US Congress May Ask Israelis to Testify in Rich Probe
US Congress May Ask Israelis to Testify in Rich Probe
A US congressional committee investigating former president Bill Clinton’s pardon of renowned racketeer Marc Rich is considering asking for written testimony from Israeli and American Jewish leaders who lobbied Clinton to pardon the fugitive.
So far, no Israeli or Jewish leader has been asked to testify and Mark Corallo, spokesman for the House Government Reform Committee, declined to specify who might be contacted. He stressed that there are no plans at this time to subpoena people from Israel to physically testify before the committee, but he did not rule out the possibility “if needs arise later on.”
The House committee is trying to determine why Clinton pardoned Rich against the advice of his top aides and whether he was influenced by financial contributions made by Rich’s ex-wife Denise or others. Clinton has said that he granted the pardon on the merits of the case, that he did not believe Rich’s case was handled properly by prosecutors, and that he was sensitive to appeals by Jewish and Israeli leaders who said Rich contributed enormously to Israel and to promoting the Oslo peace process.
Israelis who appealed to Clinton to grant Rich clemency included outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Labor MK Shimon Peres, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, and former Mossad chief Shabbtai Shavit.
Rich was indicted in 1983 on charges of fraud, racketeering, illegal trading with Iran during the US Embassy hostage crisis, and evading $48 million in income tax. He sought refuge in Switzerland 18 years ago to avoid prosecution.
His ex-wife Denise Rich, a top Democratic supporter, has contributed $450,000 to Clinton’s presidential library foundation and gave $100,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s senatorial campaign last year. She and Beth Dozoretz, a key Democratic fund-raiser and personal friend of Barak, have invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid having to testify before the committee.
In testimony before the committee last week, three of Clinton’s senior aides said a telephone call from Barak on January 19, the day before Clinton left office, caused the president to change his mind and grant the controversial pardon. The aides said Barak had raised the issue with Clinton three times overall, but Barak’s staff in the Prime Minister’s office said the two leaders only discussed it once, at the end of a discussion on a full range of issues.
James Carville, a campaign advisor to Clinton and Barak, suggested over the weekend that Clinton wanted to reward Barak for concessions he offered during the failed Camp David summit last July.
Meantime, Esther Pollard, the wife of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, took the grandstand and harshly criticized American Jewry and Israeli leaders for concentrating their efforts on pardoning Rich, while failing to support her husband’s cause. She claimed at a Jewish event in New York this past weekend that Rich’s financial dealings in Israel effectively insured his political backing and, ultimately, the clemency grant.
Used with Permission from International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.