http://www.nydailynews.com/today/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-101921.asp
Another New Bill of Sale
Fund-raiser pushed Prez to pardon perjurer
By GREG B. SMITH
Daily News Staff Writer
major fund-raiser for the Clinton library helped get the White House to
pardon convicted perjurer William Fugazy after the Justice Department shot
down the request, the Daily News has learned.
New York supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis is a member of an elite
advisory board to the Clinton library and has pledged to raise $1 million
for the sprawling complex in Little Rock, Ark.
He was one of several prominent people who lobbied for Fugazy's pardon, but
his appeal went straight to President Clinton's chief of staff John Podesta.
Catsimatidis says his access helped overcome Justice Department opposition.
"In the last 50 years, I don't know of anyone who's gotten a pardon who
hadn't paid a lot of money to a lawyer or hasn't known somebody,"
Catsimatidis said in an interview yesterday. "How do you create a pardon
other than talking to people?"
William Fugazy (r.) with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner in 1995
Clinton granted Fugazy's pardon in his last hours in office, one of more
than 40 that ran contrary to the Justice Department's clemency rules.
Fugazy said yesterday that he deserved the pardon.
"I don't think I did anything wrong. I think I was entitled to [a pardon],"
he said. "I took a plea. It's the silliest thing I ever did, but that's
life. There was really no case. I just didn't want to embarrass my family."
Fugazy's pardon is the latest example of a possible connection between
contributions to Clinton's library and the access needed to obtain
presidential clemency.
At a House committee hearing this week, investigators pressed senior Clinton
staffers for any links between library donations and pardons, but the former
aides denied any quid pro quo.
Calls to Clinton's office and Podesta were not returned.
Catsimatidis emphasized that Fugazy had the support of many powerful people,
including Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Mayor Giuliani, Manhattan District
Attorney Robert Morgenthau, former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum and
the late John Cardinal O'Connor.
Nussbaum said yesterday that he called the White House counsel's office to
press the Fugazy pardon with people who used to work for him. He declined to
reveal their names.
"I made a call to the White House counsel's office to people that I know,"
he said. "They said, 'Thank you, good to hear from you.'"
Fugazy has long been a prominent fixture in New York's political and charity
scene. His nonprofit campaigns included fighting anti-Italian bias and
raising money to restore Ellis Island.
But by late 1986, his consulting company, Fugazy International, faced
several suits and owed $10 million to banks and tax collectors, records
show. He filed for personal bankruptcy.
Prosecutors said he transferred assets to a company held in his children's
names but continued to play a central role in running the company.
During a deposition in the bankruptcy case, he repeatedly lied about who
owned the firm, prosecutors said. Under a deal, Fugazy pleaded guilty to one
felony count of perjury.
At his sentencing, he submitted letters of support from Giuliani, O'Connor
and Morgenthau. He was sentenced in September 1997 to two years' probation,
including six months of home detention.
Fugazy's lawyer, former federal prosecutor Andrew Maloney, soon began
pushing the Justice Department to pardon Fugazy. He submitted the Giuliani
letter and got new letters from O'Connor and Morgenthau.
But Justice Department officials insisted they would not support a pardon
for anyone until at least five years after the date of conviction or release
from prison.
"They said, 'Come back in 2003 and we'll be happy to process it,'" Maloney
said.
He said department lawyers suggested he take his case to the White House,
and he submitted the package to Rangel, who took it to the White House
counsel's office.
Meanwhile, Catsimatidis wrote to Podesta, and Nussbaum called his old
colleagues in the White House counsel's office.
"I was aware of the five-year rule, but I was also aware that the President
has discretion," said Nussbaum, who handled the case for free. "I did not do
this in my capacity as former White House counsel. I did this in my capacity
as somebody who knew Bill Fugazy."
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