One thread that is woven through the character and history of every
candidate - whether for dogcatcher or for President - is the question of
who is the real power behind that candidate. Who pulls their strings?
Who pushes their buttons?
When you read the story, below, you will see that someone is lying.
Clinton blamed the National Archives; they claimed it was Clinton's
decision, carried out by Bruce Lindsey.
Clinton Release Papers Blocked
LITTLE ROCK Federal archivists at the Clinton Presidential Library are
blocking the release of hundreds of pages of White House papers on pardons
that the former president approved, including clemency for fugitive
commodities trader Marc Rich.
The archivists' decision, based on guidance provided
by Bill Clinton that restricts the disclosure of advice he received from
aides, prevents public scrutiny of documents that would shed light on how he
decided which pardons to approve from among hundreds of requests.
Clinton's legal agent declined the option of
reviewing and releasing the documents that were withheld, said the
archivists, who work for the federal government, not the Clintons.
The decision to withhold the records could provide
fodder for critics who say that the former president and his wife, Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination,
have been unwilling to fully release documents to public scrutiny.
In January 2006, USA TODAY requested documents about
the pardons under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The library made
4,000 pages available this week. However, 1,500 pages were either partially
redacted or withheld entirely, including 300 pages covering internal White
House communications on pardon decisions, such as memos to and from the
president, and reports on which pardon requests the Justice Department
opposed.
In a statement, the Clinton campaign said that
"all of the redactions made to the pardon-related documents were made by
(the National Archives)."
Former president Clinton issued 140 pardons on his
last day in office, including several to controversial figures, such as
commodities trader Rich, then a fugitive on tax evasion charges. Rich's
ex-wife, Denise, contributed $2,000 in 1999 to Hillary Clinton's Senate
campaign; $5,000 to a related political action committee; and $450,000 to a
fund set up to build the Clinton library.
The president also pardoned two men who each paid
Sen. Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, about $200,000 to lobby the White House
for pardons one for a drug conviction and one for mail fraud and perjury
convictions, according to a 2002 report by the House committee on
government reform. After the payments came to light, Bill Clinton issued a
statement: "Neither Hillary nor I had any knowledge of such
payments," the report said.
The pardon records released by the library divulge
little that might settle debate about those and other pardons. But they do
shed new light on the volume of clemency requests that former president
Clinton received and the pressures he and his staff faced as friends,
advisers, political leaders and foreign heads of state weighed in to influence
which petitions would be granted.
The files contain handwritten letters from several of
the president's close associates. Former Democratic Party chairman Donald
Fowler of South Carolina wrote a note seeking clemency for former congressman
John Jenrette, D-S.C., who was convicted in the 1980 Abscam sting in which FBI
agents, posing as Middle Eastern businessmen, offered lawmakers bribes for
political favors. Clinton did not grant the pardon.
Most of the withheld documents, including dozens
of clemency pleas sent to the president, were blocked from release under
FOIA rules that protect personal privacy. The 300 pages of internal White
House documents on pardon requests were blocked under the Presidential
Records Act of 1978, which allows presidents to maintain the confidentiality
of communications with their advisers for up to 12 years after they leave
office.
In 2002, Clinton sent a guidance letter to his library
that urged quick release of most White House records but retained the
confidentiality prerogative covering advice from his staff. Still, Clinton
said the restriction should be interpreted "narrowly" and
allowed that certain records detailing internal communications could be made
public if reviewed and approved for release by his designated legal agent.
Emily Robison, the library's deputy director, said Clinton's
agent, former deputy White House counsel Bruce Lindsey, chose not to review
the withheld documents.
Lindsey "was given the opportunity to look at
what we withheld under the (president's) guidelines, and he chose not to.
Only Mr. Lindsey and the president have the authority to open those," she
said.
The William J. Clinton Foundation, which Lindsey helps
oversee, said in a written statement that the National Archives is responsible
for deciding which records are withheld under the Presidential Records Act.
Archivists were exclusively responsible for "determinations with respect
to these materials," the statement said.
Clinton's guidance to the library goes beyond his
predecessors, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, in urging that most of his
presidential records be released quickly, according to Tom Blanton of the
National Security Archive, a research institute at George Washington
University that collects government records for public use.
Blanton noted that Lindsey's refusal to review the
withheld documents could be viewed as an effort to ensure the archivists'
independence. "He's saying the professional archivists get to make this
determination; it's not a political determination."
The archivists' decision to withhold records that
could be construed as confidential communications between Clinton and his
advisers is more consistent with the Bush administration's hard line on
the release of White House records, Blanton said.
President Bush signed an order in November 2001 that broadened
former presidents' prerogative to block the release of internal White House
records. That order, which Bill Clinton opposed, also allows a
president's immediate family to assert the privilege.
In 2004, Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest
group, went to court to force the Bush administration to release Justice
Department records on Clinton's pardons, and a federal judge ordered
that the records be opened. But the administration, which argued that such
releases would undermine a president's ability to get confidential advice, blacked
out most of the documents it made public.
Christopher Farrell, a Judicial Watch director, noted
that the pardon records blocked by the library also included all Justice
Department reports that were sent to Clinton with recommendations on which
clemency requests he should deny. He said it was "ridiculous" to
withhold clemency petitions over privacy concerns. "These are people who
were convicted in a court, and those cases are a matter of public
record." (Emphasis added)
(SOURCE: USA
Today, March 9, 2008)
