-Caveat Lector-
Published Saturday, February 24, 2001, in the Miami Herald
Ex-U.S. attorney drawn deeper into pardons probe
BY MARK SILVA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
DRAWN INTO INQUIRY: Kendall Coffey was asked whether he helped a
drug dealer seek a pardon.
Republican congressional leaders probing former President Bill
Clinton's pardons on Friday drew Kendall Coffey, a prominent
Democrat and former U.S. attorney in Miami, more deeply into the
investigation, asking whether he lobbied for a politically
connected California cocaine trafficker.
And Clinton's brother-in-law Hugh Rodham, a Coral Gables
attorney, faced a new inquiry by the Florida Bar, which said its
office of lawyer discipline in Miami has opened a complaint file
on Rodham based on news reports of his role in the clemencies.
These latest developments increase pressure on Coffey and Rodham
to explain what they did to lobby for pardons and commutations in
the final days of the Clinton administration.
Coffey and Rodham are friends and business associates. Coffey has
become well-known nationally for his work as a lawyer for the
Little Havana relatives of Cuban rafter Elián González and for
Vice President Al Gore in the Florida presidential election
dispute.
The House committee chaired by U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana,
indicated Friday it has received reports of Coffey's involvement
in obtaining a commutation for convicted drug dealer Carlos
Vignali, son of a prominent Democratic contributor in Los
Angeles.
The Burton committee is conducting one of several inquiries into
the widening scandal over the influence of the former president's
relatives and associates in obtaining clemencies granted by
Clinton. Three congressional committees and federal prosecutors
in New York are investigating Clinton's actions.
WIFE'S CAMPAIGN
The Associated Press reported Friday that the New York
prosecutors are investigating whether Clinton commuted sentences
of four convicted swindlers in exchange for Hasidic Jewish votes
for his wife's Senate campaign.
Burton, in a letter to Coffey released Friday, requested any
billings for Coffey's work on behalf of Vignali, any information
provided to the government in pursuit of Vignali's clemency and
any records of contacts with government officials on Vignali's
behalf.
MORE RECORDS
The committee also is seeking records of White House visits by
Rodham, Coffey, Vignali's father Horacio, and Roger Clinton, the
former president's half-brother. Roger Clinton unsuccessfully
lobbied for clemency for 10 people.
The Burton committee already had requested information from
Coffey and Rodham about what they did to obtain a pardon for
Glenn Braswell, a California-based vitamin-peddler who owns a
house in Coconut Grove.
Rodham received $200,000 for his work for Vignali, and $200,000
as a contingency fee after Braswell received a pardon. Under
pressure from the Clintons, he returned the money this week.
ROLE LESS CLEAR
The role of Coffey is less clear. Clinton's office has said he
also represented Braswell. But the Burton letter was the first
indication that he also might have worked for Vignali.
``The committee has received reports that you were involved in
the commutation request of Carlos Vignali,'' Burton wrote in his
letter, which requested the records by March 1. Vignali,
convicted for cocaine trafficking in 1995, left prison after
serving five years of a 15-year sentence.
Coffey, who repeatedly has refused to discuss his role in
Braswell's pardon, did not reply to requests for comment Friday
about either Braswell or Vignali. Neither Rodham nor his attorney
responded to calls.
WTVJ-NBC 6 found Rodham at John Martin's restaurant in Coral
Gables Friday, but he refused comment.
Rodham's role in Vignali's clemency is slightly more public than
Coffey's after a week of revelations.
SHERIFF GOT CALL
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said this week that Rodham
called him about the Vignali case in January.
``I received a phone call from Mr. Hugh Rodham informing me that
I would be receiving a call from an attorney assigned to the
White House,'' Baca said in a statement issued by his office. ``A
few days later, I received a message requesting that I call an
attorney at the White House.''
Baca said he was asked by a ``staff assistant'' about Vignali's
father, and also was asked if the president should commute
Vignali's sentence. He said he was unfamiliar with the case and
didn't recommend any clemency: ``I maintain and espouse a policy
that those persons convicted of a crime should serve their full
and complete sentence.''
Bruce Lindsey, a former deputy legal counsel to Clinton, has told
the Los Angeles Times that Rodham called him twice in the final
weeks of Clinton's presidency. Lindsey said Rodham pressed for
the commutation of Vignali's sentence but did not mention
Braswell. Lindsey told the newspaper he spoke with Rodham as a
friend, and did not tell Clinton about the call.
Rodham's lawyer, Nancy Luque, says Rodham spoke with neither
Clinton nor Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton about Vignali or
Braswell.
BANK TRANSFER
The National Enquirer on Friday published a picture of a bank
wire transfer of $200,000 from a Braswell-run company, GB Data
Sytems, to Rodham's law firm, on Jan. 22, the first day of
business after the presidential pardons.
Braswell and GB Data Systems are under investigation by the U.S.
attorney in Los Angeles for alleged tax evasion and money
laundering. Federal prosecutors say in documents filed in Los
Angeles Superior Court that Braswell was concealing ``millions of
dollars'' by paying phony bills from an offshore company.
Gerald Feffer, Washington attorney and partner of Clinton
attorney David Kendall in the influential firm of Williams and
Connolly, represents Braswell in the Los Angeles case.
Feffer said Friday that neither he nor Kendall was involved in
Braswell's pardon, nor was anyone else in the firm.
FLORIDA BAR
The Florida Bar's counsel Randolph Brombacher said Friday its
file on Rodham was opened based on news reports, with the
organization acting as its own complainant. The Bar declined to
release further information.
In another development Friday, the Associated Press reported the
New York investigation into the convicted swindlers. The four
were members of the Hasidic community of New Square, which voted
overwhelmingly for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, the federal prosecutor in Manhattan,
is investigating the commutations as part of a probe of the
presidential pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich.
Sen. Clinton campaigned in New Square, in suburban Rockland
County, and outran Republican rival Rick Lazio there by 1,400
votes to 12. She has said she did not discuss the men's fate with
Hasidic leaders before the election but sat in on a December
meeting with supporters.
``I did not play any role whatsoever,'' she said.
The four men -- Kalmen Stern, David Goldstein, Benjamin Berger
and Jacob Elbaum -- were convicted of stealing more than $40
million worth of education grants, small business loans and
housing subsidies. President Clinton cut Berger's sentence from
2.5 years to two; the others had their time cut to 2.5 years.
Herald staff writer Frank Davies contributed to this report.
=================================================================
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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