-Caveat Lector- <http://www.spectator.org/> The Mystery of John Podesta What did Bill Clinton's last chief of staff, John Podesta, know, and when did he know it? On Sunday one might have been tempted to tune into the much awaited return of "The Sopranos" to find out. Not to offend anyone, but ethnic stereotyping and solidarity are in. We saw confirmed over the weekend when the New York Daily News reported -- in a story the Washington Post saw fit to reprint on page A2 of its Sunday edition -- that a major fundraiser for the Clinton library who is not to be confused with Denise Rich intervened with the White House to help win a pardon for a New York business figure who fifteen years ago in a bankruptcy case agreed to plead guilty on one count of perjury. What made the report interesting on Soprano night is that the ex-felon in question, William Fugazy, "has long been a prominent fixture in New York's political and charity scene," the Daily News reported. "His nonprofit campaigns included fighting anti-Italian bias..." What made the story even more interesting is that in lobbying for Fugazy's pardon, the Clinton library supporter turned directly to Podesta. The idea, presumably, was to get one Italian-American to help another. We have no idea how Podesta responded. But the intervention couldn't have hurt since Fugazy did win a last-second pardon. Podesta did not return the Daily News's calls. What's more, since the Fugazy story broke too late to be the subject of queries at last week's Burton committee hearing before which Podesta and several other top Clinton White House figures appeared, Podesta obviously wasn't asked about it. But it can't be good news for a key Clinton aide who has tried to distance himself from the pardons ever since they turned into Clinton's last official scandal. Until yesterday, he seemed to be getting away with whatever it is he needs to get away with. >From the start word was the Podesta had done heroic work to keep his boss from issuing even more dubious pardons. At the same time, he liked to emphasize how "difficult" each of these cases was, as he told "Nightline" on January 30. As February rolled Podesta continued to defend Clinton's decision, though increasingly it became the official word that Podesta, like White House counsel Beth Nolan and Clinton longtime right hand Bruce Lindsey, had personally opposed the Rich pardon. Podesta confirmed as much on February 18's "Meet the Press," all the while hiding behind the idea that Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and even deputy attorney general Eric Holder had greaterinfluence on Clinton in the end. Podesta stuck to this script before the Burton committee. Throughout he's attempted to turn the discussion as much as possible to high politics or serious policy. He's had next to nothing to say about Denise Rich, for instance, or Beth Dozoretz. When the famous Quinn e-mail emerged and had Clinton telling those two women that he was working to overcome White House opposition to the pardon, Podesta dismissed it as a "fourth-hand conversation." It was a perfect situation for Podesta -- he could pretend to be loyal to Clinton even though everyone knew he no longer had to be, now that it was clear he had opposed the Rich pardon. Because there was no widespread follow-up, he dodged a deadly bullet shot at him by Cokie Roberts on "This Week" last February 11. She cited another Quinn e-mail, from January 9, in which Rich's lawyer told colleagues: "I think we've benefited from being under the press radar. Podesta said as much." "So were you involved in this decision making?" Roberts asked him. His response was vintage Clintonite: "That's the first time I've seen that.... I--I don't actually remember talking to Mr. Quinn, so I don't know where he got that from." A week later, Tim Russert of "Meet the Press" ran the same "under the press radar" quote by Podesta, and received the same answer, if more shakily delivered: RUSSERT: Did you say that to Jack Quinn? PODESTA: I don't believe I ever talked to Jack Quinn, so I don't know where that's coming from. RUSSERT: Where'd that come from? PODESTA: I don't know. I mean, I may have -- I actually have no idea where that came from because I do not believe I talked to Mr. Quinn about this. He doesn't know where it came from? Maybe Podesta never spoke to Quinn, he did speak to Peter Kadzik, a lawyer whose firm was also representing Marc Rich. Kadzik wasn't just anyone. As Podesta let on in an opening statement he read to Burton's committee -- it's curious that Podesta was the only one of the four ex-Clinton White House who appeared before the committee who felt the need to submit on official statement of this sort -- Kadzik has been Podesta's friend since law school days. The same Kadzik called Podesta not once but three times late last year and early this on Rich's behalf, and also came by Podesta's office in January to lobby for Rich. Podesta states he made it clear to Kadzik that a pardon was unlikely, and that he and the entire White House counsel's staff opposed it. But he doesn't explain why he didn't ask Kadzik to stop hounding him. On "The Sopranos," the main character knows how to deal with unwanted overtures from friends. But then it might be unfair to confuse Podesta with Tony Soprano. He doesn't have the look of a Jersey hood. If anything, his features are sculpted Italian Renaissance: intelligent, Machiavellian, and much more mysterious. One other thing: "The Sopranos" is sheer comedy, and there was nothing funny about the regime Podesta served. ================================================================= 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. 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