-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/17/national/17CLIN.html?ex=994046400&en= 8c0ea8c89b2fe541&ei=5004&partner=NETZERO June 17, 2001 Roger Clinton Again Is Focus of Allegations By ALISON LEIGH COWAN The New York Times On the morning of Aug. 10, 1998, a Texas entrepreneur walked into an Embassy Suites Hotel in Dallas and was escorted into a meeting with Roger Clinton and two business associates. The men wasted no time on small talk. "The first question that they asked was if I had brought the $30,000 in cash," the Texan, Richard Cayce, has told prosecutors, adding that he promptly turned over the stack of bills. "I don't remember if they counted it or not." Mr. Cayce, who is seeking immunity from prosecution, has told federal investigators that Mr. Clinton and his associates promised to provide him with two diplomatic passports, which are normally issued exclusively to people working for the government and can speed passage through customs. He said that the three also assured him that arrangements were on track for a separate deal - a presidential pardon for an acquaintance facing a prison sentence. Mr. Cayce has provided federal investigators with a written account of the meeting. A copy of that statement, known as a proffer, was obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Cayce's assertions are a potentially important turn in a federal investigation of Roger Clinton that began after Bill Clinton, his half brother, granted 141 pardons in his last day as president. Lawyers for Roger Clinton and the other two men deny that their clients ever discussed pardons with Mr. Cayce. The meeting in Dallas, they said, was for a different purpose. The lawyers said that Mr. Cayce had hoped to recruit Roger Clinton as a spokesman for a charity he was setting up. They acknowledged that $30,000 changed hands that day, but said the payment was for their business advice and time, not diplomatic passports. Neither the passports nor the pardon for Mr. Cayce's acquaintance, Garland Lincecum, ever materialized. Mr. Lincecum went to federal prosecutors in March, complaining that his family had paid more than $200,000 in late 1998 to Dickey Morton and George Locke, Roger Clinton's associate, for a pardon that Mr. Clinton was to have arranged. Mr. Lincecum, who had been convicted in a swindle and sentenced to a seven-year term, reported to prison on April 15, 1999. On several occasions in the months that followed, his friends and relatives said in interviews, they confronted Roger Clinton's two associates about the progress of the pardon and were told that it was delayed but coming. In his statement to prosecutors, Mr. Cayce said that he, too, confronted the two men in Roger Clinton's presence and was told by them that he could "take it to the bank" that the pardon was coming. Roger Clinton's lawyer, Bart H. Williams, said that his client had spoken with Mr. Locke and Mr. Morton about importing building materials and other business topics and had accepted $35,000 in 1998 in "appearance fees" from their company, C.L.M., including his third of the $30,000 that changed hands in the hotel room. Mr. Morton, a former University of Arkansas football star who established the company, has testified in an unrelated civil case in Arkansas that the initials C.L.M. stood for Clinton, Locke and Morton. Roger Clinton's lawyer said his client only recently learned of the company's existence and had no role in its operations. The company is now defunct. The investigation of Roger Clinton appears to have expanded in recent months beyond the accusation of selling pardons to an examination of other deals in which Roger Clinton might have traded on his brother's name, said lawyers in the case. "Roger Clinton has tried to be careful to assure that his business dealings are legitimate," Mr. Williams said. "It is very difficult for me to believe that anyone would reasonably think that Roger Clinton controlled either his brother or anyone else in that administration." But people who had business dealings with Roger Clinton said they believed his relationship to the president would guarantee success. At the meeting at the Dallas hotel, Mr. Cayce said he was assured by those present that "Bill Clinton would do whatever Rodger Clinton wanted him to." (The proffer consistently misspells Roger Clinton's name.) The investigation is being directed by the office of Mary Jo White, the federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who is investigating all the last- minute pardons, because the most notable, that of the former fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich, involved a case that originated in her jurisdiction. Nothing in any of these accounts suggests that former President Clinton had any knowledge of the various plans, and his spokeswoman, Julia Payne, reiterated on Friday that "the president has been very clear he's granted pardons and clemencies only on the merits." Roger Clinton is expected to assert his Fifth Amendment right against forced self-incrimination in the inquiries, said lawyers involved in the case. The lawyers said it was by no means clear that any charges would ever result from the investigation. It is legal, they noted, for a person seeking a pardon to hire a lobbyist, even one related to the president. A crime would be committed only if the fees were funneled to a public official or if the lobbyist failed to provide any service for the payment. Mr. Locke, a former Arkansas state senator, and Roger Clinton have known each other for years, and were convicted of distributing cocaine in the mid-1980's after being arrested in a sting that was authorized by Bill Clinton when he was the governor of Arkansas. There was also a memorable meeting between the two men at a party at the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock, Ark., on the night Mr. Clinton was re-elected president, according to a statement Mr. Locke has given prosecutors. Mr. Locke said in the statement that Roger Clinton said he failed to "capitalize" on opportunities that came his way during the first four years of the Clinton presidency. "Bill had instructed him since this was his last term in office, Roger should find a way to make a living and use his relationship with the president to his advantage," Mr. Locke stated, adding that Bill Clinton "stressed to Roger that whatever business ventures he was involved in, they must be legitimate and not illegal." Mr. Locke introduced Roger Clinton to his friend Mr. Morton, the former football star, and in 1998, C.L.M. was formed, lawyers in the case said. In the summer of 1998, according to Mr. Cayce's proffer, he steered his friend Mr. Lincecum to the three men. Mr. Lincecum was facing a long prison term at the age of 64 because of a prior fraud conviction in the 1970's. So he jumped at an offer from Mr. Cayce to introduce him to two associates of Roger Clinton, said Mr. Lincecum's lawyer, Edward W. Hayes. Mr. Lincecum, who testified about his quest for a pardon under a grant of immunity on June 6 before a grand jury in White Plains, N.Y., never doubted C.L.M.'s ability to deliver, Mr. Hayes said. The only hitch was the price. Mr. Cayce told Mr. Lincecum that Mr. Locke and Mr. Morton wanted $225,000 to $250,000, according to Mr. Cayce's proffer. Mr. Hayes said that his client scraped together $25,000 as a show of good faith at the urging of Mr. Cayce until he could come up with the rest. Mr. Lincecum and Mr. Cayce have conflicting accounts over this money. Mr. Lincecum's lawyer says his client gave the $25,000 to Mr. Cayce to pass on to Mr. Morton, Mr. Locke and Mr. Clinton as a down payment on the pardon at the Aug. 10 meeting in Dallas. Mr. Cayce said in his proffer that the entire $30,000 he handed over that day in the hotel came from a bank account he controlled and was the first installment on the two diplomatic passports. The proffer states that he hoped the passports would give the organization he worked for "immediate credibility." Later that day, Mr. Hayes said, Mr. Lincecum met separately with Mr. Morton and Mr. Locke in the hotel's atrium to discuss the pardon. Roger Clinton was not present, but during the conversation Mr. Lincecum looked up and noticed a man on a balcony overhead, whom he later recognized as Roger Clinton, Mr. Hayes said. Numerous associates of Mr. Lincecum's have vouched that he spent the next weeks feverishly trying to raise the money for the pardon. On Nov. 23, Mr. Lincecum turned over a $100,000 cashier's check from his 85- year-old mother, Alberta, to C.L.M. A month later, his younger brother, Guy, withdrew $100,000 from his I.R.A. account, and got on a plane for Little Rock, brokerage and airline records show. In a men's room at the Little Rock airport, Guy Lincecum has told federal agents, he gave Mr. Morton his $100,000 check, and Mr. Morton told him that his brother's balance was now paid in full. In an interview, R. V. Wilson, who went to prison for his role in the same fraudulent scheme that put Garland Lincecum behind bars in the 1970's, recalled seeing Mr. Lincecum a few days after the $100,000 payment. Mr. Wilson described Mr. Lincecum as having been convinced by Mr. Morton and Mr. Locke that he would have to go to prison in order to get out. Three months later, Mr. Lincecum was behind bars, serving a seven-year term. Friends and relatives of Mr. Lincecum have testified that after he went to prison they spoke with Mr. Morton and Mr. Locke about the pardon on at least five occasions. Each time, they said, they were given different excuses but were assured that it would happen. In June 1999, Mr. Wilson said, he drove from Hattiesburg, Miss., to Little Rock, partly to ask Mr. Morton "when the pardon that Mr. Lincecum paid for was going to come through." They met for lunch and Mr. Wilson said: "I brought it up and they almost broke for the door. `We can't talk about that here.' " Mr. Wilson said Mr. Morton kept reaching around him in an attempt to "see if I was wearing a wire." Mr. Cayce also made inquiries, in Las Vegas, according to his proffer, which said, "Dickey called me and told me that he, Roger and Senator George Locke wanted to meet me and finish the deal regarding the passports." Lawyers for Mr. Morton, Mr. Locke and Roger Clinton said that their clients met Mr. Cayce there but that it was only to discuss the charity he was starting. According to the proffer, any talk of business had to wait because Roger Clinton, upon arrival, had his heart set on an evening out. "I wanted to talk business, but he insisted that it wait until morning," Mr. Cayce said in his proffer. The next day, the C.L.M. contingent demanded another $70,000 from Mr. Cayce for the passports and told him his friend's pardon was paid "in full" and "was assured," according to Mr. Cayce's proffer. In his proffer, Mr. Cayce said he asked what would happen if President Clinton were impeached before he could grant the pardon request. "Then Rodger Clinton said that he could control Al Gore as well and that business would be as usual if Bill was gone," the document states. Roger Clinton did submit the names of six friends to the White House for pardons just before Bill Clinton left office. Mr. Locke's name was on that list. Mr. Lincecum's was not and he is still in prison. The only person close to Roger Clinton who got a pardon in the last round was Roger Clinton. A stroke of his brother's pen wiped clean the effects of his 1985 conviction. He has yet to pick up his pardon letter. Related Articles Roger Clinton Is Subpoenaed to Testify About Pardons (April 16, 2001) Expanded Coverage Special Report: The Clinton Legacy (Dec. 24 - Dec. 28, 2000) ======================================================= 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. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
