-Caveat Lector- <http://www.msnbc.com/news/525024.asp> Clinton says Israel influenced pardon Amid the firestorm over fugitive financier Marc Rich¹s pardon, former President Clinton said Thursday in an interview with CNBC¹s Geraldo Rivera that Israel influenced him ³profoundly² in granting the pardon. In his first extensive comments, Clinton said he was ³bewildered² by the controversy and that there was not a ³shred of evidence that I did anything wrong.² CLINTON, IN A phone interview with the host of CNBC¹s ³Rivera Live,² said he was ³blindsided² by the furor over the pardon for Rich, who faces tax evasion and other charges. ³I have no infrastructure to deal with this, no press person. I just wanted to go out there and do what past presidents have done, but the Republicans had other ideas for me,² said Clinton. ³There¹s not a single, solitary shred of evidence that I did anything wrong, or that his (Rich¹s) money changed hands,² he said. ³And there¹s certainly no evidence that I took any of it.² He also said his political enemies were trying to use the pardon for partisan gain. ²(Rich) had three big-time Republican lawyers, including (Vice President) Dick Cheney¹s chief of staff,² he said. ³Marc Rich himself is a Republican.² Rivera told MSNBC the former president sounded ³beleaguered² on the phone. ³He is sincerely shocked by all of the noise and hubbub surrounding this. He had no idea that it would be this tidal wave and that he would find himself once again on the front pages of every newspaper defending himself against the charges of his political enemies,² said Rivera, a long-time friend of Clinton¹s. ISRAEL¹S ROLE During the interview, Clinton said campaign funding played no role in the pardon, but added, ³I¹ll tell you what did influence me ‹ Israel did influence me profoundly.² It was unknown whether Clinton elaborated during the interview. The Associated Press reported Thursday that Rich has been a long-time supporter of Israel¹s Labor Party, including acting Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres. The Belgian-born Rich grew up in the United States but renounced his U.S. citizenship. He holds Israeli and Spanish citizenship and has lived in Switzerland since 1983. He was indicted in the United States on charges of evading more than $48 million in taxes, fraud and conducting illegal oil deals with Iran. Over the past 20 years, Rich has contributed $70 million to $80 million to Israeli hospitals, museums, symphonies and to help settle immigrants, said Avner Azulay, head of the multimillion-dollar Rich Foundation in Tel Aviv. Azulay, the former chief of Israel¹s Mossad spy agency, said he believed Clinton pardoned Rich, in part, because of his role in helping Israel get Jews out of Ethiopia and Yemen. Azulay said he helped collect the testimonials from prominent Israelis that played a role in obtaining the 11th-hour pardon, now subject of congressional hearings and a federal probe. He wouldn¹t say how many statements were collected, but that Barak and Peres had spoken to Clinton about Rich. Barak spokesman Gadi Baltiansky confirmed that the prime minister raised the subject in a recent conversation with Clinton, but refused to elaborate. Peres declined comment. TRAIL OF E-MAILS E-mails subpoenaed by Congress and now part of the public record reveal intensive behind-the-scenes efforts to engineer a pardon for Rich. Barak¹s name is mentioned repeatedly. In one e-mail, Azulay suggests asking the White House to delay making a decision until leading Israelis such as Barak and Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami ³can make their appeals.² An e-mail from Robert F. Fink, one of Rich¹s lawyers, emphasizes the importance of high-level Israeli support. ³So do not let up,² Fink wrote. Azulay also asked the Rich team to keep the prime minister¹s name out of the press. ³It¹s important to keep all politicians¹ names out of the story ... this is election time here and has a potential of a blowup,² Azulay wrote. Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit said he recommended to Clinton that Rich be pardoned because the billionaire¹s business ties helped Israel get Jews out of Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen -countries without diplomatic ties to the Jewish state at the time. In a Nov. 28 letter to Clinton, Shavit, who headed the Mossad from 1989 to 1996, wrote that he asked Rich for assistance in the search for missing soldiers and ³help in the rescue and evacuation of Jews from enemy countries.² ³Israel and the Jewish people are grateful for these unselfish actions, which sometimes had the potential of jeopardizing his own personal interests and business relations,² the letter said. MIDEAST TIES Rich, 66, has never lived in Israel, but has given to a series of charities, from funding a program for young Diaspora Jews studying at a Jewish seminary in the West Bank, to a health program for Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. In northern Israel, he built a home for autistic children. He gave millions of dollars to Israeli medical centers to research treatments for leukemia, the disease that took his daughter Gabrielle¹s life in 1996, at age 27. ³He has helped Israel address its social problems and provide for its security needs,² Israeli Parliament Speaker Avraham Burg said in a letter to Clinton, included in the e-mail traffic. Rich last visited Jerusalem in early January ‹ before the pardon ‹ and met with Barak and other leading Israeli politicians, according to the e-mails. He also mingled with young Diaspora Jews visiting Israel as part of the Birthright Israel program to which he contributed $5 million. The program sends Jews to Israel, all expenses paid, to foster ties with the state. IMMUNITY DEAL DELAYED Meanwhile, sources told NBC News that House investigators seeking immunity for Denise Rich, Rich¹s ex-wife, have agreed to wait at least a week while the federal prosecutor in Manhattan conducts a preliminary investigation of the pardon. The House Government Reform Committee agreed to the delay out of concern that granting immunity to Denise Rich could interfere with the prosecutors¹ investigation. The committee¹s chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., wants immunity for Denise Rich to compel her testimony. She has refused to answer questions from the committee, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination. The Justice Department has not yet decided whether to oppose immunity, and will not do so until U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White¹s office has determined whether to proceed with a full criminal investigation. That decision could come as early as next week. White, the U.S. attorney in the southern District of New York, and local FBI chief Barry Mawn confirmed Thursday that they are investigating the pardon of Rich, as well as that of his partner Pincus Green. ³Various questions have been raised concerning the activities and pardons of Marc Rich and Pincus Green,² White and Mawn said in a joint statement issued after various news organizations reported a preliminary investigation was under way. ³The United States Attorney¹s office and the FBI New York office have opened an investigation to determine whether there may have been any violations of federal law. There will be no further comment.² FINANCIAL RECORDS TO BE EXAMINED Denise Rich, a songwriter, contributed an estimated $450,000 to the Clinton Presidential Library Fund, more than $1.1 million to the Democratic Party and at least $109,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton¹s Senate campaign. Rich is a billionaire commodities trader who fled the United States after he and his companies were indicted by federal prosecutors on numerous counts of fraud, tax evasion and making false statements. For the past 17 years, he has lived in Switzerland and has avoided extradition to face the U.S. charges. He claims to have renounced his U.S. citizenship, though the State Department says it has no formal record of a request. According to his attorney, he holds citizenship in Spain and Israel.His lawyer claims Rich was prosecuted under federal racketeering statutes that are no longer used. He also says Rich faced criminal charges for what are generally considered to be civil penalties -- punishible by fines but not jail. The prosecutors who handled the case insist Rich could still be prosecuted today under a different set of laws. President Clinton says he differentiated the original charges from civil fines, and points out he made Rich agree to retain liability for millions in potential fines as a condition of the pardon. Prosecutors say those fines can't be recovered.Rich hired lawyer Jack Quinn, a former Clinton White House counsel, to take up his case. In 1999, Quinn asked Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder to help facilitate a review of Rich's case. When the original prosecutors were not receptive, Quinn prepared a pardon application. Quinn says he fully informed the Justice Department of his actions, but Holder says he was only aware of Quinn's pardon efforts at the last minute. On Jan. 19, 2001, less than a day before Clinton issued the pardon and left office, Holder says, the White House finally called him for his opinion on the pardon. Critics insist he deliberately avoided scrutinizing the details.Denise Rich, Marc Rich's ex-wife, is a major Democratic contributor. She gave over $1 million to the Democratic party , along with personal donations to the Clintons. Some critics believe the money was given in return for her ex-husband's pardon. Marc Rich's lawyer denies the allegations. Other have frowned upon the pardon because Rich is a fugitive and tried to give up his U.S. citizenship. They say he has shown no remorse for his infractions and is not deserving of presidential clemency.No. Article II of the Constitution gives the president the absolute power to grant "Reprieves and Pardons" -- except in impeachment cases. Several lawmakers, including Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who plans to push for legislation to this effect, hope to change the pardon process so that Congress has limited power to overturn presidential pardons. Prosecutors were expected to examine bank records, phone records and other documents to determine if any criminal activity was involved in the decision to pardon Rich, who had been wanted by the Justice Department on charges of evading more than $48 million in taxes, fraud and participating in illegal oil deals with Iran. A source familiar with the investigation told the Associated Press on Wednesday that White¹s office ³is trying to determine if there was a transfer of money to buy the pardon.² PROSECUTORS WEREN¹T CONSULTED White, who was said to be furious over the pardon of Rich, said that Clinton made his decision without consulting her office. The New York Post reported this week that White, a Clinton appointee, will be asked to stay on the job for at least three more months by Bush¹s team. Rich¹s indictment was filed when Rudolph Giuliani, who was White¹s predecessor and is now the Republican mayor of New York, was running the U.S. attorney¹s office. On Thursday, Giuliani said an investigation of the pardon was warranted. ³I certainly think the U.S. attorney has every right to look into this. ... No one seems to understand why this pardon was given,² he said. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Government Reform announced Thursday it had scheduled a second hearing into the pardon. Witnesses at the March 1 hearing are expected to include Clinton adviser Bruce Lindsay, former White House Counsel Beth Nolan, Jack Quinn, an attorney for Marc Rich and himself a former White House counsel, and former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta. Nolan and Lindsey, who have refused to appear before the committee, will be subpoenaed if necessary, committee staff members said. Democrats on the committee have threatened to call Cheney¹s chief of staff, Lewis ³Scooter² Libby, who previously was Marc Rich¹s attorney. Further, committee lawyers also will write to Clinton asking him to wave all claims of executive privilege and ask Rich to waive claims of attorney-client privilege, the staff members said. SENATE OPENS INQUIRY The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday opened its own inquiry into the Rich pardon. The first witness called before the committee, Roger Adams, the government¹s pardon attorney, testified that the White House didn¹t inform him that Rich was a fugitive from justice, saying only that Rich and his business partner, Pincus Green, ³had been living abroad for several years.² After discovering that Rich and his indicted partner were fugitives, Adams fired off a fax to the White House summarizing the facts of their criminal case on charges of tax evasion, fraud and participating in illegal oil deals with Iran. Normally, the Justice Department requires that anyone asking for a pardon has finished serving the sentence. It contacts judges, prosecutors and victims before making a recommendation to the White House. Rich¹s Jan. 20 pardon was one of 141 by Clinton, who also commuted the sentences of 36 others that day. Of the 177 total clemency actions, 32 were not reviewed in advance by the Justice Department¹s pardon attorney, which is the usual, though neither legally nor constitutionally required, procedure. President Bush on Tuesday bluntly opposed congressional investigations of Clinton¹s 11th-hour pardons. ³My attitude is, it¹s time to move on,² Bush told reporters, but he conceded that ³Congress is going to do what it¹s going to do.² Notable Presidential pardons and amnesties € George Washington € Andrew Johnson € Theodore Roosevelt € Gerald Ford € Jimmy Carter € George Bush 1794: Pardoned two leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion, a Pennsylvania uprising against the federal excise tax. 1865: Issued amnesty for ex-Confederates who would take an oath of loyalty to the United States, excluding those who owned property in excess of $20,000. Allowed wealthy ex-Confederates to apply individually for pardons. 1902: Issued amnesty for followers of Filipino nationalist leader Emilio Aguinaldo who had fought a guerrilla war to overthrow U.S. control of the Philippines. 1974: Proposed conditional amnesty for Vietnam War draft evaders and deserters with each case to be weighed individually.1974: Pardoned ex-President Richard Nixon for crimes he may have committed during his presidency.1977: Issued blanket pardon to Vietnam War draft evaders, but not for military deserters. 1992: Issued pardon to former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other officials accused of or convicted of lying to Congress about weapons sales to Iran and aid for the Nicaraguan contra rebels. ================================================================= 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. 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