-Caveat Lector-
NYTimes
February 16, 2001
U.S. Seeks Bank Records in Pardon Inquiry
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 � Federal prosecutors in New York have
prepared subpoenas demanding the bank records of Denise Rich, the
former wife of Marc Rich, in an effort to determine the source of
her contributions to Democratic causes in recent years, including
$450,000 to Mr. Clinton's presidential library, government
officials said today.
The officials said the prosecutors wanted financial documents
that might indicate whether Ms. Rich had contributed her own
money, or instead operated as an intermediary who donated money
on behalf of Mr. Rich or others in his effort to obtain a
presidential pardon.
The subpoenas, which will be issued to Ms. Rich, Democratic
Party committees and financial institutions, are part of a
criminal inquiry into the events surrounding Mr. Clinton's
pardon of Mr. Rich on Jan. 20, hours before leaving office. It
would be illegal for a donor to conceal the true source of a
contribution to a federal election committee. Related laws bar
foreign nationals from contributing to these committees.
The issue of foreign contributions has been raised, the officials
said, because Mr. Rich, who lives abroad as a fugitive, has at
times sought to renounce his American citizenship, but the
legality of his renunciation remains clouded.
As the criminal inquiry got under way today in New York,
Congressional committees continued their own inquiries into the
pardon. One of them, the House Government Reform Committee,
asked Mr. Clinton and Mr. Rich to waive legal rights to
confidentiality. Such a step would allow White House aides and
Mr. Rich's lawyers to testify fully about their roles in the
pardon deliberations � and to discuss their private conversations
with Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Rich has sought to block access to some of his legal papers
by citing attorney-client privilege. But Congressional aides
said they had not received an immediate reply to their request
from either Mr. Rich or Mr. Clinton.
The House committee scheduled a second hearing on March 1 to
further examine the circumstances leading to the pardons. The
scheduled witnesses are Beth Nolan, a former White House counsel;
Bruce Lindsey, former counsel to the president; John D.
Podesta, former White House chief of staff; and Jack Quinn, a
lawyer for Mr. Rich and a former White House counsel.
The committee may also seek testimony from a Bush administration
official, Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of
staff and formerly a lawyer for Mr. Rich.
Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, suggested
today on CNN's "Larry King Live" that the Senate Judiciary
Committee might call Mr. Clinton to testify about the pardons.
In New York, United States Attorney Mary Jo White issued a brief
statement today confirming that her office, along with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, was conducting an inquiry into
the Rich pardon. Ms. White provided no details about the
investigation.
She has complained that she was not told in advance that Mr.
Clinton would grant pardons to Mr. Rich and his partner, Pincus
Green. The two men are commodities traders who were indicted in
1983 by prosecutors in Ms. White's office on tax evasion,
racketeering and fraud charges after they had fled to
Switzerland.
Government officials said that Ms. White persuaded senior aides
to Attorney General John Ashcroft to allow her to conduct what
they said was a preliminary investigation. The inquiry is
intended to determine whether there are grounds to open a broader
investigation into whether anyone acting on Mr. Rich's behalf
sought to, in effect, buy his presidential pardon.
Mr. Clinton granted the pardons to Mr. Rich and Mr. Green in
the final hours of his presidency after Mr. Quinn urged the
president to issue a highly unusual clemency order covering two
fugitives.
Mr. Clinton has said he made the pardon decision because two men
deserved leniency on legal grounds. Mr. Quinn, in testimony to
House and Senate committees, has said that Ms. Rich's
contributions to Democratic causes were not a factor in Mr.
Clinton's decision.
In a telephone call today to Geraldo Rivera, the host of the CNBC
television program "Rivera Live," Mr. Clinton reportedly said
that he was bewildered by the uproar over the pardon and that
"there's not a single, solitary shred of evidence that I did
anything wrong" or that Marc Rich's money changed hands.
According to a partial transcript of the conversation provided by
the program, Mr. Clinton told Mr. Rivera of being "blindsided
by this."
"I have no infrastructure to deal with this, no press person,"
Mr. Clinton said, according to the transcript. "I just wanted to
go out there and do what past presidents have done but the
Republicans had other ideas for me."
He also said Mr. Rich had been represented by "big-time"
Republican lawyers, including Mr. Libby.
Still, lawmakers in both parties have said they are troubled by
the pardon because of the amount of Ms. Rich's contributions.
In recent years, she has donated $867,000 to Democratic Party
committees, $66,300 to individual Democratic candidates and
$70,000 to a fund to help the successful campaign of Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, according to a survey by the
Center for Responsive Politics.
Ms. Rich also gave $10,000 to President Clinton's defense fund
and $7,375 worth of furniture as a gift to the Clintons.
A lawyer for Ms. Rich did not return a reporter's phone call
today.
At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Mr. Quinn said he did not know
how much money Ms. Rich had contributed to the library when he
urged Mr. Clinton to grant the pardon. He said that he had urged
Ms. Rich to speak to the president about a pardon and that he was
aware that the conversations took place.
=================================================================
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
=================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
