EP. HENRY WAXMAN: The Rich pardon is a bad precedent. It appears to set a double standard for the wealthy and the powerful, and it is an end run around the judicial process. Think about it for a minute: One week Marc Rich is on the Justice Department's list of the 10 most wanted; and the next week, he's given a presidential pardon. This makes no sense. Something has to happen in-between. They can't - this gap can't be bridged in just one big jump. But under the current system, the President is allowed to make bad judgments that all of us disagree with when he issues pardons. That's how the system works.
RAY SUAREZ: Jack Quinn, Rich's attorney, was once one of Bill Clinton's White House counsels. Quinn lobbied the Clinton administration for Rich's last- minute pardon. In his opening statements, he defended his actions.
JACK QUINN: I acted here as a lawyer who believes in the merits of the case that I made. I acted as a lawyer who vigorously and ethically pursued my client's interests as I'm required to do under the canons of ethics and I acted as a lawyer who followed a process that included, not excluded, the United States Department of Justice. I want to emphasize from the outset that the process I followed was one of transparency at both the Department of Justice and the White House. I remain to this day absolutely and unshakably convinced that the prosecutors constructed a legal house of cards in this indictment. At the heart of this case is a tax charge that I do believe is meritless.
RAY SUAREZ: One of the former prosecutors in the case, Sandy Weinberg, told the panel why he thought Marc Rich was not worthy of a pardon.
SANDY WEINBERG: We are here to express our outrage at the pardons of Mr. Rich and Mr. Green, who for the past 17 years have been international fugitives in what is the biggest tax fraud case in the history of the United States. As international fugitives who renounced their American citizenship in 1983 for the specific purpose of avoiding extradition on these charges, we do not believe that Mr. Rich or Mr. Green should have been candidates for pardon. We are particularly distressed because despite what Mr. Quinn has said today, it appears that the President received no input from anyone who had any knowledge of the particulars of this prosecution from the prosecution side. In truth, Mr. Rich and Mr. Green, in my opinion, have forfeited their right to question the merits of this case in their pardon application by becoming fugitives, by renouncing their citizenship, by having their companies plead guilty to the scheme 17 years ago. |
