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Posted on 02/03/2002 4:14:41 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
NewsMax.com
Sunday, Feb. 3, 2002 11:51 a.m. EST
O'Reilly: Bush Justice Dept. Hamstringing Pardongate Probers
Investigators with the office of the U.S. Attorney for New York's Southern District are being actively discouraged from pursuing evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the Clinton Pardongate scandal, with one insider charging that any prosecutor who tries to build a case against the former first family may actually hurt his career.
So says Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly, who made the startling cover-up allegation in his column this weekend.
"Although the Justice Department continues to say the probe is 'on the front burner', agents have told me there is little incentive to get things done," the Fox News commentator claimed. "In fact, one investigator said, if you push too hard on the case, you could find yourself in Fargo, N.D."
O'Reilly suggested that the Justice Department's go-slow regimen for probing the Clintons final White House scandal was likely instigated by the Bush White House.
"George W. Bush understands the way the game in Washington is played. You must make 'accommodations.'..... And what Bush may have given the Democrats is the assurance that he will not embarrass their party by aggressively pursuing the Marc Rich pardon investigation."
The first sign of Justice Department footdragging emerged last year, when New York attorney Ed Hayes, whose client Garland Lincecum had given prosecutors damaging evidence implicating former first brother Roger Clinton in Pardongate wrongdoing, expressed doubts about the probe.
In comments covered exclusively by NewsMax.com, Hayes told WABC radio's John Batchelor and Paul Alexander last June:
"The big issue now is does the government want to press the case. Because, for one thing, to really show whether or not there was a crime committed, you really have to question Bill Clinton. You really have to ask, 'Did Roger talk to his brother Bill about getting a pardon for Garland? Did Roger talk to anybody about getting a pardon for Garland?'"
Bill Clinton still has yet to testify. Even back then Hayes suggested that probers were being reined in on orders from Washington.
"You never know in these cases how dedicated they are to making the case. ... I think [lead Pardongate prober] Elliot Jacobson is a very conscientious prosecutor. But he does what he can do within the Justice Department."
Hayes hinted a political deal was already in the works: "You don't know whether [the Bush administration] is going to trade three federal judicial appointments in return for turning a blind eye to this." (See: Bush Justice Department Putting the Brakes on Pardongate Probe?)
O'Reilly now agrees, positing that Bush will reactivate the Clinton probe only if the GOP regains control of the Senate or if "things get rough."
"The Marc Rich pardon deal can always be used as a threat," he concluded.
Read Bill O'Reilly's full column on the Pardongate cover-up in NewsMax.com's magazine.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration
Clinton Scandals
Pardongate
Sen. Hillary Clinton
You probably didn't vote for 'em last time either.
"Pardons for Pesos" is not!
Bush Justice Dept. Hamstringing Pardongate ProbersYeah.
They're too busy spending thousands of taxpayer dollars
on curtains to cover up the exposed nipple on the statue of Justice!
:
I think you're on to something there. Bush came to Washington to be a uniter not a divider, etc. . .
LOL! Well, we wouldn't want Ashcroft to be embarrassed now, would we?? :o)
John Beaver-Face Ashcroft should be ashamed of himself.
Does he really HAVE to, when the game is more like a cover-up racket?
Screw him. We should tell the tabloids that he and some fat rodent (perhaps A BEAVER) were separated at birth.
As long as pardongate remains in the courts, the Clintons will not be able to use them to force their agenda through congress.
One thing I would guess about the Clintons is that they probably are smart enough not to have left much of a trail of really hard evidence. The dems. who sneer "prove it" about every evil and/or felonious action the Clintons take would make a Clinton hung jury a victory for the Clintons. This is sad, but I believe it is true, at least right now.
Good advise Luis.
Make that advice, not advise.
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