By Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
February 2, 2001

(AgapePress) - Former President Bill Clinton has returned to the spotlight. He had an interview yesterday with an Israeli TV station, has two speeches scheduled next week in Florida, and may travel to Hong Kong in May to attend an international conference. But today he finds himself the subject of a scathing editorial concerning the rash of pardons he granted just hours before leaving office.

An editorial in today's USA Today says Clinton's wave of last-minute pardons underscores what it calls his "ethical tone-deafness and persistent disrespect for the office he held." The editorial says that from his "Oval Office sexual antics to his self-serving lies to the public, Clinton never showed much concern about debasing the Presidency when his political and personal whims were involved."

USA Today adds the last-minute pardons "expose again the familiar stench of government favors for sale, through blatant influence peddling and a corrupt campaign-finance system."

The newspaper says Hillary Clinton is also not exempt from the questions being raised about the pardons. Reports have indicated that at least two of the people who received the last-minute pardons were heavy contributors to her New York Senate election campaign.

The pardons cited in the editorial are the same ones that have been the subject of conservative media reports over the last two weeks -- Marc Rich, a multi-millionaire who was accused of trading with Iran during the hostage crisis and dodging millions in taxes; Tom Bhakta, an Arkansas business man who sought a pardon about the same time that he, his wife, and three children each contributed $1,000 to Mrs. Clinton's campaign; and four Hassidic Jews from a community in New York that voted 1,400 to 12 for Hillary Clinton in the November election.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin hearings on the pardons next Wednesday. But as the editorial notes, these are only the most obvious concerns that are likely to be raised. The newspaper suggests the Committee also investigate if any of the pardons rewarded influence peddling, involved political payback, favored people with "inside connections," or -- noting the pardons for Whitewater felon Susan McDougal and former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros -- were used to "clean up administration scandals."

The editorial admits there is risk in the Committee hearings turning into another partisan-based battle, as Clinton's impeachment did, but that Republicans would be wise to just focus on the facts. It suggests the objective of the Committee should be to find a way to raise ethical standards to a level where a similar situation will not occur again.

© 2001 AgapePress all rights reserved.

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