Corrupt Clinton Pardons: Marc Rich, Bro Hugh Rodham Getting $400k, Roger Clinton $50k, 2 YRS 4 COKE

Dems Will Win

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Sun Mar-16-08 04:25 PM
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Corrupt Clinton Pardons: Marc Rich, Bro Hugh Rodham Getting $400k, Roger Clinton $50k, 2 YRS 4 COKE

Edited on Sun Mar-16-08 04:38 PM by Dems Will Win

Let's Not Forget That the Pardons Corruption will be used against Hillary. Her own brother being paid $400,000 to lobby for a Presidential commutation for a cocaine dealer! Hugh Rodham and Roger Clinton also broke the law by not being registered lobbyists and both should have been forced to pay a $50,000 fine.

Hillary 'shocked' over pardon scandal

Hillary Clinton has spoken of her "shock and disappointment" at revelations that her brother received a payment of $400,000 to lobby on behalf of two men pardoned by her husband.

I was very disappointed and saddened by this whole matter

Hillary Clinton

Mrs Clinton told a news conference that she had nothing to do with the issuing of pardons. She said she had not spoken to her brother since the disclosure - and did not want to.

The affair has heightened the outcry over the pardons made on Bill Clinton's last day in office. Separate Senate and federal investigations into the pardons have already begun.

In a statement, the former president said that he and his wife were unaware of the payments made to Hugh Rodham, a Miami attorney and former US Senate candidate.

He said they had asked Mr Rodham to return the money and were "deeply disturbed" by what had happened.

Mr Rodham, who denies wrongdoing, has returned the money, his lawyer said.

Incomplete denial

However, Mr Clinton's statement stopped short of saying that he never discussed the cases with his brother-in-law.

Mr Clinton says he knew nothing of the payments to Hugh Rodham (left)

Mr Rodham reportedly received the payment for months of work in securing a reduced sentence for Carlos Vignali, a convicted drug trafficker, and a pardon for Almon Glenn Braswell, a businessman guilty of fraud.

Vignali himself was said to have been stunned by the commutation of his sentence after he served six years of a 15-year sentence for conspiring to sell 800 lbs (360 kg) of cocaine.

Federal lawyers who prosecuted the original case opposed the presidential clemency. The Roman Catholic Cardinal of Los Angeles, a sheriff and other community leaders were in favour.

Vignali's father, Horacio Vignali, is a major contributor to Mr Clinton's Democratic Party.

Braswell, described as a Miami businessman, was pardoned for a 1983 mail fraud conviction. He served three years in jail.

His pardon on 20 January has generated particular controversy because it then emerged that he was under investigation in connection with new allegations.

Mr Clinton has said the pardon was only intended to apply to the 1983 conviction, and that he was unaware there was a new investigation under way.

The 140 pardons and 36 commutations granted by Mr Clinton just hours before leaving office have been fiercely criticised by Republicans and Democrats alike.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1183353.stm

February 23, 2001
THE CLINTON PARDONS: THE DEMOCRATS; This Time, Clintons Find Their Support Buckling From Weight of New Woes

By RICHARD L. BERKE

Even the most devoted and vociferous backers of Bill and Hillary Clinton are now refusing to defend their messy exit from the White House and some are openly criticizing their conduct. Many of them said yesterday that the disclosure that Mrs. Clinton's brother Hugh Rodham received nearly $400,000 for helping secure a presidential pardon and a commutation of sentence was the last straw.

Democrats say they fear that the Clintons' persistent troubles not only leave the party with a gaping leadership vacuum, but also with unwanted attention on a former president who is trying to salvage his damaged reputation and a new senator from New York who is trying to find her footing.

...

Behind the scenes, Al Gore has joined the chorus as well. People close to the former vice president, who has exchanged tense words with Mr. Clinton about how the presidential campaign was waged, said that Mr. Gore was unnerved by Mr. Clinton's conduct in his final days in office.

''He's not angry -- he's more shocked,'' said one person who spoke to Mr. Gore recently. ''He is disappointed. He does still care about the president in some ways. But it's certainly not anger. The harm of Clinton's actions to him has been done.''

The anger at Mr. Clinton is particularly striking, given that barely two months ago Democrats around the country had all but turned on Mr. Gore and expressed high hopes that both Clintons would lead their party back to the control of Congress and the White House. Some even talked about Mrs. Clinton's prospects as a presidential candidate in 2004.

Several other of Mr. Clinton's most stalwart defenders expressed concern and bewilderment over his actions. Even Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic Party chairman, who calls Mr. Clinton his best friend, has found it difficult to defend him.

...

And yesterday, in an interview, Mr. McAuliffe seemed to want to change the subject when asked about the pardons, which included that of Marc Rich, the fugitive financier.

''I've publicly said the Rich pardon was a mistake,'' Mr. McAuliffe said. ''If I were president I wouldn't have done it. All these incidents are unfortunate, frustrating and distracting, but ultimately they will run their course.''

...

At a news conference yesterday, Mrs. Clinton, struggling to overcome what she acknowledged was an calamitous Senate debut, did not defend her husband and, in fact, put the burden on him by telling reporters to direct their questions to him or his staff.

Indeed, some Democrats said they were particularly worried that Mrs. Clinton would be tarnished even if she was, as she asserted, ignorant of her brother's efforts related to the pardon and commutation. For now, any talk about her presidential prospects has ground to a halt.

''If this hurts anyone, it hurts Hillary much more,'' said an official at the Democratic National Committee. ''She's been able to separate herself from Clinton. But this reminds people that she is with him -- and it's her brother that did it.''

...

Some of Mrs. Clinton's detractors in the party expressed quiet glee over her predicament, saying they never thought she deserved to be considered a formidable prospect for the White House in 2004.

Tne strategist who is close to both Clintons said, ''A combination of events and circumstances has transpired that has effectively disabled Hillary Clinton from having an effective launch of her Senate career on the terms she had hoped for.''

...

Earlier this week, former President Jimmy Carter ended his reluctance about commenting on Mr. Clinton and said of the pardons, ''In my opinion, it was disgraceful.'' Many Clinton backers who were interviewed criticized his decision to defend his pardon of Mr. Rich in an Op-Ed article in The New York Times.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05EFDF1339F930A15751C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print

Roger Clinton: Following the Money
The former president�s brother is entangled in another pardon scandal

Back to the Pardongate Page

By Mark Hosenball
NEWSWEEK

June 16 � Government investigators trying to untangle the Clinton pardons scandal are taking a hard look at the former president�s half brother, Roger Clinton. Federal prosecutors want to know if he was involved in alleged schemes that promised the possibility of pardons and other favors in exchange for cash fees.

INVESTIGATORS ARE ESPECIALLY interested in Clinton�s alleged dealings with Garland Lincecum, a Texan convicted of investment fraud in 1998. Lincecum�s lawyer, Ed Hayes, told Newsweek his client was looking for a way to avoid prison when a friend, Richard Cayce, suggested he enlist Roger Clinton�s help. Investigators say Cayce, an alternative medicines salesman, claims Clinton was going to help him secure diplomatic passports�which he hoped would impress foreigners. Cayce also says Clinton and two associates, George Locke and Dickey Morton, agreed to get the passports for a fee of $100,000. According to Cayce�s lawyer, Cayce turned over $30,000 cash and wired $70,000 to a company called CLM�which they told him consisted of Clinton, Locke and Morton.

Cayce says he made the cash payment at an August 1998 meeting with the partners at a Dallas airport hotel. Later that day, Cayce says, he introduced Lincecum to Locke and Morton. According to Lincecum�s lawyer, they told Lincecum that Roger would lobby Bill Clinton for a pardon in exchange for $300,000. Roger was not at the meeting, but Lincecum told investigators that at one point Cayce pointed to a man on a balcony and hinted that it was Roger. Lincecum�s lawyer says his client�s family turned over $235,000 to CLM, including two checks for $100,000 each. Financial records obtained by Newsweek show that days after those payments, Roger Clinton in turn deposited checks from CLM worth $25,500 in his own bank accounts. Government sources with access to CLM�s books say they believe the checks to Clinton were likely drawn from the money the Lincecums gave CLM.

In the end, Cayce never got diplomatic passports. And Lincecum was never pardoned�his name was not even on a list of six names Roger gave the president for consideration. Locke and Morton�s lawyer says his clients have taken the Fifth with the Feds and declined comment. Roger Clinton�s lawyer, Bart Williams, says Roger met with Cayce twice. But Roger denies ever meeting Lincecum or seeking or receiving money for passports or pardons. Clinton�s lawyer says checks he got from CLM were from unrelated deals, but denies Roger was part of the company. That may not be enough for prosecutors. Earlier this month, they brought Lincecum from his Texas prison cell to New York, where he told his tale to a federal grand jury.

http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/roger.htm

PLEASE RECOMMEND IF YOU DON'T WANT HUGH RODHAM AND ROGER CLINTON BACK PEDDLING PARDONS