Clinton gave 140 pardons on his last day of office.[7] It is common practice for Presidents to grant a number of pardons shortly before leaving office, but Clinton's last day list was more numerous than those of previous presidents and some find his pardons more controversial.
* Carlos Vignali was pardoned for cocaine trafficking.
* Almon Glenn Braswell, was pardoned of fraud, perjury and tax evasion convictions as part of a mail order scam. Braswell and Carlos Vignali each paid approximately $200,000 to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent their respective case for clemency. Hugh Rodham returned the payments after they were disclosed to the public. This pardon also gained notice because shortly after the pardon was issued it was revealed that Braswell was once again under investigation for tax evasion.[8]
* Marc Rich, a fugitive, was pardoned of tax evasion, after clemency pleas from Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak among many other international luminaries. Denise Rich, Marc's former wife, was a close friend of the Clintons and had made substantial donations to both Clinton's library and Hillary's Senate campaign. Several months after her last donation, emails reveal Republican attorney Lewis I "Scooter" Libby asked her to approach Clinton about pardoning Marc Rich. Clinton agreed to a pardon that required Marc Rich to pay a $100,000,000 fine before he could return to the states.According to ABC news, Marc Rich was a middleman for several of Iraq's suspect oil deals in February 2001, just one month after his pardon from President Clinton.And a U.S. criminal investigation is looking into whether Rich, as well as several other prominent oil traders, made illegal payments to Iraq in order to obtain the lucrative oil contracts.
* Susan McDougal, who had already completed her sentence, was pardoned for her role in the Whitewater scandal; McDougal had served 18 months on contempt charges for refusing to testify about Clinton's role. |
