The Boston Globe has a report today that Hillary's brothers' pardon deals are coming back to haunt her:
Six years ago, the launch of Hillary Clinton's career in the US Senate was marred by allegations that her brothers had received payments from people pardoned by President Bill Clinton in the waning months of his presidency.
Now, in the wake of the launch of her presidential campaign, the pardon controversy has reemerged in an obscure court case in which Senator Clinton's brother Tony is battling an order to repay more than $100,000 he received from a couple pardoned by President Clinton.Tony Rodham, who acknowledged approaching the president about a pardon for the couple, is the second of Hillary Clinton's brothers to receive money from people who were eventually pardoned by President Clinton. Hugh Rodham received $400,000 from two people, one of whom was pardoned and one whose sentence was commuted.
But while Hillary Clinton immediately expressed chagrin over the news in 2001 that Hugh received the money -- and asked him to return it -- she said Tony was "not paid," according to a congressional report. The Clinton campaign yesterday declined to comment on the case involving Tony Rodham.
Clinton critics have been seeking to revive an array of controversies, from the Whitewater land deal to the Monica Lewinsky case. The Clinton campaign has sought to depict them as old or moot cases. But the Tony Rodham case could be different because it is in court just as Senator Clinton's campaign reaches full speed.
Yesterday, US Bankruptcy Court Judge Marian Harrison of Nashville ordered Tony Rodham to respond by March 16 to the allegation that he failed to repay a loan of $107,000 from the couple pardoned by Clinton, according to attorneys involved in the case.
President Clinton's pardons have been a political issue for Hillary Clinton because of her ties to a number of the cases. In addition to the people who paid her brothers, those receiving pardons included commodities trader Marc Rich, a fugitive who was prosecuted for tax evasion by then-US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani and fled to Switzerland. Rich was pardoned after his former wife, Denise Rich, contributed heavily to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.
Controversy over the pardons was reignited last week after Hollywood mogul and former Clinton supporter David Geffen criticized the Clintons for the Rich pardon.
It appears that David Geffen has weakened the dam. It was unacceptable to speak ill the Clintons. Those who did had the wrath of the Clinton war machine brought down on their heads, with assistance from a willing media. However, a few more well placed cracks and the whole thing could collapse, allowing the Clintons' past to pour out and drown Hillary's presidential hopes. Having the Clintons back in the White House makes me and millions of other Americans shudder. Let's hope this is just the beginning because Hillary's "transformation" is a charade. She and Bill haven't changed one iota, and the sooner the American people understand that the better.
Link via Lucianne.




Comments (17)
Has a Congressional dem men... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Gianni | February 28, 2007 10:20 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Has a Congressional dem mentioned culture of corruption lately?
1. Posted by Gianni | February 28, 2007 10:20 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:20
2. Posted by kim | February 28, 2007 10:31 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Maybe Geffen didn't care for Rich's lawyer.
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2. Posted by kim | February 28, 2007 10:31 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:31
3. Posted by Harry | February 28, 2007 10:44 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Mention of these pardons by a billionaire Hollywood movie mogul and Democratic underwriter "reignited" the controversy only in liberal circles where it had fallen down their vast memory hole. Conservatives have always regarded these pardons as the most undeniable case in point of Bill Clinton's personal and depraved use of the powers of his office. From such unhappy memories comes the stubbornly high "negative" perception of Hillary Rodham Clinton in polls of the electorate.
And if you'd like some more material to help you ponder David Geffen's rhetorical question: "Who thinks that Bill Clinton has really changed?", note Jeff Jacoby's column also in today's Globe about the $40M in speaking fees (2/3rds from overseas) that Bill Clinton has accumulated since he signed those presidential pardons literally on his way out the White House door...
3. Posted by Harry | February 28, 2007 10:44 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:44
4. Posted by kim | February 28, 2007 10:48 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Wait, wasn't he redressing the abuses of out of control prosecutors.?
Here, Bill, toke on this. It doesn't work unless you inhale it.
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4. Posted by kim | February 28, 2007 10:48 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:48
5. Posted by Gianni | February 28, 2007 10:54 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
So Monica inhaled, Bill didnt, how about Hillery?
5. Posted by Gianni | February 28, 2007 10:54 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:54
6. Posted by Old Coot | February 28, 2007 10:56 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Ah, the mendacity and venality of Bill and Hillary!...the gifts that keep on giving.
6. Posted by Old Coot | February 28, 2007 10:56 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:56
7. Posted by P. Bunyan | February 28, 2007 10:59 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Has a Congressional dem mentioned culture of corruption lately?'
Gianni, haven't you been paying attention for the last 30 years? Anything a neo-democrat says before an election is irrelevant after the election. And they know none of the sheeple who are ingnorant enough to vote for them will hold them accountable so why should they bother even trying to live up to their campaign rhetoric?
7. Posted by P. Bunyan | February 28, 2007 10:59 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 10:59
8. Posted by 914 | February 28, 2007 11:27 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Geez I think Im related to the Rothams some four generations back! Wheres My 250Gs?
8. Posted by 914 | February 28, 2007 11:27 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 11:27
9. Posted by _Mike_ | February 28, 2007 11:46 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Geffen should certainly be excommunicated for this sacrilege!
Perhaps if Hillary wins in '08, Scooter Libby could pay a visit to Pardon-Mart.
9. Posted by _Mike_ | February 28, 2007 11:46 AM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 11:46
10. Posted by metprof | February 28, 2007 12:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Pardon-Mart?
ROFLMAO
10. Posted by metprof | February 28, 2007 12:16 PM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 12:16
11. Posted by Steve Crickmore | February 28, 2007 12:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Clinton(Bill) should make a speech on behalf his brother-in law called 'Family values,' 'Corruption in the White House,' it doesn't matter, his fee is 100,000 dollars and then give Hillary's brother the proceeds to pay the loan off...I'm a liberal but why the Dems would choose Hillary, is beyond me? She seem to have all of the flaws of her husband, without any of his compensating virtues.
11. Posted by Steve Crickmore | February 28, 2007 12:28 PM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 12:28
12. Posted by P. Bunyan | February 28, 2007 12:41 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"without any of his compensating virtues"
President Clinton's sole "compensating virtue" was that he was a very polished, practiced, and professional liar.
12. Posted by P. Bunyan | February 28, 2007 12:41 PM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 12:41
13. Posted by Larkin | February 28, 2007 3:06 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
However, a few more well placed cracks and the whole thing could collapse, allowing the Clintons' past to pour out and drown Hillary's presidential hopes.
ROFLMAO! This is one of the funniest posts I've seen on Wizbang in a long time.
The only people who care about micro-scandals like these are right-wingers who are never going to vote for Hillary anyway.
Just ask the average voter what they care about and you'll hear: Iraq, Iraq, and Iraq (maybe the economy a little). NO ONE is going to base their vote on what Hillary's brothers did or did not do.
Get real. We went thru this same crapola with Clinton for 8 years and his popularity just kept going up. People care about things that affect them; not things that don't.
13. Posted by Larkin | February 28, 2007 3:06 PM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 15:06
14. Posted by jhow66 | February 28, 2007 3:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Uh Larkin boy you sound a little "unhinged" there. Always can tell when the truth hits home.
14. Posted by jhow66 | February 28, 2007 3:40 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 28, 2007 15:40
15. Posted by SCSIwuzzy | February 28, 2007 5:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Larkin,
Uh, didn't Hillary support the Iraq invasion? Not just when she was "co-president", but as NY's junior senator? I seem to recall her being heckled for that recently by the far lefties.
Now add Voted for Iraq to Pardoned People when it Profitted Her Family, and you have a recipe for turning off tons of voters.
15. Posted by SCSIwuzzy | February 28, 2007 5:37 PM |
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Posted on February 28, 2007 17:37
16. Posted by wavemaker | February 28, 2007 6:34 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The vast center sensed that Bill Clinton was a scoundrel, but they liked him anyway, because he was a likeable guy.
The vast center senses that Hillary was (and is) a scoundrel too, but a large chunk of them don't like her -- because she's not a likeable person.
Cue up the WH secret service stories about the hurled lamps, trailer trash language and ethnic epithets -- people will remember and blanch.
Larkin, you haven't a clue what motivates people to vote.
16. Posted by wavemaker | February 28, 2007 6:34 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 28, 2007 18:34
17. Posted by marc | February 28, 2007 7:39 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Get real. We went thru this same crapola with Clinton for 8 years and his popularity just kept going up. People care about things that affect them; not things that don't. Larkin at February 28
OK, lets "get real" shall we.
Indeed, his job approval rating hit its all-time peak, 69 percent, just after the Lewinsky scandal erupted, and then reached almost as high, 68 percent, immediately after the Senate acquitted him of impeachment charges.
His low point, in fact, came years earlier: A 43 percent job approval rating in June 1993, as his new administration floundered and the economy remained weak.
Gee Larkin... I don't understand your "get real" definition.
I thought it may have meant something on the order of the "truth."
But to say his "popularity just kept going up" just doesn't fit the normal definition of "get real." Or truth.
Maybe you meant "truthiness?
Is that it, or are you, as some have suggested "unhinged?"
17. Posted by marc | February 28, 2007 7:39 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 28, 2007 19:39