-Caveat Lector-
<http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/editorial/friday/nd2119.htm>
02/23/2001
Friday
Page A 45
There Can Be No Pardoning of Bill Clinton
By Ed Koch
SNAKE OIL pitchman. That is how Bill Clinton will be remembered
in our pantheon of presidents.
When Clinton first ran for president in 1992, I vividly recall
seeing an interview with the publisher of a Little Rock
newspaper. He said that although Gov. Clinton was extremely
gifted, in Arkansas he was known as "Slick Willie." Regrettably,
we all now know-after being exposed to eight years of
occasionally brilliant actions, an outrageous carnal appetite and
the recent betrayal of the American people with his pardons and
commutations-how he earned that earlier reputation.
Clinton's brilliance as president was his ability to prevent the
Republican-controlled Congress from dismantling the Democrats'
successful social programs, which were created by Franklin
Roosevelt and continued under Harry Truman, John Kennedy and
Jimmy Carter, and move the Democratic Party to the center. If
Clinton had left office without granting pardons to Marc Rich and
Pincus Green, the good would still have outweighed the bad.
Instead he left under a cloud of his own creation, and wherever
he goes, he will be treated as a pariah.
Now, almost every one of Clinton's closest supporters, those who
had previously defended him in the press, haven't come to his
defense and are publicly separating themselves from him. Clinton
stands alone, and all for what? And why? There is also the latest
sleaze, involving Clinton's brother-in-law, Hugh Rodham.
The Rich pardon stinks because there can only be one explanation
for it-money. Rich's ex-wife Denise, who spent over 100 nights in
the White House, has already given money to various campaigns and
to Clinton's presidential library fund. The library fund is, in
part, a slush fund and can be used by Clinton for almost any
purpose. I also question whether these are the last funds that
will be donated to Clinton's projects by Marc Rich.
Clinton's defense of the Rich pardon, including an ill advised
op-ed in last Sunday's New York Times, is woefully inadequate.
One of the defenses most relied on by Clinton is that Rich should
not have been criminally indicted for tax evasion, trading with
the enemy, racketeering, and mail and wire fraud.
Clinton believes the charges should have been civil.
If, in fact, Clinton's legal conclusions are accurate, then they
should have been contested in court. Rich certainly had the money
to hire excellent attorneys to finance appeals all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court. Instead, Rich fled the country and has lived
abroad as a fugitive for 17 years. Does Clinton really believe
that Rich could not get justice in the U.S. federal courts and
that only a pardon would provide justice? Clinton also uses the
"blame the Jews" defense. Clinton was apparently importuned by
former Israeli prime ministers Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, and
several prominent American Jewish leaders, including the head of
the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, and the chairman of
the U.S. Holocaust Council, Rabbi Irving Greenberg. They were all
wrong, regardless of how well intentioned.
Rich bought their favors with gifts of charity. These Jewish
leaders should apologize for their inappropriate intervention,
which could be grist for the mills of anti-Semites.
Finally, there is the involvement of former White House counsel
Jack Quinn, who represented Rich on his pardon application. As
White House counsel, Quinn had knowledge of President Clinton's
problems, some of which undoubtedly never surfaced-never will,
Clinton undoubtedly hopes. Quinn also got the former president
out of legal jams, efforts that placed Clinton in his debt.
It is inexcusable that Quinn represented Rich in this matter
before Clinton. Indeed, it could be argued that there violations
of a law that Quinn wrote. That law prohibits White House staff
from lobbying the president until five years after they have left
the White House. Quinn says there is an exception for judicial
proceedings. In my book, presidential pardons are not judicial
proceedings .
Let the hearings continue and leave no stone unturned in the
search for a smoking gun. Regardless of whether it is ultimately
found, the morning Clinton spent signing unforgivable pardons
before he left the White House, will go down as the most
destructive hours of his presidency and among the saddest hours
in American history.
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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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