-Caveat Lector- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/frame/direct.asp?SITE=www.jpost.com/Editions/20 01/03/04/News/News.22335.html Barak refutes testimony on calls for Rich By Yoav Appel and News Agencies March, 04 2001 JERUSALEM (March 4) - Despite congressional testimony to the contrary, the Prime Minister's Office yesterday refuted the claim that Prime Minister Ehud Barak made three calls to then president Bill Clinton in a bid to gain a pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich. According to testimony given Thursday to the House Government Reform Committee hearing on Clinton's 11th-hour pardons, Barak called Clinton at least three times to urge him to pardon Rich. Three witnesses gave the same testimony - former White House chief of staff John Podesta, former White House counsel Beth Nolan, and former Clinton adviser Bruce Lindsey. But last night the Prime Minister's Office was still standing by its the statement that Barak gave following the pardon. "The prime minister made one call and the matter was only raised at the end of the phone call, where Barak stressed Marc Rich's contribution to Israeli society," a source at the Prime Minister's Office said. A source close to Barak expressed great surprise that people close to Clinton have passed the responsibility for Rich's pardon on to Israel. "It is obvious that a marginal telephone mention did not play a deciding role in the granting of the pardon. Even if it is convenient to say so, it is untrue, especially when other requests by Barak in which he invested much greater effort, like [Jonathan] Pollard, were not granted," said the source. ... and Clinton is reduced to sending Carville out to lie to Tim Russert for him about it ... Sunday March 4 2:02 PM ET Clinton Aide: Barak Had Key Role in Rich Pardon Photos Reuters Photo By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak played a crucial role in former President Clinton's decision to grant a last-minute pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich, a close friend of Clinton said on Sunday. Former Clinton aide and longtime friend James Carville said the president had been through a ``long, torturous, important process'' with Israel to try to hammer out a Middle East peace agreement and wanted to help Barak by granting the pardon. ``He wanted to help them (the Israelis). They wanted Rich pardoned for reasons I can understand partially ... he made a judgement call,'' said Carville. ``To say there is some kind of illegality here is nutty,'' added Carville. Several of Clinton's top aides, who advised him not to pardon Rich, have also said Clinton was influenced by Barak, who was defeated in the Israeli prime ministerial election on Feb. 6 by right-winger Ariel Sharon and could step down as early as this week. Former White House counsel Beth Nolan told a congressional hearing last week that it was Barak's telephone call to the Oval Office on Jan. 19 that seemed to turn the tide in the Rich case. Rich fled to Switzerland 17 years ago to avoid prosecution on racketeering, wire fraud, income tax evasion and illegal oil trading charges. Also an Israeli citizen, Rich has donated generously to causes there. He received a pardon from Clinton on his last day in office on Jan. 20. ``Prime Minister Barak made enormous concessions to try to get a peace agreement. ... On the last day, he (Barak) called and said, 'I really would like you to do this (pardon Rich),' and the president did it,'' said Carville. Carville said he could understand why people would be critical of Clinton's decision, but he dismissed suggestions the president was influenced by political donors. ``If money was talking, he certainly would have pardoned Michael Milken,'' Carville said, referring to the financier who made millions in the junk bond industry before pleading guilty to securities fraud in 1990. Milken served two years in prison and had attracted high- profile support for a pardon. 'Great Sideshow' Carville said he believed the furor over Clinton's pardons was a ``great sideshow'' to detract from President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s $1.6 trillion tax cut. The House of Representatives' Government Reform Committee, a Senate panel and federal criminal investigators are looking into allegations that more than $1 million in donations from Rich's former wife, Denise, to Democratic candidates and groups may have played a role in the pardon, as well as money given to the Clinton presidential library. Indiana Rep. Dan Burton (news - bio - voting record), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee (news - web sites), told NBC's ``Meet the Press'' there was no logical explanation for the pardon of Rich, who fled the country and renounced his U.S. citizenship rather than face the charges against him. ``If Mr. Rich thought he wasn't guilty, you can bet your bottom dollar he wouldn't have given up his American citizenship and fled the country,'' he said. The only explanation for the pardon, said Burton, was ''possibly a quid pro quo.'' Leading Democrats have been strongly critical of Clinton's pardons, and Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was forthright in his opposition to the former president's last-minute decisions. ``Malodorous. They stink,' said Byrd on ``Fox News Sunday.'' ''I think he abused the constitutional power that is there for purposes when there's a need to make justice out of injustice, to correct an incorrection. But they were abused.'' 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