Thursday, September 20, 2007

The Pardons 'R' Us Circus

 
Last week, Tony Rodham -- Hillary Clinton's brother -- settled an old lawsuit of infamous origins. Rodham was accused of failing to repay $107,000 plus interest to the estate of a carnival operator and his wife.

Mysteriously, the mainstream media didn't cover the story.

The couple -- Allen and Vonna Jo Gregory -- received pardons for bank fraud convictions from President Bill Clinton after Rodham became a paid consultant to a carnival business the couple owned.

I'm sure that was just a coincidence.

Rodham had claimed that the money he received from the Gregorys was for "consulting services," but attorneys said it was a loan.

Rodham said he had talked to his brother-in-law about the pardon, but went on to add that President Clinton made the decision to grant clemency on the merits of their case. And he said that with a straight face.

Another of Hillary's brothers, Hugh Rodham, became a beneficiary of Pardons-R-Us. He "was paid more than $400,000 for his successful efforts to win pardons for a businessman under investigation for money laundering and a commutation for a convicted drug trafficker. He eventually returned the money at his sister's request."

As his presidency drew to a close, Clinton pardoned 140 people, including billionaire fugitive Marc Rich. Rich's ex-wife, Denise Rich, contributed nearly a half million dollars to the Clinton presidential library project, $1.1 million to the Democratic Party, and at least $109,000 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.

A circus is an entirely appropriate theme for this bunch of clowns.

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