One Reason to Drop the Name "Rodham"

A bankruptcy trial involving “loans” to Tony Rodham, Hillary [Rodham] Clinton’s brother, from persons who were later pardoned by Hillary [Rodham] Clinton’s husband is reported on the Boston Globe’s front page today in a story by reporter Michael Kranish:

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.

No doubt she contributed for the cause.

Controversy over the pardons was reignited last week after Hollywood mogul and former Clinton supporter David Geffen criticized the Clintons for the Rich pardon.

Sorry, Michael Kranish, but your liberal media slip is showing here.

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 (2/3^rds from overseas) that Bill Clinton has accumulated since he signed those presidential pardons literally on his way out the White House door (and as I recall perhaps with some White House silverware jingling in his pockets).

“It is a legitimate campaign issue,” said Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law. He said that Hillary Clinton should answer questions about her brothers' and her own involvement in the pardons because “the stench of the Marc Rich pardon still stinks and it has never been adequately explained.”

As explanation, I recommend a short book commonly known as Genesis to the baffled professor.

The Rich pardon received the most attention. Rich had been indicted in 1983 on charges of tax evasion and illegal trading with Iran. Rich fled to Switzerland and never stood trial. Before Rich received the pardon in January 2001, his former wife, Denise Rich, contributed $70,000 to a fund supporting Hillary Clinton's Senate bid, and also made a large contribution to the Clinton presidential library.

It is delicious irony that the original prosecutor to bring charges against Marc Rich was Rudolph Giuliani. While the early Clinton shenanigans were done in the pre-web era, news reports of the 170 pardons issued by Clinton only hours before he left office are still available on the web. See for example on the BBC website here and here.