Democrats Join GOP Jeers Over Pardon for Fugitive

Prominent Republican and Democratic lawmakers are sharply criticizing the pardon President Clinton granted on his final day in office to a fugitive businessman, with one House leader broaching the prospect of a congressional inquiry.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and a longtime foe of the Clinton administration, announced Thursday that he is seeking documents connected with the last-minute pardon of Marc Rich.

Rich, a billionaire commodities trader, was indicted in 1983 on charges of tax fraud and illegal oil trading with Iran. He fled the United States and was never brought to trial. Clinton’s pardon now frees him from the threat of prosecution.

The pardons of Rich and a former business associate, Pincus Green, were among 140 granted by Clinton just hours before his term expired Saturday. Rich’s pardon has attracted attention in part because it did not go through the normal Justice Department screening process. Former White House Counsel Jack Quinn lobbied Clinton directly on behalf of Rich, whose former wife is a major Democratic Party contributor.

“Until his pardon was granted, Marc Rich was on the list of the Justice Department’s six most wanted international fugitives,” Burton said in a statement. “Since former President Clinton has not given an adequate explanation as to why Mr. Rich deserved a pardon, Congress has an obligation to find out if this pardon was appropriate.”

While criticism from such GOP stalwarts as Burton is expected, the flak from Democrats has been notable.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has said that he disagrees with the Rich pardon. “I think it was inappropriate, but I don’t know all the facts and I can’t pass final judgment on it.”

Daschle added that, as a result of the episode, he would be open to a review of the procedures for presidential pardons.

The critics have focused on $867,000 worth of political contributions made by Rich’s former wife, Denise Rich, to Democratic causes in recent years, as well as the lobbying by Quinn. During his years abroad, Marc Rich has given more than $200 million to charities, including many connected to Israel.

Burton acknowledged that the pardon cannot be revoked. But he said that if his committee does investigate the Rich pardon, it will try to answer several questions, including:

* Whether Clinton had an “improper motive.”

* Whether law-enforcement authorities were consulted.

* Whether any regulations on the lobbying of the president were violated.

Defenders of the 67-year-old Rich said the case against him was unfairly hyped by then-U.S. Atty. Rudolph W. Giuliani, now the mayor of New York. They deny government charges that Rich evaded about $48 million in income taxes, and they point out that his company had agreed to pay the government $150 million in fines before Rich fled to Switzerland.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has seized on the furor to drum up support for campaign finance reform. In particular, McCain wants to ban unlimited “soft-money” donations to political parties--the sort that Denise Rich made to Democrats.

McCain appeared Thursday on NBC-TV’s “Today” and ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” to press his case.

“No one, no one can understand why Mr. Rich, a fugitive from justice, would get a pardon,” McCain said. “That’s the kind of example [of campaign-finance abuse] that’s probably more compelling.”

McCain added that soft-money donations tainted “the entire process, and, frankly, people are very outraged about it.”