-Caveat Lector-
Bush Lawyers Zero In on Way to Reverse Rich Pardon
By Mike Allen Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 29, 2001 ; Page A08
Bush administration lawyers think they may have found a way to
reverse the pardon that President Clinton granted to fugitive
financier Marc Rich, an official said yesterday. The lawyers are
researching a theory that a pardon, like a warrant, must be
delivered to be valid.
In appearances yesterday on talk shows, however, Vice President
Cheney cast doubt on the likelihood that the administration might
pursue the warrant-delivery theory.
A White House official would not elaborate on the theory, which
was reported by Newsweek in this week's issue, but said a broad
review of Clinton's flurry of last-minute pardons was under way.
"Our lawyers are reviewing all information pertaining to pardons,
including . . . the items we've inherited, and establishing
our own process for how pardons may be issued," the official
said.
Two hours before leaving office Jan. 20, Clinton granted 140
pardons and commuted 36 prison sentences, many of them for
controversial figures. The most criticism has centered on his
pardon of Rich, 66, a commodities trader accused of evading $48
million in income taxes.
Rich, a billionaire, fled to Switzerland before he was indicted
in 1983. Since 1993 his former wife, Denise Rich, has donated
more than $1 million to Democrats, including Hillary Rodham
Clinton during her U.S. senate campaign. Rep. Dan Burton
(R-Ind.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, has
said he plans an investigation to determine if the pardon was
appropriate.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said on "Fox News
Sunday" that he considers the pardon to be "outrageous," and said
Congress "should at least take a look at what happened and ask
ourselves, 'Should we take some action to try to prevent abuses
that do occur?'"
In its report, Newsweek said Bush lawyers at the Justice
Department have found "a series of obscure, 19th-century court
cases" suggesting that a pardon must be served on the person or
his lawyer to be valid. Several of Clinton's pardons, including
the one for Rich, had been signed but were not delivered,
Newsweek said.
Cheney, when asked on ABC's "This Week" about the chances of
undoing Rich's pardon, said: "I think the Justice Department and
lawyers may well be looking at it."
"I don't know," he added. "I haven't been involved in those
conversations or those discussions, and as I say, I have got
other things to worry about than Bill Clinton's pardons."
On NBC's "Meet the Press," Cheney said the administration has
"been so busy looking forward and focused on our program and our
agenda" that little high-level attention has been given to the
Clinton pardons.
"Obviously there's been a lot of criticism on the grounds that
Mr. Rich never was brought to justice, never tried or convicted
– that the pardon sort of preempted what had been a serious
effort to bring him to justice over the years on the charges that
have been made against him," Cheney said.
"By the same token, the power of a president to issue pardons is
absolute," Cheney said. "It's in the Constitution. It's
something that has been traditionally granted from time to time
at the end of administrations."
On "Fox News Sunday," Cheney said the administration will be
"very deliberate in our decision-making on pardons."
"I know that President Bush has always treated these kinds of
responsibilities in Texas very carefully, and he certainly would
do that as well here," Cheney said.
On the possibility of undoing Rich's pardon, Cheney said: "I
don't think we'd want to do anything that would inhibit the power
and the authority of the office of president. On the other hand,
in terms of how you proceed, clearly he would consider the views
and want to solicit the views of the Justice Department as well
as his counsel before issuing pardons."
The lawyer who obtained the pardon for Rich, Jack Quinn, said on
"Meet the Press" that his client, while maintaining his
innocence, will not assert procedural defenses to the requirement
that he return to face civil penalties.
Quinn, a former White House counsel in the Clinton
administration, said the fee paid for his work on the case,
including that of "several other people" at his former law firm,
"was at the small end of six figures."
"It looks, frankly, like I'm going to incur some legal expenses
of my own, given that we're going to have some congressional
hearings," Quinn said. "I would expect to be reimbursed for
those, but I did not ever have a contingency fee."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the New Yorker magazine that he
believes that the Rich pardon would provide more ammunition for
proponents of campaign finance reform.
Clinton may have "had the purest of motives for the pardon, but
the appearance here is devastating," McCain said.
"It's so clear and so pervasive: money buys access, and access is
influence," McCain said. "Everyone knows that."
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