-Caveat Lector-
Saturday, February 17, 2001
House Panel May Face Wall of Silence in Rich Inquiry
Testimony: Clinton aides could claim executive privilege on what
they know about financier's pardon.
By ROBERT L. JACKSON
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON--Congressional investigators are hoping to learn more
from former President Clinton's top aides about what led to his
last-minute pardons, but prospects of obtaining their testimony
are far from certain.
The House Government Reform Committee has asked Clinton to waive
any executive privilege claims that could keep aides such as
former White House lawyers Bruce Lindsey and Beth Nolan from
disclosing what they know, but the panel has received no
response.
"No decision has been made on that," said Julia Payne, a
spokeswoman for Clinton.
Lindsey, a former Arkansas colleague who was Clinton's closest
confidant on matters attracting public scrutiny, fought hard
against testifying three years ago before independent counsel
Kenneth W. Starr's grand jury in the Monica S. Lewinsky
investigation. But Lindsey ultimately was forced to do so when
the Supreme Court refused to review a lower court's decision
compelling his testimony.
The high court said presidential aides have no privilege against
testifying in a criminal investigation, but the justices did not
address the right of aides to remain silent in a congressional
inquiry.
Lindsey, Nolan and John Podesta, Clinton's chief of staff, all
refused to testify at the House committee's first hearing Feb.
8 on Clinton's controversial pardon of fugitive commodities
trader Marc Rich. But officials of the panel said they will
issue subpoenas to them next week for a second hearing on March
1.
None of the three could be reached for comment Friday.
Investigators believe that Lindsey privately recommended against
a pardon for Rich after conferring with Arthur Levitt,
then-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, on
Clinton's last full day in office on Jan. 19. Rich and his
business partner, Pincus Green, were fugitives in Switzerland for
17 years after being charged with tax evasion and trading oil
with Iran in violation of a 1979 American embargo of that
country.
Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), the committee chairman, wants to ask
Lindsey whether Clinton indeed rejected his advice, according to
spokesman Mark Corallo. And--if Clinton did reject Lindsey's
advice hours before he left office--why. The clemency for Rich
and Green was among 176 pardons and commutations granted by
Clinton in his last hours in the White House.
Roger C. Adams, the Justice Department official assigned to
review all pardons, told a Senate committee Wednesday that he was
surprised by the action in the Rich case. Adams told of
receiving a post-midnight phone call from the office of White
House Counsel Nolan asking for data on Rich and Green, whose
names he did not recognize.
Corallo said the committee has postponed by one week seeking
immunity for Denise Rich, the former fugitive's ex-wife. Denise
Rich has refused to answer questions about substantial political
contributions that she made to the Democratic National Committee
in the months preceding the pardon, as well as a gift of $450,000
to Clinton's still-unbuilt presidential library in Little Rock,
Ark., and about $100,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful
campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft asked for the brief postponement
before he signs off on congressional immunity for Denise Rich,
the potential target of a new grand jury investigation by federal
prosecutors in New York.
Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, is seeking
financial records to determine the source of Denise Rich's
contributions and whether they were directly linked to the pardon
application for the father of her children. Any effort to buy a
pardon would amount to a criminal act. Political contributions
made from funds originating from abroad also would be a criminal
violation, officials said.
Denise Rich said through her New York attorney, Martin Pollner,
that she has done nothing wrong and that she knows of no illegal
acts by anyone else.
If Lindsey, Nolan and Podesta all should refuse to testify on
grounds that their conversations with Clinton were privileged,
legal experts believe they could be compelled to answer questions
in the new grand jury case in Manhattan. But whether a
congressional committee could pierce their silence is "legally
uncertain," said one attorney familiar with the issue.
=================================================================
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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