According to many political analysts hopes of employing former President Bill Clinton in a central role in the Democratic party have been dashed by a scandalous reputation that has followed Clinton all the way from the White House.
The Manhattan federal prosecutor has begun examination into Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, an incident also currently under investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White is "trying to determine if there was a transfer of money to but the pardon," a source familiar with the case told the Associated Press yesterday.
She is expected to scrutinize bank records, phone records and other documents to ascertain whether illegal activity was involved in Clinton's decision to pardon Rich.
White is also considering opening a criminal exploration into contributions and gifts associated with the pardon.
During the Senate Committee hearing, the government's pardon attorney claimed that the White House neglected to inform him that Rich was a fugitive from justice; the businessman has been living in Switzerland since just before he was indicted on federal charges in 1983.
"With respect to the pardon of Marc Rich" and his indicted business partner Pincus Green, "none of the regular procedures were followed," U.S. Pardon Attorney Roger Adams testified in front of the committee yesterday.
"I was told by White House counsel's staff that the only two people on the list for whom I needed to obtain record checks were Marc Rich and Pincus Green and that it was expected there would be little information about the two men because they had been 'living abroad for several years,"' Adams said.
Some of Clinton's own party members openly criticized his pardon, and few care to defend him against another scandal. Many cited it as a roadblock to his continuing involvement with the Democratic Party.
"The pardoning of fugitives stands our criminal justice system on its head," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said the Rich pardon "certainly raises the appearance of impropriety."
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who defended Clinton stoutly during impeachment, said he found it "appalling" that Clinton's pardon of Rich was "so insensitive to what is right and wrong."
"It damages him, and that's going to harm his ability to be useful to the causes he believes in," Frank said.
President Bush, however, seemed critical of congressional investigations into Clinton's last-minute pardons. "My attitude is, it's time to move on," Bush told reporters, yet he granted that "Congress is going to do what it's going to do."
The House Committee also asked the Secret Service for logs that would indicate how often Rich's supporters, including his attorney, Jack Quinn, who was Clinton's former White House counsel, visited the White House prior to the pardon.
Treasury Secretary endorses speedy tax cut
Even as Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a lagging economy, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill urged a House committee to expediently pass Bush's tax cut.
"Quicker is better, given the softness of the economy we're experiencing now," O'Neill said in response to a question from Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif.
"We have a surplus that should be returned to the American taxpayers. To the extent that getting it back to them sooner can help stave off a worsening of the economic slowdown, we should move forward immediately," he said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee.
Bush's plan would yield $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years by cutting all income tax rates, doubling the $500-per-child tax credit, easing the so-called marriage penalty and phasing out the estate tax.
Greenspan however warned the Senate banking Committee that the economy may slow down ever further in the upcoming year, although Republicans argue that with the $5.6 trillion in budget surpluses in the next decade projected by the Congressional Budget Office, there is plenty of room to cut taxes, as well as reduce the national debt and boost spending for other priorities such as defense.
"Downside risks predominate," Greenspan noted, notwithstanding.
O'Neill's remarks to the House's tax-writing committee marked the first defense of Bush's plan by a Cabinet member before a congressional committee.
