: This is the door that Clinton has opened for Congress. But do
: you think they will be smart enough to walk through it?

: The Bush family may!

: Since they have the most to lose right now, they may opt to
: offer Clinton an olive branch. And that olive branch will
: be the Truth and Reconcilation Trials.

: Who will be the first to tell the truth?

: (Oh well... an old man can have his fantasies, can't he?)

Friday February 16 2:01 AM ET
House to Subpoena Top Clinton Aides Over Pardon

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional investigators prepared subpoenas on Thursday to force three of former President Clinton's top aides to testify on White House deliberations over the last-minute pardon of fugitive billionaire Marc Rich.

The House of Representatives Government Reform Committee, one of two congressional panels looking into allegations the pardon was linked to political donations from Rich's ex-wife, Denise, will subpoena former chief of staff John Podesta, adviser Bruce Lindsey and counsel Beth Nolan to testify at a March 1 hearing.

As federal officials in New York confirmed they had started a criminal probe into the pardon, the committee also asked Marc Rich and Clinton to waive any privilege rights for documents and communications regarding the pardon.

The committee agreed on Wednesday to a Justice Department request to hold off trying to immunize Denise Rich to force her testimony. Prosecutors feared an immunity grant for Rich, who has
donated more than $1 million to Democratic causes, would interfere in the criminal investigation.

A CBS News report said Rich was willing to testify to the panel as long as she was granted immunity, but a committee spokesman said the panel had not heard from her and the offer ''doesn't change a thing for us.''

``Until we hear otherwise from the Justice Department, we will not extend immunity for Mrs. Rich,'' spokesman Mark Corallo said. ``The committee will not impede the U.S. attorney's investigation.''

U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White and the FBI confirmed the federal investigation in a brief statement on Thursday.

On his show last night, CNBC host Geraldo Rivera quoted Clinton as saying: ``There's not a single, solitary shred of evidence that I did anything wrong or that Marc Rich's money changed hands. There's certainly no evidence that I took any of it.''

The Washington Post reported that Rivera, a longtime friend of Clinton's, read notes from the conversation, quoting Clinton as saying he was ``blindsided'' by the controversy over the pardon.

The House panel was also likely to call Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff and a former lawyer for Rich, to testify at the March 1 hearing, committee sources said.

Committee Democrats questioned Republicans at a hearing last week about why Libby was not being called, given that he had been on Rich's legal team.

The committee on Thursday asked Rich to waive privileges asserted by his lawyers for documents related to the pardon, and asked Clinton to waive any executive privilege rights for communication
with his staff.

Turn Over All Documents

``We want the attorneys to turn over all documents related to the pardon,'' Corallo said.

The March 1 hearing will focus on how the controversial pardon was handled by White House staff in the frantic final days and hours before it was granted. Testimony and e-mails at the first House and Senate hearings indicated an intense debate raged among White House lawyers, staff and Clinton before the pardon was granted.

Marc Rich, who fled to exile in Switzerland 17 years ago, was given a presidential pardon on Jan. 20, the day Clinton left office. The pardon frees Rich from prosecution on more than 50 counts of racketeering, wire fraud, income tax evasion and illegal oil trading with Iran.

White, who was never consulted about Rich's pardon even though her predecessors in the U.S. attorney's office brought the initial criminal case against him in 1983, was particularly incensed by Clinton's decision. Two of her prosecutors testified to the House committee last week of their ``outrage'' at the action.

House Committee Chairman Dan Burton, one of Clinton's harshest congressional critics, had hoped to immunize Rich in order to force her testimony after she refused to answer 14 written questions from the panel.

Work With Justice

``The committee will continue to talk to and cooperate with the Justice Department,'' said Burton, an Indiana Republican. He said the panel would ``refrain from taking any action that may be harmful to the interests of law enforcement.''

The House panel issued subpoenas earlier this week for lists of everyone donating more than $5,000 to Clinton's presidential library fund. In addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Democrats, Denise Rich reportedly gave the library $450,000.

The committee also subpoenaed Denise Rich's bank records to help investigators determine whether any of the donations included money funneled from Marc Rich or conduits.

Burton's committee has some experience with running parallel investigations with the Justice Department. It conducted a politically charged three-year inquiry into possible fund-raising abuses during Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign at the same time a Justice Department task force was looking into the charges.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which held its first hearing on Wednesday, is also examining the pardon. Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who is heading the probe, has said he is
still considering calling Clinton as a witness.

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