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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 27 February 2001 | Vol. II #29 | ||
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| Dr. David Marlett, Editor | 27 February 2001 | Vol. II #29 | ||
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Case Law Establishes That Pardons of Braswell, Roger Clinton, Henry Cisneros, Susan McDougal and Others Are Void and Invalid
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, Inc., the public interest watchdog that investigates and prosecutes government abuse and corruption, has joined with Congressman Bob Barr to pursue justice in the Pardongate scandal. With Judicial Watch's assistance, on February 20, 2001, Congressman Barr wrote this letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft:
The Honorable John Ashcroft
Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
In Re: Review of Former President Clinton's January 20, 2001 Clemency Grants
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
Thank you very much for taking my call today, and agreeing to look into this matter. As I indicated, on February 9, 2001, I wrote to you about former President Clinton's attempt to grant pardons for the 44 persons set forth in the attached letter dated February 6, 2001 from the Department of Justice Office of Legislative Affairs to the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton (Exhibit 1). As I pointed out,
Contrary to long-established and consistent precedent, former President Clinton did not issue separate clemency grants for each individual. Instead he signed a single document entitled, 'Executive Grant of Clemency,' listing 138 persons by name, under the following statement:
AFTER CONSIDERING THE REQUESTS for executive clemency of the following named persons, I hereby grant full and unconditional pardons to the following named persons for those offenses against the United States described in each such request:
As a result, and as further explained in my February 9, 2001 letter, these 44 persons "could not" - and did not - receive pardons." While the Department has not responded to my letter of February 9, 2001, on February 14, 2001 Chairman Dan Burton was advised by Acting Assistant Attorney General Sheryl L. Walter that the Department of Justice was proceeding to prepare and issue warrants to effect the attempted pardons (Exhibit 2). Incredibly, in her letter, Ms. Walter admits that the Department of Justice is unable to determine the nature and scope of the pardon for each individual based upon President Clinton's failure to describe the acts subject to pardon. Instead, much like Florida canvassing boards during the 2000 Presidential election, the Department has set out to "divine" Mr. Clinton's intent. This is patently - and constitutionally - improper.
Well-established case law demonstrates that presidential pardons are - and can only be - effective to the crimes specified in the President's pardon, here his "Executive Grant of clemency." See, e.g., Ex Parte Weimer, 29 F.Cas. 597, 598 (C.C.E.D. Wisc. 1878) (No. 17,362); Stetler's Case, 22 F.Cas. 1314, 1315-16 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1852) (13,380) (Exhibit 3). Further, the law is clear that a pardon does not take effect until the warrant is issued, delivered and accepted. U.S. v. Wilson, 32 U.S. 150 (1833); In re DePuy, 7 F.Cas. 506 (D.C.S.D.N.Y. 1869) (3,814) (Exhibit 4). In this case, a warrant cannot be issued and delivered without knowing what was the express basis of the pardon. Finally, until the pardon is delivered, the President may cancel it. This applies even to a pardon issued by a President's predecessor in office. See, Id.
For all of these reasons, I urge you to reject the attempted pardons by President Clinton for the 44 enumerated individuals, particularly under the circumstances, where pardons were issued for political purposes and possibly in exchange for campaign contributions and other forms of remuneration (Exhibit 5). Also, insofar as it would be impossible to "divine" President Clinton's intent from the pardon document he issued, your staff would in effect be unconstitutionally exercising the pardon power by substituting the judgment of an inferior government official for that of the only person constitutionally empowered to grant a pardon - the President himself. If the President does not properly exercise a power only he possesses, another official cannot step in and correct his mistakes.
For the above reasons, and with all due respect, if you allow these pardons to proceed and warrants to issue and be delivered, a great injustice will have been done, and an unfortunate precedent will have been set. If the Office of the Attorney General does not act to prevent this, further steps may be initiated to prevent this result.
Thank you for your interest, and an early response to my inquiries, before the Department of Justice issues and serves the warrants for the attempted pardons at issue.
With warm regards, I remain,
very truly yours, BOB BARR
Member of Congress
Judicial Watch trusts that Attorney General John Ashcroft will not be prevented by President George W. Bush to pursue justice and not process the 44 attempted pardons at issue, which include but are not limited to the following persons: Tansukhlal "Tom" Bhakta, Almon Glenn Braswell, John Bustamante, Henry Cisneros, Roger Clinton, John F. Cross, Jr., Richard Douglas, Edward R. Downe, Jr., Alvarez Ferrouillett, Lloyd Reid George, John J. Hemmingson, Linda Jones, James H. Lake, James T. Maness, Susan McDougal, Richard H. Pezzopane, Charles "Pug" D. Ravenel, Adolph Schwimmer, Stephen A. Smith, John Fife Symington, III, Christopher V. Wade, Jack L. Williams, Jimmie Lee Wilson, William Stanley Yingling, Velinda Desalus, Kimberly D. Johnson, Arnold Paul Prosperi, Dorothy Rivers, Thomas W. Waddell, III, Ricky Lee Cunningham, Rubye Lee Gordon, John Robert Martin, Frank Ayala Martinez, Sylvia Leticia Beltran Martinez, Miguelina Ogalde, Orville Rex Phillips, Howard Winfield Riddle, Gerald Glen Rust, Jerri Ann Rust, Gary Allen Thomas, Larry Weldon Todd, Patricia A. Van De Weerd, Mitchell Couey Wood.
"The President must change his attitude and approach to justice, since illegal bribes and other improprieties are something which cannot be condoned by any administration," stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman.
[ Judicial Watch ]
A client of ex-first brother-in-law Hugh Rodham, who sought a presidential pardon for herself and her husband in January, donated $2,000 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign, the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch revealed Monday.
What's more, Rodham's client made the donation on Nov. 27, 2000 - nearly a month after the election was over.
Nora Lum and her husband Gene pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 1997 after making illegal donations to Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. The Lums were also suspected of funneling thousands of dollars to the late Clinton Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, using his son Michael as a conduit.
Mrs. Clinton's Senate campaign accepted the Lums' money despite their previous guilty plea.
Though neither Lum received a pardon, the contribution raises questions about whether Hugh Rodham recommended that his clients donate to his sister's Senate campaign - as well as the donation's curious timing.
"Why would Nora Lum, a convicted felon, give money to Hillary almost a month after her landslide Senate victory?" asked Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
Good question.
[ NewsMax ]
Senator Clinton's brother Hugh Rodham Friday evening was followed by a local NBC camera crew into a famous Miami-area Irish pub, John Martin's in Coral Gables. The ample frame of Hugh was thus beamed into homes across America, sitting alone at the bar, doing what one surmises he does a lot - drinking beer.
Hugh was not pleased. He told the camera to get out of his face, obviously annoyed that a man can't find sanctuary in a bar, for Heaven's sake. But there is a bar that will possibly prove more inhospitable than John Martin's: The Florida Bar.
Here is the specific Bar Rule that may, in the weeks ahead, induce brother Hugh to do lots of "12 ounce curls." It is Rule 4-8.4(e) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar:
"A lawyer shall not state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official." And that's why contingency fee arrangements for such work are generally prohibited.
Why was Hugh Rodham retained by two criminals to secure them presidential pardons? Was it because Hugh Rodham is one of the great advocates among America's trial lawyers? No, he's a better golfer.
It is because he enjoys extraordinary access to the president, his brother-in-law, and to his sister, then the first lady. Hugh was sleeping in the White House at the time he lobbied for these pardons.
The perception of even DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe is that Hugh Rodham was paid $400,000 not to do legal work but rather "to influence improperly a government official" by virtue of his relationship with that official.
You want a pardon on the merits, you hire a good attorney. You want a pardon on other grounds, you hire Hugh Rodham or some other influence peddler.
Does anyone honestly think that Hugh Rodham was not wearing an "I can get you a pardon from my brother-in-law" sign around his neck in Clinton's twilight days?
That sign is an albatross Hugh is trying to drown in an ocean of beer. Contact Guinness. South Florida needs more stout.
[ Jack Thompson, NewsMax ]
Terry McAuliffe's DNC report saying that Al Gore actually won Florida is a Clintonian version of truth. USA TODAY, The Miami Herald and Knight Ridder hired the national accounting firm BDO Seidman to examine all 60,000 undervotes in Florida's 67 counties.
If Secretary of State Katherine Harris had let South Florida counties complete manual recounts before certifying the results of last November's election, George W. Bush likely would have won the presidency outright, without weeks of indecision and political warfare, a review of Miami-Dade County's ``undervote'' ballots shows. Al Gore would have netted no more than 49 votes if a manual recount of Miami-Dade's ballots had been completed, according to the review, which was sponsored by The Herald and its parent company, Knight Ridder.
That would have been 140 too few to overcome Bush's lead, even when joined with Gore gains in Volusia, Palm Beach and Broward counties -- the three other counties where Gore had requested manual recounts. Of 10,644 ballots that the Miami-Dade elections office identified as undervotes -- ballots bearing no machine-readable vote for president -- the review found that 1,555 bore some kind of marking that might be interpreted as a vote for Gore. An additional 1,506 bore some kind of marking that might be interpreted as a vote for Bush. There were 106 markings for other candidates.
[ TCN ]
U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the prosecutors during President Clinton's impeachment, announced Wednesday that he will seek his party's nomination for the Senate seat being vacated by Strom Thurmond.
Graham, who was elected to Congress in 1994, often served as a spokesman for the 13 prosecutors in Clinton's impeachment. He also was active in last year's presidential campaign for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Graham said his campaign would emphasize national defense, Social Security and education issues.
Thurmond, 98, is the nation's oldest and longest serving senator. He has said he won't seek re-election next year. So far, no other Republican has indicated interest in seeking the nomination.
Possible Democratic challengers include Phil Lader, the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain and Lake City businesswoman Darla Moore.
TCN Comment: Your editor met Lindsey Graham a couple of years ago at Faith Baptist Church in Laurens South Carolina at a special service honoring that states elected officials. We were happy to see a well worn Bible in his hand and a genuine interest in what was going on.
When Graham was questioned about his support of John McCain during the SC primaries, the action was explained as the result of a prior commitment. At TCN we see that as the wrong answer, in fact there could be no right answer. It shows a willingness to play politics and endorse men and policies that he may not even agree with if and when it benefits politically.
While Lindsey Graham may be the best candidate in the race to take over Strom Thurmond's senate seat we will not be impressed until we see some of the saw-log-like backbone that Senator Thurmond has displayed during his tenure.
Some conservative Democrats have three words of advice for their party leaders: Drop gun control.
"This is not an issue that helps the Democratic Party, particularly in rural America," said Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas. "Those of us who believe in the Second Amendment and the right of gun ownership have been pretty outspoken in telling our friends this is an issue they need to leave alone."
Turner and fellow House Democrats and Texans Ralph Hall and Max Sandlin are concerned about renewed efforts to push gun control in Congress.
Two powerful senators - Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz. - are working on a bill that would increase background checks at gun shows and provide additional money to enforce existing laws.
In addition, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., plans to introduce a measure that would mandate background checks for all buyers at gun shows and expand the definition of a gun show to include events, such as flea markets and swap meets, where firearms are not the main product sold.
The Texas lawmakers say gun control efforts have hurt Democrats, including former Vice President Al Gore.
"If the Democrats and the Gore campaign had not been so strident in opposition to gun rights . . . there's absolutely no doubt that Vice President Gore would be president," Sandlin said. "It cost him a tremendous amount of support across the South."
Sandlin said that passing any gun control bill will be difficult, especially in the House.
In the last Congress, with the Clinton White House clamoring for gun control, a bill never made it out of a conference committee.
The measure started out strong in 1999, when gun control took the spotlight in Congress after the shooting tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
A month after the shooting, the Senate stunned the powerful gun lobby and voted for a juvenile justice bill that included provisions such as increasing background checks at gun shows.
But the measure never made it through the House, and efforts to incorporate it into a joint House-Senate juvenile justice bill failed.
With President Bush in the White House, chances for a gun control bill could be even more bleak.
As governor of Texas, Bush generally sided with the National Rifle Association, signing bills that allow people to carry concealed weapons and prevent municipalities from suing gun makers.
But supporters of gun control say that the issue has momentum because of increasing public support.
"The gun issue works in different places in different ways," said Joe Sudbay, public policy director for the Violence Policy Center, a gun control group based in Washington.
Women across the country strongly support gun control, as do urban and suburban voters, he said.
Sudbay disputes that supporting gun control cost Gore the White House.
The swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan voted for Gore despite a strong anti-Gore campaign there by the NRA, he said.
Some conservative and moderate Democrats, including Hall, say they are willing to listen to ideas about further regulation of gun shows and trigger lock requirements.
"I understand that handguns are a problem. People get killed with them. Children get killed with them. And I think we ought to continue to pursue something on it," Hall said.
But Hall also said he would have a hard time voting for "anything that violates or dents the Second Amendment" because the ultimate goal of gun control proponents is to outlaw possession, as the nation's capital has done.
"I'm here in Washington, D.C. - probably the most dangerous city in the northeastern part of the country after darkness falls - with a painted glass between me and the outside world . . . and I can't have a gun in my home. Give me a break," he said.
Turner said he hopes his party will focus on other matters.
"The Democrats desperately need to unite behind issues that have a broad base of support within our caucus," he said. "There's a large number of Democrats who are strong supporters of the Second Amendment."
[ The Palm Beach Post ]
TCN Comment: While we are happy to see some DemocRATS jumping ship on gun control we are still bothered by the reason they are jumping. They are not making this change due to a new found desire to support the second amendment, but only because they see it as a way to pick up a few more votes.
During the Clinton presidency the White House ran daily polls to determine what tomorrow's policy would be. It is still the way most DC pols decide where they stand on issues even though the White House has stopped the practice under President Bush.
How pathetic it is that our elected officials can't read the US Constitution, a document that they have sworn to defend, and understand what their position should be on the second amendment.
As Congress focuses on the Clintons' sale of the Rich pardon, and Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney in New York, looks at the Hasidic pardons as a possible payoff for Hillary's Senate run - Judicial Watch is discovering more worms.
Sources familiar with the investigation of the Clinton pardon list show that three criminals who got Clinton pardons had close ties to Jesse Jackson.
Larry Klayman, chairman of Judicial Watch, has already tipped off congressional investigators, suggesting they investigate whether Jackson got anything in return.
[ NewsMax ]
So much for the suffering of former congressman and convicted sex offender Mel Reynolds. As soon as his commutation came through from pal Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and his Chicago cronies were ready to help. Today the man who said it would be a struggle to get his life back on track financially is riding around in a stretch limo driven by a salaried employee of Jackson's Rainbow Coalition. But Jackson isn't footing the whole bill. His longtime friend Rev. James Meek, who receives funds from Operation PUSH and the Rainbow Coalition, is underwriting the leasing of the car.
Why the chauffeur? Reynolds apparently doesn't have a driver's license and is afraid to ride on public transportation because of his notoriety.
The FBI has already inquired into this odd transportation choice, particularly given the controversy over the Rainbow Coalition's support of the Reverend Jackson's mistress.
[ Washington Prowler ]
Justice Department officials are quietly looking into what are being termed "business relationships" between DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe and Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham. So far, aside from any relationship McAuliffe might have had with Marc Rich's ex-wife, Denise, the new Democratic leader has not been drawn directly into the Clinton pardon mess.
"Both of Rodham's clients were DNC backers, and he wasn't a natural pick beyond his Clinton pedigree to push for the pardons. We think someone steered them to Rodham," says a Treasury source.
McAuliffe's name has not come up in the investigation, says the Treasury source. "But given McAuliffe's fundraising role, we have to check him out."
[ Washington Prowler ]
Young Judy was having trouble with her computer so she called Prem, the computer guy, over to her desk.
Prem clicked a couple buttons and solved the problem. As he was walking away, Judy called after him, "So, what was wrong?" And he replied, "It was an ID ten T error."
A puzzled expression ran riot over Judy's face. "An ID ten T error? What's that ... in case I need to fix it again??"
He gave her a grin... ;-) ... "Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?"
"No," replied Judy.
"Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure it out."
(She wrote...)
I D 1 0 T
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