Tonken Plea Bad News for Bill and Hillary

NewsMax.com ^ | Sunday Nov. 16, 2003 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[vladog]

A controversial Hollywood fundraiser and self-described witness against Bill and Hillary Clinton will plead guilty tomorrow to charges he defrauded several charities in California in exchange for his further cooperation.

"I'm a star witness against President and Mrs. Clinton," Aaron Tonken said in court documents made public earlier this year.

"I'm a star witness in New York in the grand jury regarding the Marc Rich pardon and regarding the fundraising activities that I've done on behalf of the Clintons," the celebrity moneyman continued.

"It's multi-faceted. Part of it's a criminal investigation dealing with the former president; part of it's a massive investigation with the IRS with me in conjunction with all celebrities that I've gifted."

Already, Tonken's testimony has caused trouble for Clinton Pardongate donor Denise Rich, who was thought to be out of the woods until he began singing.

Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney's office in New York are said to have new evidence that Mrs. Rich violated an immunity arrangement by hiding certain relevant details of her story, the New York Daily News reported on Friday.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the paper that prosecutors are currently weighing whether to bring obstruction of justice counts against Rich - a development that puts additional pressure on her to come clean about her dealings with the Clintons.

WNBC-TV in New York reported Friday that the new trouble for Rich began after Tonken was called to the city in August to detail for investigators what he knew about the money she gave to the Clintons, and Mr. Clinton's subsequent pardon of Rich's ex-husband, fugitive tax fraud convict Marc Rich.

Tonken boasts of particularly close ties to the former first couple, using a video of Sen. Hillary Clinton calling him "my good friend" to convince potential contributors that he was on the level.

Instead, say Los Angeles prosecutors, Tonken diverted thousands in charitable donations to his private bank account.

The exact nature of Tonken's allegations against the Clintons remains unknown. But the celebrity moneyman is known to have been involved in a controversial August 2000 fundraiser for Hillary Clinton staged by Hollywood mogul Peter Paul.

According to a report in the August issue of Vanity Fair, Tonken first broached the idea of using a series of star-studded galas to bankroll Mrs. Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign, and personally outlined the plan to then-President Clinton himself at a 1998 party thrown by Mrs. Rich.

Mr. Paul has told Judicial Watch, which is representing him in the case, that his costs for producing the August 2000 gala amounted to a $2 million contribution to Clinton's Senate campaign – money that went unreported to the Federal Election Commission as required by law.

Paul has recently been retrieved from a Brazilian jail by the Justice Department and is said to be cooperating with prosecutors in New York.

[vladog]

This guy better be wearing his 2nd Chance!

[Chad Fairbanks]

and stay away from railroad tracks, don't go out driving, stay away from Starbucks, don't go walking in FOrt Marcy Park etc...

[Free_at_last_-2001]

Good news!

[RightOnGOP]

The sewer has finally backed up and is now spewing its contents above ground?..........could it be true? I won't hold my breath, until there are indictments and singing canaries..... :)

[big bad easter bunny]

He better have his cholesterol checked!

[CaptainK]

Rid your house of guns in case you have the urge to shot yourself in the head.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Yup. THis person is marked now. Careful and vigilant are the orders of the day...

[bannie]

Dead man talking...

[Bob Eimiller]

Oh boy....!!! Hillary must be very p#ssed... and when Hillary is angry bad things can happen.

[Bon mots]

or he'll just up and die or dissappear

It's happened before...

[Sacajaweau]

Well, I do like the timing. Bit will the newsfolks put it on page 23? at the bottom? on a Wednesday? under a car ad.

Dead man walking?

[Jeff Chandler]

The public will never know about this.

[Bob Eimiller]

-Vince Foster.. Bill, I want to resign.. no I don't want to come to the White House for a movie... instead I think I'll go to Ft Marcy Park tomorrow and commit "suicide" ok?
-Katy Mahoney "don't kill me..take the money.. WHY DON'T YOU WANT THE MONEY!!
-Ron Brown "If I go down, we all go down" (Bill)Hey, Ron, I want you to go on this "trade mission" to Yugoslavia next week...
-Jim McDougal.. "Hey, You can't put me into solitary without my heart medication...HEY!! aaarrrgh ------
-Two Teenagers on the RR tracks in Mena Arkansas.."hey..do you see what's going on at the airport? oh oh.. Run!!
-(name?) But I just live in the same building as Gennifer Flowers!! Video...what video.. ow ugh unnngh...
And who was the wife of the Arkansas trooper that packed her bags to take with her to the great beyond when she "committed suicide" with a bullet in the BACK of her head.
-2 weeks later her husband "commits suicide" on her grave..... too many to count DON'T YOU AGREE?

[JesseHousman]

...too many to count DON'T YOU AGREE?

Yeah. But all the DemocRAts like them and so do some of the RepublicRATs.

[Cobra64]

Yup. He's definitely at risk of a lead injection.

[Print]

I wouldn't be surprised is he becomes a victim of "arkancide".

[Old Sarge]

"I'm a star witness in New York in the grand jury regarding the Marc Rich pardon and regarding the fundraising activities that I've done on behalf of the Clintons," the celebrity moneyman continued.

Maybe this man isn't dead, but the story is.

The CLintons will walk - they always do. I think it's an executive order that Bill signed before leaving office.

[MinuteGal]

I would have a little more hope if I knew the makeup of the U.S. Attorney's office in NY. Anyone know?

If the DA is a Reno-clone, I don't expect much.

Leni

[Elliott Jackalope]

I would love to see a qualified actuary do a mortality evaluation on the risks of being a "Friend of the Clintons". I wonder how it would compare to being a three pack a day smoker, or a stuntman, or a freestyle skydiver.

[Bob Eimiller]

I think there has been some analysis on the odds... it's billions to one there would be that many deaths to associates in the Clinton political time frame. Then the unusual nature of the deaths was an astronomical likelyhood.