-Caveat Lector-
Clinton Administration Delays in Issuing Pardons
By Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 20, 2001 ; Page A19
An array of presidential pardons that White House officials
expected to announce yesterday was held up late last night
because of continued debate within the Clinton administration
over whether to grant one to Whitewater figure Susan McDougal and
others.
Mark Geragos, McDougal's attorney, said last night he had been
told the delay stemmed from disagreements among White House
staffers about whether to include his client in the list of those
being pardoned.
"She is front and center the main reason" the pardons were
delayed, Geragos said. A White House source said there was
debate in the Oval Office over McDougal and others as late as 9
p.m. yesterday.
White House spokesman Elliot Diringer said only that "the
decisions haven't been finalized."
McDougal was convicted of bank fraud and spent 18 months in
prison for civil contempt after she refused to testify about the
truthfulness of Clinton's testimony at her trial, which grew out
of the investigation of the Clintons' financial dealings in
Arkansas.
Geragos said last night that he had been told by the White House
that close to 100 people are on the list of potential pardons.
The White House abruptly canceled its plan to issue the pardons
at about 9:15 p.m., after pushing back the announcement all day.
Clinton will leave office at noon today, when George W. Bush
will be sworn in as president.
The last-minute wrangling came several weeks after Clinton issued
59 pardons, including one on behalf of former representative Dan
Rostenkowski, the Illinois Democrat and onetime chairman of the
House Ways and Means Committee. He served a 17-month prison term
after pleading guilty in 1996 to two counts of mail fraud.
At that time, Clinton also pardoned Archibald Schaffer III, a
Tyson Foods executive who was convicted in 1998 of providing an
illegal gratuity to former agriculture secretary Mike Espy.
Several people, or their associates, have acknowledged waging
active campaigns for pardons, including Michael R. Milken, the
junk bond peddler who pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges
in 1990. His supporters cited the work he has done for charities
since serving almost two years in prison and paying $1 billion in
penalties.
But law enforcement officials urged Clinton to deny the request,
saying the magnitude of Milken's wrongdoing made him an
inappropriate candidate for a pardon.
Also generating controversy were two other high-profile
defendants who sought consideration: Jonathan Jay Pollard, a
former Navy analyst who pleaded guilty in 1986 to spying for
Israel, and Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted
of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout.
Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Select
Committee on Intelligence, urged Clinton not to commute Pollard's
life sentence, and FBI Director Louis J. Freeh wrote a letter
recommending Peltier remain jailed. Hundreds of FBI agents
marched to the White House to express opposition to a pardon for
Peltier.
Pardons have stirred debate throughout the nation's history. In
recent times, none has been more controversial than Gerald R.
Ford's 1974 pardon of Richard M. Nixon in the Watergate matter.
Weeks before he left office, Clinton's predecessor, George Bush,
drew the ire of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh by
pardoning former defense secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and five
other former government officials involved in the Iran-contra
affair. At the time, Bush issued a lengthy statement that cited
a "healing tradition" of pardons dating back to James Madison's
pardon of Jean Lafitte's pirates after the War of 1812.
The Constitution gives presidents unlimited power to pardon
– or officially forgive – criminal wrongdoing.
Pardons do not expunge convictions but can be used to restore
civil rights lost as a result.
In recent days, White House officials have been peppered with
questions about who might make Clinton's final cut. The drama
increased as the end of the term approached. Clinton made
reference to the issue on Wednesday, remarking that "everybody in
America either wants somebody pardoned or a national monument" in
his last days in office.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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