THE RICO METHODS OF THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
The Washington Weekly
Apr. 6, 1998
In today's issue of National Review, Michael Ledeen makes a compelling case that the Clinton administration has modeled itself after the larger Mob families of organized crime.
Indeed, the modus operandi of the Clinton administration is indistinguishable from that of organized crime:
KEEPING THE CODE OF SILENCE
(1) When Webster Hubbell started telling friends that he didn't believe that Vince Foster had committed suicide and word leaked out through Esquire magazine, his own law firm dug up incriminating material on him and turned it over to Kenneth Starr. Four months later, Hubbell resigned as Associate Attorney General. Through the Mafia approach of threats and rewards, Hubbell was led to understand by the Clinton circle that his family would only be physically and economically safe if he kept the code of silence. He did, and was handsomely rewarded through Lippo and other criminal associates. Hubbell has now "changed his mind" on Foster and says he believes he committed suicide.
(2) When Nolanda Hill started saying that she believed that her former business partner and lover Ron Brown was murdered, and that there was a cover-up of the crimes in which he was involved, she told Judge Royce Lamberth that she was afraid "the Clinton administration and more particularly its Justice Department will try to retaliate against me." She was right. The Clinton Justice Department recently indicted Nolanda Hill on charges of filing a false tax return. Charges, of course, carefully selected as unrelated to any Clinton administration crimes. Nolanda Hill told in her deposition to Judicial Watch that Ron Brown had been asked by the White House to withhold incriminating documents on the quid pro quo of selling seats on official foreign trips to major campaign donors. Nolanda Hill advised Brown not to destroy the documents. Curiously, the American Spectator reported that after Ron Brown's death, there was a search of his office. Vince Foster deja vu?
THREATENING OPPONENTS
(1) In his recent Filegate deposition by Judicial Watch, Clinton private eye Terry Lenzner admitted to having investigated an untold number of Clinton opponents going back to 1992: judges, lawyers, prosecutors, reporters and women. There is little question about the intended purpose: to collect a "White House file" of negative information on every opponent and potential opponent to have it ready when it is needed in the cases cited above and below.
(2) After having been reversed by a unanimous Supreme Court, Judge Susan Webber Wright again last week ruled in favor of Bill Clinton, denying Paula Jones the right to have a jury test her claim of sexual harassment. Not even a Clinton supporter would be expected to do such a dramatic act. Rather, Bush appointee Wright could have been read the contents of her "White House file" and realized that the Clinton people could end her career if she did not rule in their favor. Another professional humiliation by an appeals court may have seemed preferable to such a fate. Damaging information may not have been the only means used in the blackmail. After a visit by Clinton loyalist Senator David Pryor in December of 1997, Judge Wright had bodyguards assigned to her.
(3) Kenneth Starr's sudden and unexpected departure for Pepperdine University came at a time when he was investigating the death of Vince Foster and reportedly considering the indictment of Hillary Clinton. Beyond the public threat by James Carville that Starr was "just one mistake away from not having any kneecaps," it is inconceivable that the Clinton people have not used more direct and sinister threats towards Starr and his family. This would explain why Starr has prosecuted only small fry and tried to suppress the Knowlton addendum to his Vince Foster report.
(4) Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch suspects that Filegate was an attempt to gather a "White House file" on potential opponents in Congress as well. The Tapegate scandal has already shown that the Clinton administration has tapped the phones of Republican leaders (unless you believe that a Democratic couple just happened by accident to tape the call). Perhaps the current reluctance of leading Republicans to take on Bill Clinton is a reflection of the volume of negative information the Clinton administration has collected on them. Bob Barr last week filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see the contents of his "White House file," parts of which had been maliciously leaked through a Washington Post article on February 10, 1998.
THE SILENT COUP
It would seem that the Clinton administration has won a silent coup by short-circuiting the judicial system. It can no longer be prosecuted or removed. Only two people in positions of power have not been intimidated or corrupted: Lawyer Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch and Judge Royce Lamberth who sits on the federal bench. Together, these two have performed miracles in the Chinagate, Filegate, and HealthCareGate scandals. But their hands are tied. All they can do is to force testimony. Whenever criminal acts have been uncovered during Klayman's investigations or Lamberth's civil trials, those criminal acts have been referred to a U.S. Attorney. One of Clinton's first acts in office was to replace all U.S. Attorneys with loyal and corrupt cronies. Not only have all these U.S. Attorneys failed to initiate any criminal prosecution of Clinton administration employees on their own, they have also interfered with prosecutions by other jurisdictions (D.A. Robert Morgenthau of Manhattan and his money laundering investigation, for example) and they have failed to prosecute any of the referrals they have received from Judge Lamberth and from Congress. The crucial office of U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where by their very nature most Clinton administration crimes have been committed, was given to the corrupt Ron Brown protege Eric Holder. Holder was last year rewarded for years of obstruction of justice with an appointment to Deputy Attorney General.
It is the obstruction of justice, the interference with witnesses and the blackmailing of political opponents that are the real crimes of this administration. People disagree over what constitutes sexual harassment and whether that is a crime. But there are no two opinions on what constitutes obstruction of justice and whether that is a crime.
In addition to Larry Klayman, Richard Mellon Scaife has been among the few willing to finance an investigation of potential Clinton administration crimes. He has financed Chris Ruddy's investigation of the death of Vince Foster, and he has financed the American Spectator's investigation into Arkansas mores. It is even possible that money was paid to witnesses who dared to step forward and speak against the Clinton machine. If they have only told the truth, such money will be no obstacle and the true test of their testimony would be in a court of law. As such, Janet Reno's announced investigation of the money paid to Starr's witnesses is a legitimate endeavor. But if it is not joined by a parallel investigation into the money paid by Bill Clinton to other witnesses, including the recent allegation by Dick Morris of $100,000 of federal money being paid to shut up Clinton women, it will become just another politically motivated witch hunt for which the Department of Justice has gained such notoriety in recent years. The DOJ has in effect been turned into the private "enforcer" for the Clinton crime family.
Thus with the special prosecutor, regular prosecutors, and political opponents neutralized through RICO-style threats and rewards, the silent coup has succeeded and only the American people can remove this administration from office. With Bill Clinton's seductive effect on the female electorate, the prospects of that happening any time soon are slim.
Published in the Apr. 6, 1998 issue of The Washington Weekly Copyright 1998 The Washington Weekly (http://www.federal.com) Reposting permitted with this message intact
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