[mwilli20]

My intent was not to diminish the responsibility the Clintons bear in this matter. They are the real villains here. I agree that everything you said in your post sounds very plausible and I thank you for all your hard work tracking all this stuff down.

I merely tried to point out that if one engages in illegal activities with the former first family, one should not be surprised when either of them back-stabs him.

And make no mistake about it, giving money to Hillary in return for something her husband might do IS illegal.

I also found it ironic that in his letter he calls his former anticommunist past a "misjudgment" while he describes the illegal behavior of a couple of modern-day communists!

[doug from upland]

Okay, fair enough. Peter did not think he was engaging in illegal activity when he paid for a series of events for Hillary's campaign. In fact, the only thing that made the donations illegal was the failure of her campaign to report them properly.

Of course, the president cannot make a business deal and quid pro quo while he is president. As we know, however, it is done all the time. Peter had wanted to find a way to approach a soon to be departing president to act as a rainmaker. I don't like the fact that it was Clinton, but Peter had a duty to the shareholders to try to make the company worth as much as possible.

They did not have a written agreement. They did, however, have an understanding. Ed Rendell, among others, induced Peter to contribute to Al Gore and to Hillary. He also contributed to Gray Davis. Large companies usually hedge their bets by giving to both parties. That group engaged in a conspiracy to take his money with no intent to ever help his company. That is the conspiracy. It was Rendell and his gang who told Peter that the way to have any access to the president was to support his wife. He was told in no uncertain terms that such was the cost of admission. With his business advisor Jim Levin, Clinton actually was responsible for wrecking Peter's company.

Peter will have to speak for himself regarding a "misjudgment" statment. I think the misjudgment was trusting people who came to him and said we need your help in pulling a sting on Castro. At the time, Peter represented six South American governments. He agreed to join the sting and attempt to cause a serious rift between Castro and his Soviet benefactors, who were being overcharged by Castro for black market coffee.