-Caveat Lector- <http://www.nypostonline.com/news/nationalnews/24727.htm> HOLLYWOOD HARRY JOINS PARDONGATE Saturday, February 24,2001 By MARILYN RAUBER, DAN MANGAN, and MALCOLM BALFOUR THE BUCK STOPS THERE: Hillary Clinton aide William Cunningham III fingered Harry Thomason yesterday as the "important" person behind the pardon effort. - Reuters Hollywood producer Harry Thomason, a close pal of the Clintons, yesterday emerged as a Pardongate player - acknowledging he lobbied Bill Clinton to pardon two Arkansas tax cheats. Thomason "was pleased to recommend to the president" pardons for the pair, his lawyer Bob Bennett said after Hillary Clinton's campaign treasurer fingered Thomason as the one who pulled strings with the White House. "Mr. Thomason did not receive a single penny for his limited actions, which were responsible, ethical, honorable and legal," Bennett said in a statement. Bennett said Thomason believed restaurant owners Robert Fain and James Manning, both of whom he has known for years, were "deserving individuals." Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) told aides she didn't talk to Thomason about his pet pardons: "She never had any conversations with them [Thomason or wife Linda Bloodworth-Thomason] on this topic," said a spokeswoman, Karen Dunne. The new flap came after revelations that Sen. Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, was paid $400,000 for helping get clemency for a Florida swindler and a Los Angeles cocaine dealer and that Bill Clinton's brother, Roger, lobbied the then-president to pardon as many as 10 people. In another shocker, Sen. Clinton's office conceded last night that Rodham hasn't fully repaid the money - contradicting her public assurances on Thursday that all the fees had been returned. Clinton spokesman Jim Kennedy blamed Rodham: "We were told through his attorney that everything had been sent back - we only learned late today that some had yet to be paid," he said, adding that "we have been assured that steps are being taken to return everything as soon as possible." Sources said Rodham had repaid roughly $300,000, and cited a cash-flow problem as the reason for the delay. As she did with Thomason yesterday, Sen. Clinton has adamantly denied any knowledge of any pardons, including her own brother's role and her hubby's decision-making. The Florida Bar is launching a preliminary ethics probe of Hugh Rodham's conduct, a knowledgeable Tallahassee lawyer told The Post last night. Rodham, spotted by TV cameras at a Florida pub, refused to discuss the flap. Congressional investigators are probing Rodham and Roger Clinton, though aides to Bill Clinton said Roger was unsuccessful in his bid to get pardons for pals and was never paid. The Thomasons are longtime close confidants of the Clintons and he had a key role in the Travelgate scandal. It was sparked when Thomason, part owner of a charter company, groused to Hillary that the White House travel office was a closed shop. The staff was fired, leading to a federal investigation. In a New York news conference yesterday, Sen. Clinton's money man, William Cunningham III, a lawyer who filed the formal petitions for the two Arkansas restaurateurs, said it was Thomason who played the "important" role in the successful pardons plea. Cunningham denied he did anything wrong in handling the two cases, which were funneled to him by his law partner, Harold Ickes. Cunningham sent the pardon petitions to the Justice Department and the White House on Jan. 12 - just eight days before Clinton granted the clemencies on his last day in office. Cunningham, who was paid $4,062 for 12 hours' work, said he didn't lobby Sen. 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