Former US President Mr Bill Clinton has defended his pardon of fugitive billionaire Mr Marc Rich and vehemently denied that it was linked to more than $1m in donations by Mr Rich's ex-wife.
In a guest column posted on The New York TimesWeb site, Mr Clinton gave a detailed account of his reasons for pardoning Mr Rich and his former business partner, Mr Pincus Green, citing the intervention of many high-ranking Israeli officials and U.S. Jewish community leaders as an important factor.
"The suggestion that I granted the pardons because Mr. Rich's former wife, Denise, made political contributions and contributed to the Clinton library foundation is utterly false," Mr Clinton wrote.
Mr Clinton said he had turned down clemency requests from other friends and financial supporters. During his final hours as president, Mr Clinton pardoned Mr Rich who had fled the United States to Switzerland 17 years ago to avoid prosecution on more than 50 counts including tax evasion, racketeering and illegal oil trading with Iran.
Federal law enforcement agencies and two congressional panels are investigating the pardon.
Reuters