Carter: Rich Pardon Wrong

Feb. 21, 2001 -- Former President Jimmy Carter is the latest to join the chorus line of critics taking Bill Clinton to task for granting a pardon to fugitive financier Marc Rich.

"I think President Clinton made one of his most serious mistakes in the way he handled the pardon situation the last few hours he was in office," Carter said Tuesday evening during a speech at Georgia Southwestern State University. "A number of them were quite questionable, including about 40 not recommended by the Justice Department."

Carter said Clinton had erred by ignoring the standard pardon procedures in the case of Rich, a billionaire commodities trader who has been living in exile in Switzerland for nearly two decades. He was indicted on tax evasion and other charges in 1983.

"I never pardoned anyone whose pardon was not recommended to me after a complete investigation by the Justice Department," said Carter, the only living former Democratic president besides Clinton.

Carter stopped short of implying Clinton had violated the law by issuing the pardon, but, like other critics, suggested large donations given to the Democratic Party and the Clinton presidential library by Rich's former wife, Denise Rich, may have played a role in the decision.

"I don't think there is any doubt that some of the factors in his pardon were attributable to his large gifts," Carter added. "In my opinion that was disgraceful."

Denise Rich has donated more than $1.5 million to the Democratic Party, Clinton's campaigns, Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate campaign, and to the $200 million Clinton library being constructed in Little Rock, Ark.

Clinton Defends Action

In a Sunday New York Times op-ed piece, Clinton gave his most detailed defense of the decision yet, saying he acted "in the best interests of justice" by pardoning Rich.

"The suggestion that I granted the pardons because Mr. Rich's former wife, Denise, made political contributions and contributed to the Clinton library foundation is utterly false," Clinton also wrote. "There was absolutely no quid pro quo."

Addressing the controversy on a point-by-point basis for the first time, Clinton listed eight specific reasons for his pardon.

Among the eight reasons, Clinton says he acted because of pressure from "present and former high-ranking Israeli officials of both major political parties and leaders of Jewish communities in America and Europe," who urged the pardon because of Rich's participation in charitable and civic causes.

In the article, Clinton said there also were legal reasons for his pardon. The former president said he believed subsequent investigations suggested Rich and his partner Pincus Green, who was also pardoned, may have been prosecuted improperly, and that their companies had paid millions of dollars in compensation to the government.

"Ordinarily, I would have denied pardons in this case simply because [Rich and an associate] did not return to the United States to face the charges against them," Clinton added. "However, I decided to grant the pardons in this unusual case."

Clinton said his decision to grant the pardons was buttressed by the support of three Republican attorneys whom he claims also favored the pardons.

The three attorneys, however, say they never consulted with Clinton on the issue of a pardon for Rich or Green.

Additionally,Clinton pointed out that Rich's former attorney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, had favored a pardon. Libby is now Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff.

Congressional Hearings Will Resume

Clinton's pardon of Rich has prompted a federal investigation headed by Mary Jo White, attorney for the Southern District of New York. Her office initiated the case against Rich in the 1980s.

At issue in the new probe is whether the financial contributions made by Denise Rich effectively bought the pardon for her ex-husband.

In Washington, the House of Representatives' Government Reform Committee held the first congressional hearings on the matter last week. On Feb. 14, the committee agreed to withhold an immunity grant to Denise Rich out of concern that it would interfere with the federal investigation.

Ms. Rich earlier refused to appear before the House panel, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. If granted immunity, she could be compelled to testify.

A committee spokesman acknowledged the Justice Department asked the committee not to grant Ms. Rich immunity during the federal prosecutor's preliminary investigation.

The committee will resume hearings on the matter on March 1. Its members have subpoenaed financial records from Ms. Rich, and are expecting to receive new government information later this week showing how often she visited the White House. They have also set a deadline for today for Clinton attorney David Kendall to submit a complete list of donors to the Clinton library.

A Senate committee that held hearings on the pardon last wek has not scheduled another meeting on the matter.

Meanwhile, the constitution subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committeehas scheduled a hearing on the general subject of pardons next Wednesday.

The hearing will focus on presidential pardon power, although it won't be limited to the Rich case. However, a spokesman for the committee says the Rich pardon provided the impetus for the session.