Friday, January 24, l975 NYC FALN bombing
Posted on 07/05/2007 7:00:10 AM PDT by rface
Des Moines, Iowa - Former President Bill Clinton says President Bush's decision to spare ex-White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby from prison differed from his own administration's pardon controversy.
"You've got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy," Clinton said during an interview on Des Moines news-talk station WHO. Bush administration officials, he said, "believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle."
"It's wrong to out that C.I.A. agent and wrong to try to cover it up," Mr. Clinton added. "And no one was ever fired from the White House for doing it."
President Bush on Monday commuted Libby's 30-month sentence for perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to federal agents investigating the 2003 exposure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. Bush's order let the verdicts stand, but he called Libby's prison sentence "excessive" and eliminated it completely.
Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is now seeking the presidency and has been campaigning in Iowa during the Independence Day holiday. She put him on the phone during a Tuesday interview with Iowa political columnist David Yepsen.
FARCE? Look in the mirror Bill, and you’ll see a REAL farce!
I see he can use a pardon. But only when it strikes close to home, not when our border patrol does it’s job and are railroaded for it.
This is Scrappleface isn’t it?
Bill Clinton is in no position to complain that someone else is not being penalized for a perjury conviction....gimme a break
The fella that sold nuclear secrets to Red China is giving this administration a lecture on right and wrong ? STFU, Slick Willie.
The describes the Clintoons real well.
I’m certainly no psychologist but the Bent One is a Ted Bundy type psychopath if ever there was one.
Should make a list of people Clinton pardon.
I farts on his farce.
“How dare they pardon someone without a kickback,it makes me look bad!”
The pardoner
Bill Clinton, universally hailed as the most brilliant American political operator of his generation, has spent nearly as much of his career in the public eye for bad reasons as for good. Some say that his need to remain centre stage at all costs is behind his seemingly inexplicable series of public relations blunders, while others argue that Mr Clinton has a naive streak that enables people to manipulate him.
He was busy negotiating his own immunity from prosecution in his final hours in the White House, which might have made it hard for him to concentrate on other matters - but his 11th-hour pardon of 140 people and the reduction in sentence of another 36 is unprecedented in modern political history, and Democrats and Republicans alike are demanding an explanation for some of them.
The pardoned
Marc Rich,
Marc Rich fled the US in 1983
the billionaire commodities trader, is said to have lobbied hard for his pardon via a network of high-powered associates in the US, Israel and Switzerland. Jewish and Israeli leaders put in good words on his behalf, and Mr Clinton defended his pardon partially on the grounds that Mr Rich’s charitable contributions in the Middle East had aided the peace process. In 1983, the financier fled to Switzerland to avoid prosecution on 51 counts of tax evasion, fraud and violating a US trade embargo with Iran.
Carlos Vignali, 30, had his 15-year sentence for conspiracy to sell cocaine reduced to time served, and walked free on Mr Clinton’s last day in office. His father, Horacio, is a rich and powerful leader in the Los Angeles Hispanic community who has made large donations to the Democratic party. A number of high-profile Los Angeles figures, including the archbishop, the man who is now sherrif and two current mayoral candidates appealed for clemency for Vignali, but several have now said they should not have done so.
Almon Glenn Braswell, a Miami-based businessman, was convicted in 1983 of fraud and perjury in connection with a mail-order treatment for baldness he sold. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, where his business is based, were stunned by the pardon because it could throw a spanner into the works of the current investigation of Braswell on new charges. Mr Clinton said he was not aware that Braswell was facing a new investigation, and that his pardon was only intended to apply to the 1983 conviction. Braswell’s lawyers argue it applies to the present circumstances as well, but LA prosecutors say they will proceed with their investigation anyway.
Roger Clinton,
Roger Clinton has been arrested on new charges
the former president’s younger half-brother, was pardoned for a 1985 cocaine-related offence. Roger Clinton pleaded guilty to the charge and served more than a year in prison. The presidential pardon erases his criminal record - but he was arrested and charged with drink driving in California a month after the pardon. He also faces a charge of disturbing the peace for allegedly challenging a nightclub doorman to a fight.
Other players
Senator Hillary Clinton,
Hillary Clinton is distancing herself from the pardons
the former president’s wife, was elected to the Senate in November, making history as the first former First Lady to win national office. Widely assumed to have presidential ambitions of her own, Senator Clinton has worked to distance herself from her husband’s problems, referring questions about pardons to “the president and his staff”. Opinions are divided as to whether she is a victim of Bill Clinton’s political and personal shenanigans or an essential part of them.
Hugh Rodham,
Hugh Rodham has returned nearly $400,000
Hillary Clinton’s younger brother and a Miami lawyer, accepted nearly $400,000 from Braswell and the Vignali family to act on their behalf. When news of the payments became public, he returned the money at the Clintons’ insistence. Bill Clinton denied knowing Mr Rodham had taken money for the clemency work, but not having discussed the cases with him. Senator Clinton denied any involvement in the pardons whatsoever.
Mary Jo White,
Mary Jo White pushed hard for an investigation
the United States attorney in New York, was reported to have been furious that her office was not consulted about the Marc Rich pardon. It was her predecessor - Rudolph Giuliani, now the mayor of New York City - who brought charges against Mr Rich in 1983. Ms White convinced the Justice Department to allow her to open a preliminary criminal investigation into the pardon, in an effort to discover a “quid pro quo” cash-for-pardon deal. She is coordinating her investigation with the Justice Department.
BBC article
Hey Bill, may I call you Bill instead of “lying sack of garbage not worth giving CPR to?” Libby didn’t “out” Plame. Neither did the White House. I do agree that Armitage and the CIA and the Plames should pay a heavy price... that seems to be what you’re saying in regard to the parties responsible should be punished.
His administration believed in selling pardons to real criminals for money.
And W and hisdad continue to hang out with this turkey.
Bubba composed his own pardon when he walked out of the White House with an agreement that said “no one would ever sue him for anything that happened while he was President”.
Of all people, you would think Bill would leave pardon discussions alone. Once again, he believes the American people are idiots and won't remember his pardons and commutations.
Bubba boy wrote the book on breaking laws, and that the law is a minor obstacle.
Hey Bill... does Juniata Brodrick, Kathleen Wiley, or Monica ring a bell?
This man is delusional.
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