-Caveat Lector-
Sunday January 28, 2001
Rich Ready To Face Civil Actions
By RON KAMPEAS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A lawyer for Marc Rich, the fugitive financier
whose pardon has clouded President Clinton (news - web sites)'s
exit from office, said Sunday his client is ready to return to
face possible civil penalties on charges he did not pay millions
in taxes.
Rich, indicted in 1983 by a federal grand jury on evading more
than $48 million in income taxes, has been living in Switzerland.
He is ex-husband of Denise Rich, a major financial contributor to
the Democratic Party.
Rich's lawyer, former Clinton administration White House counsel
Jack Quinn, said Rich would not invoke statute of limitation
allowances that could frustrate government efforts to force him
to face civil action.
``He will and should face any assertions that he owes civil
penalties,'' Quinn said on NBC's ``Meet The Press.''
Quinn said it was his understanding that Rich and his business
partner Pincus Green, also pardoned by Clinton, would be coming
back to the United States.
Quinn emphasized that Rich would continue to maintain his
innocence. He contends the transactions in question were carried
out by Swiss companies associated with Rich, and were not subject
to the tax laws of the time.
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.
President Clinton's pardon of Rich, among 176 pardons and
clemencies he issued Jan 20, his last day in office, has led to
allegations that it was tied to Denise Rich's political
contributions, including those to the New York Senate campaign of
Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites).
Quinn and Denise Rich have strongly denied this.
New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who as federal prosecutor
had pursued Rich in the early 1980s, said he supported the
congressional investigation announced last week by Rep. Dan
Burton (news - bio - voting record), R-Ind., chairman of the
House Government Reform Committee.
``You have on the one side, a fugitive for many, many years, one
of the top six fugitives of the Justice Department (news - web
sites) ... on the other side a lot of unanswered questions about
over a million dollars in campaign contributions,'' Giuliani said
on NBC.
Denise Rich has contributed more than $1 million to Democrats
since 1993, including Hillary Clinton (news - web sites).
The mayor, who canceled a routine meeting with the senator last
week in order to signal his anger with the pardon, said he was
especially outraged that Rich was never even tried before
receiving the pardon.
But that is not without precedent: In 1992, former President Bush
(news - web sites) ended his term in office by pardoning, before
trial, six Reagan administration officials indicted in the
Iran-Contra affair, including former Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger.
Giuliani said that one sign that the pardon was inappropriate was
that Quinn bypassed consultations with New York prosecutors.
Quinn said he included all the prosecutors' stated objections to
any deal when he launched his efforts to obtain a pardon.
Burton wants to examine whether former President Clinton ``had an
improper motive'' for pardoning Rich.
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) suggested the
pardon ``pre-empted what had been a serious effort to bring him
to justice over the years on the charges that have been made
against him.''
Cheney would not count out the possibility that his
administration would seek to undo the pardon - but stressed that
his belief was that Clinton had broad discretion to issue the
pardon.
``The power of a president to issue pardons is absolute,'' Cheney
said on NBC. ``It's in the Constitution. It's something that
has been traditionally granted from time to time at the end of
administrations.''
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Trent Lott (news - bio - voting
record) suggested the Senate would review the president's
absolute power to pardon.
``Maybe we should have some basic parameters,'' Lott, R-Miss.,
said on ``Fox News Sunday. ``Should we take some action to try
to prevent abuses that do occur?''
The Constitution gives the president power to grant ``Reprieves
and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in
Cases of Impeachment.''
=================================================================
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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