Hillary 'Disappointed' By Pardon Scandals

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton says that she didn't know her brother and campaign treasurer each represented men who received pardons from former President Clinton -- and she's "disappointed" in her brother.

"I'm very disappointed, I'm very saddened, and I was very disturbed when I heard it," the former first lady told a press conference at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. "It's very regrettable. If I would have had any knowledge or notice, I believe I might have been able to prevent it. I don't think we'd be standing here."

Meanwhile, President Bush on Thursday continued to refuse to say anything about the pardon controversies, saying again that it's "time to go forward."

In his first White House news conference, Bush said there are some on Capitol Hill who will want to investigate the pardons -- and he says it's their right to do so. But he says to the extent that the Justice Department looks into the matter, it will be done in a nonpartisan way.

Hillary Clinton's public disavowal of knowledge came after a succession of revelations about people close to her that added to controversy surrounding the former president's flurry of last-minute pardons.

On Wednesday night reports surfraced that Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham of Coral Gables, Fla., received $400,000, later returned, for having helped two men received a pardon and prison-sentence commutation, respectively.

Then, campaign treasurer William J. Cunningham III told The Associated Press on Thursday that he helped secure last-minute pardons for two convicted felons from the former president. Cunningham, a New York attorney and law partner of longtime Clinton adviser Harold Ickes, said Ickes referred the two men to him about a week before Clinton left office. The men, both Arkansas Republicans, had been convicted on tax charges.

"Harold does not do this kind of work, and we are partners so Harold contacted me and asked if I would speak with them," Cunningham told AP in an interview. "I told them I would be happy to review the paperwork and submit the applications."

Cunningham said his and Ickes' firm was paid just $4,000 for the work of preparing and sending the applications to the Justice Department. He said neither contacted the White House nor discussed the pardons with Hillary Clinton or the former president.

An obviously displeased Sen. Clinton repeatedly told reporters that she had no knowledge of lobbying for any of those pardons or the also-controversial pardon of fugitive billionaire Marc Rich.

"I knew nothing about my brother's involvement in these pardons. I knew nothing about him taking money for that involvement. I had no knowledge whatsoever," Clinton said, adding that her brother had acted "inappropriately."

"It's not how I would have preferred or planned to start my Senate career," said Clinton, who in November becamer the first presidential wife to be elected to the Senate. "I regret deeply that there have been these kinds of matters occurring."

Bill Clinton also said he did not know that Rodham had been paid to secure clemency for two of his clients. The Clinton said that they told Rodham to return the fees after they learned about the payment.

Cunningham said he did not believe his role as Mrs. Clinton's treasurer during her Senate campaign in New York last year had any effect on the ex-president's decision.

"My connection is really with Senator Clinton, and not the president," Cunningham said. "These applications really cried out on the merits that these are the folks who should be pardoned, and the fact that their request was assembled by me really operates independently," he said.

Ickes said he did not talk to either Clinton about the two men -- Robert Clinton Fain and James Lowell Manning -- who were convicted in the 1980s on tax charges.

"He (Cunningham) acted as a lawyer. He never consulted her (Hillary) in any way shape or form, nor did I," said Ickes, who served as deputy White House chief of staff to the former president and later as a key adviser to Mrs. Clinton's campaign.

Clintons Deny Knowledge Of Brother's Actions

The revelation comes one day after Mrs. Clinton's brother returned nearly $400,000 he collected for helping secure a pardon and a prison commutation for two other clients.

At the request of the Clintons, Hugh Rodham refunded the payments Wednesday. A congressional investigative committee immediately demanded documents and answers.

The Clintons said they were unaware of the arrangements with Rodham and were "deeply disturbed" by what had happened.

Rodham contacted Clinton's closest adviser in the White House, Bruce Lindsey, at least once in connection with one of the cases, which involved a major political contributor's son convicted on drug charges, legal sources said.

Rodham "acceded to his family's request that he return legal fees earned in connection with pardon requests," his attorney Nancy Luque said.

"Their request, presumably made because of the appearance of impropriety, is one he cannot ignore," Luque said. "There was, however, no impropriety in these matters."

Legal sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rodham, who is a lawyer, was paid for months of work on the prison commutation request of Carlos Vignali and received a "success fee" for helping win the pardon of Almon Glenn Braswell.

The money included $200,000 after the Braswell pardon was granted and the rest paid over a period time as Rodham worked on the Vignali commutation, the sources said. They declined to provide an exact amount but said it totaled just below $400,000. The money was returned to Braswell and Vignali's family, the sources said.

"Yesterday I became aware of press inquires that Hugh Rodham received a contingency fee in connection with a pardon application for Glenn Braswell and a fee for work on Carlos Vignali's commutation application," the former president said in a statement. "Neither Hillary nor I had any knowledge of such payments. We are deeply disturbed by these reports and have insisted that Hugh return any monies received."

Mrs. Clinton added, "I was very disturbed to learn that my brother ... received fees in connection with two clemency applications. Hugh did not speak with me about these applications."

A source close to the former president, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lindsey had been contacted by Rodham and was aware of Rodham's involvement with the Vignali request. The source said Lindsey did not know about the presidential relative's involvement in the Braswell matter.

The source said Clinton didn't know Rodham was working on behalf of the two pardon applicants and the decisions on both men were made on the merits of their situations.

The Braswell pardon has generated controversy because after it was granted on Jan. 20 it was disclosed that the businessman was under investigation on new allegations.

Braswell didn't apply for his pardon through the Justice Department, but Vignali did seek his commutation through the department in August 1998.

The 140 pardons and 36 commutations Clinton granted just hours before President Bush took office have generated criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike and prompted congressional probe and a U.S. attorney's criminal investigation.

Todd Jones, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Vignali, said Thursday he was "quite shocked" to see Vignali on a list of prisoners granted clemency by Clinton. "This was a straight-up drug dealer, a source of cocaine, proven at trail, convicted by a jury and sentenced to a fair sentence," Jones said.

Jones, who is black, added during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" that "the fact that Hugh Rodham may have had some impact on whether or not this was granted ... further erodes any confidence that the public, particularly communities of color, may have that federal drug laws are enforced fairly and that people who are primarily responsible for providing dope on the streets do get prison time and serve prison time."

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., a longtime critic of Clinton and chairman of the House committee investigating the pardons, called the revelations of the payments to Rodham "deeply troubling" and vowed an investigation.

"This makes it look like there is one system of justice for those with money and influence, and one system of justice for everyone else," Burton said.

Burton sent letters Wednesday night demanding answers and records from the key players, including Rodham and Vignali's family.

Marc Rich Probe: Eyeing Donations

Until now, however, critics have mainly focused on the clemency Clinton granted to fugitive financier Marc Rich, who was indicted in 1983 on charges of tax evasion and making illegal oil deals with Iran. Investigators want to know whether donations by Rich's former wife contributed to the pardon.

Clinton has denied any wrongdoing, saying all the clemency decisions were made on the merits.

New information was to be released Thursday about the hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations by Rich's ex-wife, Denise, to Clinton's presidential library project. The Clinton foundation in Little Rock, Ark., was to release the information in response to a congressional subpoena, a person familiar with the matter said. However, Clinton's personal attorney, David Kendall, also was expected to release a letter explaining why some documents covered by the subpoena were not being provided.