Hillary Takes Cash From Bill’s Controversial Last Minute Pardons
The 177 pardons and commutations President Clinton issued in the closing hours of his presidency in January 2001 ignited a firestorm of controversy, most especially the one issued for financier Marc Rich, considered the biggest tax cheat in history, whom Rudy Giuliani had successfully indicted as a U.S. attorney.
Pardon Me?
By Jake Tapper
ABC News article here.
Three recipients of controversial 11th-hour pardons issued by former President Bill Clinton in January 2001 have donated thousands of dollars to the presidential campaign of his wife, Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., according to campaign finance records examined by ABC News, in what some good government groups said created an appearance of impropriety.
“It’s not illegal,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told ABC News. “But, of course, it’s inappropriate and she should return the money. It does raise the appearance that this is payback.
“One can only hope that she wasn’t yet aware of who made the donations,” said Sloan.
“We have raised over $65 million from over 200,000 people,” said Clinton campaign manager Howard Wolfson, adding sarcastically, “I appreciate your bringing the instance of this $5,300 and these three people to our attention.”
Pardonees Donate to Clinton
One of the pardonees who has become a donor to Sen. Clinton is David Herdlinger, a former prosecutor in Springdale, Ark., who, according to press accounts at the time of his pardon pleaded guilty in 1986 to mail fraud after taking bribes to reduce or drop charges against defendants charged with drunken driving offenses.
Now a life and business coach in Georgia, Herdlinger was pardoned by President Clinton in January 2001; he donated $1,000 to Sen. Clinton’s presidential campaign in August.
Insurance agent Alfredo Regalado, who gave Hillary Clinton $2,000, was pardoned by her husband for failing to “report the transportation of currency in excess of $10,000 into the United States,” according to the Department of Justice.
Allegedly Mishandled Government Secrets
John Deutch is a different case, having served as President Clinton’s CIA director.
Pardoned by President Clinton for charges he had mishandled government secrets — but before the Department of Justice could file the proper paperwork against him —
Deutch, now a professor at MIT, gave Sen. Clinton the maximum allowable donation, $2,300.
Neither Herdlinger nor Regalado nor Deutch could be reached for comment.
“This is another argument for restoring the presidential public financing system,” said Common Cause’s Mary Boyle. “Is there an appearance here that this is kind of a payback for the pardons? I’m sure it could look that way for some people. But they’re exercising their free and perfectly legal right to give a campaign contribution.”
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Whooooo Hoooooo !!!
Keep diggin Keep Diggin !!!!
The longer this count down to the nomination goes the more & more DIRT we can bury this pig in !!!
The bitch is evil and must be stopped…
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November 15th, 2007 at 8:13 amClinton, inc at work?
I wonder if the plan is to get all the dirty laundry out now so that she can be dismissive when confronted on it later in the campaign, I can hear her now:
“we already addressed that issue, and you know a lot was made about it in the media when it was brought to my attention, but I wasn’t aware of it and have instructed my campaign managers to insure we are acting in the best interest of the American people”
you can just hear that shit coming out of her mouth in your head can’t you?
Do not think she cannot be elected, negatives or not, the house and senate are in a d’rat majority and I have seen the election of carter, the re election of clinton and the re election of the granholm in michigan, never assume she can’t win
November 15th, 2007 at 8:15 am