Please pardon the Clintons

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

Presidents of the United States have the authority to grant pardons to whomever they deem deserving. There is nothing illegal in the practice, and, in some instances, it may better serve justice when a person convicted of lawlessness is freed.

Pardons are usually done judiciously, with the president carefully weighing all points pertaining to a particular case. They are done to demonstrate fairness and compassion within the system, but are hardly a daily practice.

Ronald Reagan pardoned 406 people in eight years; Jimmy Carter 566 in four. Those are fairly large numbers, I think, but caused no alarm.

On his last day in office in January, 2001, Bill Clinton signed off on 450 pardons, some for obvious personal and political purposes for which Bill was duly criticized, including some sharp words from Jimmy Carter, who understood Clinton’s intent.

Those aware of how Bill operated during his tenure were on point.

On Aug. 11, 1999, Clinton had commuted sentences of 16 members of FALN, a paramilitary outfit with convictions for conspiracy, bomb making, sedition, and firearms and explosives violations. The shortest sentence within the group was 35 years, which gives you an idea of the seriousness of the charges.

When Clinton issued his pardons in 2001, he was headed out the White House door. Many of those released were not viewed by any reasonable analysis as having served adequate time for their convictions.

Bill did what liberals do; he ignored the complaints. Big Media did its part by not pursuing a hot story to the point it might do political harm to Bill or Hillary, who was warming up for her run for a Senate seat from a state she hadn’t lived in.

Years later, the Clinton pardon controversy has largely died.However, we are finally approaching the final months of the Obama regime.

Potential brews.

I predict Obama will also issue a slew of pardons. I expect hundreds, but there may be thousands. I expect them to be more political than personal, more racially judged than by time served, tied more to the Left’s notion that drug dealing and drug possession are harmless.

We shall see, but Bill Clinton set the new precedent for corruption through pardoning, and why wouldn’t Obama follow that precedent?

Here is a small sample of those Clinton pardoned or commuted, as supplied by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Clinton commuted the sentences of Linda Evens and Susan Rosenberg, radical members of the ultra-violent Weather Underground. Both had served less than half their sentences.

Bill received his most severe criticism for pardoning Marc Rich.

Multi-millionaire Rich was charged with 51 counts of tax fraud and owed $48 million in taxes. Rich’s obliging spouse had made substantial contributions to the Clinton library and to Hillary’s Senate campaign.

Hence the quid pro quo service via the president’s power to pardon.

Clinton granted a pardon to his brother, Roger for charges involving drugs. Roger’s, record was expunged.

Susan H. McDougal was pardoned for keeping her trap shut regarding the Whitewater scandal which the Clintons were involved in up to their ears. McDougal went to the slam; her pal Bill gave her a pardon. Easy.

He pardoned Henry Cisneros, a rising, one-time mayor of San Antonio and HUD stud under Clinton who got himself in too deep. Cisneros was a fellow liberal.

Nicholas M. Altiere was pardoned even though he was convicted of importing cocaine.

William Sterling Anderson earned a pardon somehow, even though he was convicted of conspiracy to defraud a federally insured financial institution, made false statements to the institution, and committed wire fraud.

Mary Louise Campbell was sent to the slam for aiding and abetting the unauthorized use and transfer of food stamps. Clinton’s pardon hardly discourages the practice.

Rubye Lee Gordon was excused for forging U.S. Treasury checks.

Samuel Loring Morison was pardoned even though he was convicted of transmission of, possession of, and unauthorized retention of defense information and the theft of government property.

The list of Clinton’s pardons goes on and on, but the preceding is a fair sample. Bill did this because he could, and he offered no explanation that I recall for any of them, especially Marc Rich and Susan McDougal.

I suspect Clinton knew that everyone understood his motives.

He just didn’t care.

I believe Obama will do the same thing next year with the same attitude.

So will Hillary if given the opportunity.

Larry W. Anderson’s novel for young readers, I, Eugenius, is available on Amazon.