Clinton Denies Clemency Appeal in Pollard Case

President Clinton rejected the clemency request of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard on Wednesday, citing the “grave nature of his offense and the considerable damage that his actions have caused our nation.”

In a statement, Clinton said he had reviewed the case personally and taken note of Pollard’s argument that in spying for Israel he was helping “a friendly country.” But Clinton also noted that Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and law enforcement and national security agencies opposed clemency.

“Mr. Pollard’s crime is one of the most serious crimes against our country,” Clinton said. He explained that his decision was based on “the enormity of Mr. Pollard’s crime, the harm his actions have done to our country and the need to deter every person who might even consider such actions.”

Pollard, a former Navy analyst, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after a federal court found that he had turned over voluminous information to the Israelis, including satellite photographs and details on Arab military equipment.

His clemency request, first sent to President George Bush in 1992, aroused strong passions on both sides and pitted Israel and some American Jewish groups against U.S. law enforcement officials, the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies, the State Department and the Pentagon.

The Administration had long debated the issue and had heard from both former Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and current Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The turning point came with Reno’s recommendation this week that Clinton reject the request. That recommendation made the determination among federal agencies unanimous and made Clinton’s politically sensitive judgment easier to defend.

Another factor was the case of Aldrich H. Ames, the longtime CIA official accused of spying for the Russians. A decision to free Pollard could be read as official softness on espionage just when the United States needs to appear resolute, aides said.

Pollard’s attorney, Theodore B. Olson, said he was “very, very disappointed both in the decision on the merits, and because the President did not do what he said he would do.”

According to Olson, Clinton had promised that he would give Pollard “the opportunity to be heard through his counsel once the White House received a recommendation from the Justice Department.”

White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers said Wednesday that she was unaware of any such promise by Clinton.

Pollard has won the support of such notables as Nobel Prize winner Elie Weisel, civil rights leader Benjamin L. Hooks and Father Theodore Hesburgh, the retired president of Notre Dame University.

Leaders of some American Jewish groups said feelings in their community were divided on the issue, and they predicted that the reaction to Clinton’s decision would not be harsh.

Elan Steinberg, director of the American section of the World Jewish Congress, said that “within some sectors of the American Jewish community, there are passionate feelings” in favor of reducing Pollard’s sentence.

But Samuel Rabinove, director of national affairs and legal director of the American Jewish Committee, said: “I don’t think there will be a huge political fallout. We had urged a full review of the matter and apparently that review has taken place.”

Clinton’s rejection of the clemency request does not necessarily end Pollard’s hope of eventual release. While Reno’s report to Clinton said it was too early to free Pollard because of the gravity of his crime, she did not rule out clemency down the road.

Pollard probably will have less luck if he relies on the U.S. Parole Commission. He first becomes eligible for parole on Nov. 21, 1995, and he can apply for release six months before that date, according to Tom Kowalski, case operations manager for the commission.

But the commission and its predecessor agency historically have shown little inclination to release spies.

In making her recommendation, Reno had considered a memo from former Deputy Atty. Gen. Philip B. Heymann, whose office traditionally communicates clemency recommendations to the White House. Heymann had considered the case before resigning his post in January.

Heymann had listed several options for the President. One was to reduce Pollard’s sentence to a 20-year term, according to a source familiar with the memo. Another was commuting the sentence at a not too distant date.

Federal prosecutors have been adamant in arguing for Pollard’s continued incarceration. Joseph E. DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney who argued the case, called Pollard’s actions “the largest physical compromise of United States classified information in the 20th Century.”