provided over $120 million to charities the world over."

Former Israeli Intelligence Director Shabtai Shavit wrote that "we requested" Rich's "assistance in looking for MIA's (missing in action) and help in the rescue and evacuation of Jews from enemy countries. Mr. Rich always agreed and used his extensive network of contacts in these countries to produce results."

Marc Rich had other connections to the Oval Office going for him, too. His lawyer, former White House counsel Jack Quinn, was able to take the case directly to his old boss.

Quinn told The New York Times that the president's decision was based on an eleventh-hour conversation the two men had had that focused strictly on the case.

"Every word I had with the president was about the legal merits," Quinn said. "He was not focused on 'are they Democrats?' or 'is Denise this?' He was focused on the distinction I was making about whether this ought to have been treated as a civil or criminal matter."

In the few public comments he has made regarding the issue, Mr. Clinton indicated that his decision was based on Quinn's presentation of the case.

Rich was indicted in Manhattan federal court in 1983, shortly after he fled the country, on charges of tax fraud and illegally buying oil from Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis. He was charged with evading more than $48 million in income taxes, the largest tax evasion case ever brought by the U.S. government.

In seeking the pardon, Rich's lawyers argued that the case against him could not be brought now because of changes in the law and that similar cases have been handled as regulatory matters.

The pardon has drawn strong criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.

"I have a hard time seeing how he qualifies for a pardon," said Dick Thornburgh, who served as attorney general during the Reagan and Bush administrations.

Thornburgh also objected because Clinton administration officials "bypassed the normal process and kept the application secret from the law enforcement officials who brought the charges."

U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White said her office not been consulted by the Clinton White House as the president's aides considered the arguments of Rich, Green and several other defendants charged in White's jurisdiction, the southern district of Manhattan.

"We were totally unaware that pardons for Marc Rich" and his business partner "were even under consideration,"> said White.

Quinn told the Times that he had approached White's office urging them to re-examine the case, but had gotten nothing more than "the back of the hand from" her.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota also objected to Mr. Clinton's decision. "I disagree with the pardon of Rich," he said. "I don't think it was appropriate."