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I Beg Your Pardon
contentions ^ | 7.3.2007 | Gabriel Schoenfeld

Posted on 07/03/2007 10:32:41 AM PDT by Contentions

Here is Hillary Clinton commenting on George W. Bush’s modest display of mercy to Scooter Libby, sparing him from prison: “this commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice.”

“Cronyism and ideology”? I agree with Hillary that cronyism is a terrible thing, but I think it is a stretch to say that that’s what the Scooter Libby affair was all about. If it was cronyism, Bush has not been very kind to his crony, keeping Libby’s fine, his probation, and his conviction intact.

In any case, in thinking about Hillary’s statement, it is useful to bear in mind some of the pardons granted by her husband Bill.

Among my favorites are his pardon of:

• Susan McDougal, Bill and Hillary’s close friend from the Whitewater days, convicted of mail fraud, aiding and abetting in misapplication of Small Business Investment Corporation funds, aiding and abetting in making false entries, aiding and abetting in making false statements.

• Henry Cisneros, Clinton’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1993 to 1997 when he left office after copping a plea to making false states to federal officials.

• Linda Jones, aka Linda Medlar, Cisnero’s girlfriend, convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, to make a false statement to a bank, to launder monetary instruments, and to engage in monetary transactions in property derived from specific unlawful activity; aiding and abetting bank fraud; aiding and abetting false statements to a bank; aiding and abetting laundering monetary instruments; aiding and abetting engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specific unlawful activity; obstruction of justice; falsifying, concealing and covering up a material fact by trick, scheme, or device; making a false statement.

Apart from cronies, one should note some of those pardoned for mishandling secrets:

• John Deutch, Clinton’s Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1994 to 1996, who kept classified documents on his personal computer, fell under a Justice Department investigation, and was pardoned before charges were brought.

• Samuel Loring Morison, a defense department employee who leaked classified documents to British magazine in an effort to get a job with it.

The complete Department of Justice list is here, and it is impressive, indeed, awe-inspiring. If they could only enter the Time Tunnel (click on the appropriate link for episodes one, two, and three), go back into the past and erase some of the more dubious names on it, Bill and Hillary Clinton would be looking much prettier today.