WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, buffeted by controversy, said Thursday she "did not have any involvement" in the pardons her husband granted on his way out of the White House and expressed dismay that her brother was paid lavishly to lobby for the relief of two men.
"If I had known about this, we wouldn't have been standing here today," the former first lady said of her brother, lawyer Hugh Rodham, and the $400,000 he received from two pardon-seekers. Had she known, the Democratic senator added at a crowded news conference, "I might have been able to prevent this from happening."
Mrs. Clinton spoke on a day on which President Bush said he believes Congress has a right to investigate the pardons granted by Bill Clinton, and as the head of one congressional investigating committee said he would insist on "full compliance" with a subpoena for records from the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation. The group, chartered to establish Clinton's presidential library, received $450,000 in donations from Denise Rich, the ex-wife of fugitive financier Marc Rich, who was one of Clinton's pardon recipients.
There was a fresh disclosure during the day on top of Rodham's involvement that Mrs. Clinton's campaign treasurer had been paid $4,000 in legal fees to prepare two pardon applications that were sent to the Justice Department. William Cunningham III said he had never contacted the White House about the cases, or spoken with either of the Clintons about them. Cunningham's law partner is Clinton adviser Harold Ickes, but he, too, said he never spoke to the couple about the cases.
Bush commented somewhat gingerly, telling reporters he had other issues to attend to. Asked what advice he would offer his own relatives, who include a former president and a sitting governor, the president replied sharply, "My guidance to them is behave yourself, and they will."
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