-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 ================================================================= <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. 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