Do me a favor----wake me when Holder's gone and/or if Holder ever does something worthwhile----not including (a) mirandizing terriorists, and, (b) facilitating the pardon of the US' most flagrant tax cheat (/snix).
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November 23, 2008
Eric Holder Advocated Special Treatment for Fugitive Marc Rich for Over a Year
EXCERPTED FROM James Bamford, Author of "The Shadow Factory" (the CIA)
WHO IS MARC RICH? Then a fugitive from justice, billionaire commodities trader Marc Rich was one of 140 people Bill Clinton pardoned during his last hours as president. Rich's pardon was facilitated by then-Asst USAG Eric Holder (details above).
Rich, 66, was charged in 1982 with the largest tax-evasion scheme in US history, having evaded more than $48 million in income taxes. In 1983 Rich was indicted on 51 additional counts of racketeering and wire fraud. Rich's accomplice, Pincus Green won a presidential pardon, too. Rich also violated the US Trading with the Enemy Act by conducting business with Iran, even as US embassy staff were being held hostage.
In 1983, Rich fled to Switzerland, never serving a day in jail. After fleeing the United States, Rich renounced his American citizenship, became an Israeli citizen and a major benefactor of Jewish charitable organizations, giving nearly $80 million to Israeli hospitals, museums, orchestras, and universities.
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April 2001, page 24
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Pressure on Pres Clinton Moves Fugitive Marc Rich From “Most Wanted” to “Most Want to Forget” List
EXCERPT In a New York Times op-ed essay, Feb 19, 2001, ex-President Bill Clinton tried to explain to the American people why he pardoned Rich.
After enumerating reasons relating to Rich’s prosecution, Clinton wrote: “Finally, and importantly, many present and former high-ranking Israeli officials of both major political parties, and leaders of Jewish communities in America and Europe, urged the pardon of Mr. Rich because of his contributions and services to Israeli charitable causes, to the Mossad’s efforts to rescue and evacuate Jews from hostile countries, and to the peace process through sponsorship of education and health programs in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Clinton’s op-ed piece triggered harsh criticism from right-wing Jewish opinion makers, including those who have been among the most hawkishly pro-Israel.
*William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, put it bluntly. “He tried to blame it all on the Jews,” Kristol told the New York Observer. “Playing the Jewish card like this is a new low, even for Clinton.”
Rabbi Hier in the Feb. 23, 2001 issue of Detroit’s Jewish Week, called the president’s statement “absolutely troublesome to me as a Jew. It opens the door to anti-Semites. It feeds into the idea that Jews control everything, control the world, control the White House. He’s dumping a lot of garbage on the doorstep of his friends, the Jews.”
Ronald Lauder and Malcolm Hoenlein, chairman and executive vice president respectively of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, were outraged by the op-ed and accused Clinton of “scapegoating” Jews.
In the background there is, of course, the Pollard affair. The fact that both Jonathan Pollard and Mr. Rich are American Jews could harden attitudes toward Israel even among members of the American Jewish community—at least among those members of the community who were not themselves dazzled by Mr. Rich’s philanthropy.
Some Jewish activists protested that Israeli and Jewish pressure for Rich’s pardon should have been directed toward a pardon for convicted American spy Jonathan Pollard, now serving his 16th year for spying for Israel.
Yediot Achronot quotes former White House officials as saying that Rich’s people pushed Barak to link the pardon for Rich with a pardon for Pollard: “They were counting on Clinton not freeing Pollard and on giving them the pardon for Rich as a consolation prize.”
In a Yediot interview, Pollard said he was stunned by Rich’s pardon. “For 16 years I have been waving the flag of Israel, crying out to the Israeli political establishment for help,” the spy lamented. “But with the Marc Rich clemency campaign, I realize that I made a mistake. I should have been waving bags of money to get their attention. These are the depths that Israel’s leaders have sunk to,” Pollard said.
YOU are spunky today!! lol Love it!