THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED: The Presidential Pardon of Marc Rich

For me, this was the point at which I discarded the Clinton’s as anything worthy of my respect or support. It was the epiphany moment which explained everything that had come before it.

I voted for Bill Clinton for President, twice. I wanted to believe in him. He had detractors, many of them, but I checked the box for Clinton in 92' and 96'. You certainly had to say that he ushered the economy back. He was a tremendous politician, one of the all time greats, whether you liked him or not…

When the Monica Lewinsky scandal hit I was disappointed like most others…but my respect for Clinton didn't really start to take in water until he looked in the camera, pointed his finger…and lied. It was pathetic. Personally speaking, I don’t think Clinton should have even answered any questions about sex with staffers…. or with anyone. It is in poor taste to be sure and it's a violation of ethics, but there is no law against having sex with interns. She was an adult. It certainly was an issue that people could judge him on based on their hunch over whether he exploited his position as President in order to have sex with staffers. But, as far as answering direct questions about something that is not forbidden by American law (unlike perjury) I think he acquiesced to his great peril. It was a circus and he let himself be led around the ring like a circus elephant. Let people guess as to whether he had sex with Monica Lewinsky. If he was asked by the press if he had ever had extra marital sex since his marriage would he be under any burden to answer that question…? Of course not…he would (or should) say…"it’s a totally inappropriate question to ask and I won’t set any precedence for answering such a totally personal and non germane question."

Still, I was pretty supportive of the Clinton legacy to the very end…that is, until his last day in office…on that day, Bill Clinton did something that didn’t just pull back the curtain on his true character…it illuminated it with high beams, and spotlights, and arrows pointing to the slime. Anyone who wasn’t in a coma during that time would have the ability to see a totally undisguised display of corruption and payment for access to power.

Yes, it was on Clinton’s last hours in office but surely he knew that he was going to be taken to the woodshed for this gross act of perversion. It was criminal. I can’t say for sure but I can’t imagine that a more despicable and undeserving character has ever been pardoned by the President of the United States, or anyone. Clinton looked like a dog by pardoning Marc Rich.

A New York Times editorial called it “a shocking abuse of presidential power.” The usually Clinton-friendly New Republic noted it “is often mentioned as Exhibit A of Clintonian sliminess.”
Congressman Barney Frank added, “It was a real betrayal by Bill Clinton of all who
had been strongly supportive of him to do something this unjustified. It
was contemptuous.” Former President Jimmy Carter, a fellow Democrat, said, "I don't think there is any doubt that some of the factors in his pardon were attributable to his large gifts. In my
opinion, that was disgraceful."

In 1983 Marc Rich and partner Pincus Green were indicted on 65 criminal counts, including income tax evasion, wire fraud, racketeering, and trading with Iran during the oil embargo (at a time when Iranian revolutionaries were still holding American citizens hostage). The charges would have led to a sentence of more than 300 years in prison had Rich been convicted on all counts. Rich made a large part of his wealth, approximately $2 billion between 1979 and 1994, selling oil to the apartheid regime in South Africa when it faced a UN embargo. He did deals with Khadafy’s Libya, Milosevic’s Yugoslavia, Kim Il Sung’s North Korea, Communist dictatorships in Cuba and the Soviet Union itself. Little surprise that he was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. The indictment was filed by then-U.S. Federal Prosecutor (and future mayor of New York City) Rudolph Giuliani. At the time it was the biggest tax evasion case in U.S. history.

Hearing of the plans for the indictment, Rich fled to Switzerland

There was absolutely no reason whatsoever to pardon this despicable character. He had fled from the law…He was a fugitive. But that was just the beginning of the story…it’s a long story that isn’t likely over.

What bothered so many was that Clinton’s clemency to Rich reeked of payoff. In the run-up to the presidential pardon, the financier’s ex-wife Denise had donated $450,000 to the fledgling Clinton Library and “over $1 million to Democratic campaigns in the Clinton era.”

Even Bill Clinton eventually admitted that the pardon had been “terrible politics.” “It wasn’t worth the damage to my reputation,” he said.

Yes, the pardon was a political mistake, but it certainly was not a financial mistake for the Clinton’s. In the years following the scandal, the flow of funds from those connected to Marc Rich or the pardon scandal have continued to the Clintons.

Rich’s business partners, lawyers, advisers and friends have showered millions of dollars on the Clintons in the decade and a half following the scandal.

It cannot be mere coincidence that in the years of fundraising for the Clinton Foundation, one of the industries that has emerged as a big backer of the Clintons is the mining and commodities industry, where Marc Rich made his fortune

How could Clinton have possibly thought that anyone, even his closest allies, would not wonder why in the world he was pardoning a fugitive of the law, one of the FBI’s ten most wanted? This wasn’t Nelson Mandela whom he pardoned…or anyone even slightly sympathetic. This man was guilty the way Bernie Madoff was guilty. Except, it was much worse than Madoff because Rich was making money deals with terrorist nations such as Iran, South Korea, and Libya...during UN embargos. It’s just unbelievable. But, Bill Clinton couldn’t resist selling Presidential Power for money. Do I even need to allude to Hillary’s paid speeches for $235k to Goldman Sachs…the transcripts of which she refuses to release.

But, the story doesn’t end there.

Nigerian businessman Gilbert Chagoury is well known as a close ally and business associate of Rich. The Nigerian media declared in 1999 that the “Gilbert Chagoury-Marc Rich alliance remains a formidable foe.” They sold oil on international markets together. In 2000, Chagoury was convicted in Geneva of money laundering and aiding a criminal organization in connection with the billions of dollars stolen from Nigeria during the reign of dictator Gen. Sani Abacha.

Chagoury has been very generous to the Clintons in the years following the Rich pardon, even after Rich’s death in 2013. He has organized an event at which Bill was paid $100,000 to speak (in 2003), donated millions to the Clinton Foundation and in 2009 pledged a cool $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative. The Chagourys were also active in Hillary’s 2008 presidential bid.

In return, Bill has lavished praised on Chagoury over the years. In 2005, Bill was the keynote speaker when Chagoury received the “Pride of Heritage Award” from the Lebanese community.

Now, just today, it has been revealed following the release of more Clinton emails that Chagoury received favoritism during the period when Hillary was Secretary of State…

This story never ends…and now, with Hillary Clinton virtually secured of a chair behind the Oval Office desk, and Bill back living in the White House, the corruption will surely continue.

And Hillary Clinton just can’t seem to understand why people find her unworthy of their trust.

Food for Thought....

* italics represent borrowed text