-Caveat Lector-
Sunday August 26 2:07 PM ET
Report: Roger Clinton Lobbied on Behalf of Gambinos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Roger Clinton, former President Bill Clinton's
half-brother who is under investigation for possible influence peddling
in connection with presidential pardons, sought the early release of a
crime family member jailed for heroin trafficking, The New York Times
said on Sunday.
Clinton, who acknowledged to federal agents that he received a watch,
plane tickets and expense money for his efforts on behalf of Rosario
Gambino before the U.S. Parole Commission, assured Gambino's son,
Tommy, that his father was a ''lock'' for a pardon by the president
before he left office, the Times said, citing someone close to Tommy
Gambino.
But while Clinton issued pardons and commutations for 177 people, many
of which remain controversial, those recommended by Roger Clinton were
not among them.
Gambino, whose name was included on a list sent by the White House to
the Justice Department (news - web sites) in late January for possible
clemency, is serving a 45-year sentence for his role in a heroin
smuggling ring.
In an article based on interviews with federal officials and documents
obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Clinton is depicted as
``a tireless, if inept, advocate whose persistent pleas annoyed and
worried parole commission officials.''
In a case separate from the Gambino effort, a felon told prosecutors
that he had paid Clinton $225,000 to lobby for a pardon and complained
that Clinton did little or nothing in return, the Times reported.
FINANCIAL REWARD SUGGESTED
In a September 1999 meeting with FBI (news - web sites) agents at
his Redondo Beach, California home, Clinton said Tommy Gambino had told
him ''we will take care of you'' if he won release for Rosario Gambino,
a distant relative of the late crime boss Carlo Gambino.
Clinton said he understood that comment to mean he would be
financially rewarded, the report said.
``I'm not stupid,'' he was quoted as having said in the agents'
notes on the meeting.
Roger Clinton is the subject of congressional and federal investigations
into influence peddling and other possible illegalities in connection
with last-minute pardons granted by his brother shortly before he left
office in January.
According to the Times, Roger Clinton visited the parole commission's
Chevy Chase, Maryland headquarters at least four times on Gambino's
behalf.
He tried to exploit his ties to an Arkansas parole commissioner, he
invoked his brother's authority and he even produced listings from a
Sicilian telephone book as evidence that Gambino is a common name and
thus, not every Gambino was associated with the crime family.
In January 1999 the FBI attempted a sting operation against Clinton.
The parole commission's chief of staff met him in a conference room
equipped with an FBI listening device and asked him open-ended questions
such as ``What do you want me to do?''
But officials said the conversations led to no improprieties, and the
Times said there was no record of any further lobbying by Clinton on
Gambino's behalf.
In the meeting with the FBI, Clinton said he had received plane tickets
and expense money from Tommy Gambino, and said Gambino offered to loan
him money for a house, the paper reported.
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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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