Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed shock last night that her brother Mr Hugh Rodham got $400,000 for urging clemency for two felons who were pardoned by her husband, former President Mr Bill Clinton.
Payments to Senator Clinton's brother of $400,000 for his help as a lobbyist in getting two controversial pardons have been returned by him in a desperate attempt to close down the latest "pardon eruption".
The former first lady said she was unaware of the payments to Mr Rodham until Monday evening, and still had not spoken to her brother.
"I was very disappointed and saddened by this whole matter," Senator Clinton told reporters on Capitol Hill. "It came as a surprise to me and it was very disturbing." She added that she was "heartbroken and shocked."
Former president Clinton on Wednesday asked his brother-in-law, Mr Rodham, a lawyer, to return the cash after, he says, he became aware of the payments from press inquiries earlier in the week. He issued a statement insisting that "neither Hillary nor I had any knowledge of such payments. We are deeply disturbed by these reports and have insisted that Hugh return any monies received". Mrs Clinton also issued a statement saying that her brother had not spoken to her on the subject, immediately raising the question of whether he had spoken to her husband.
A lawyer for Mr Rodham said, however, that he had not spoken to either the former president or his sister and that there was "no impropriety". The money had been returned, he said, because of the family request. A congressional committee has opened an investigation.
Mr Rodham had received two payments of $200,000 in respect of deeply controversial pardons: that of Mr Carlos Vignali, the son of a prominent Californian businessman and Democratic contributor, who had been convicted on charges of transporting 800 lb of cocaine; and that of Mr A. Glenn Braswell, a millionaire herbal supplement marketer, convicted on fraud and perjury. The latter payment had been in the form of a "success fee".
The Vignali pardon went through proper procedures at the Justice Department which recommended against. Mr Vignali was freed after serving six years of a 15-year sentence, Mr Clinton said, because he felt he had been unduly punished under mandatory drug sentencing policies.
In Mr Braswell's case the Justice Department was bypassed and the Department has revealed it had been preparing new charges. Mr Clinton has said the pardon was only supposed to cover the original charges.
The Washington Post claims that Mr Rodham spoke to a Clinton aide, Mr Bruce Lindsey, about the Vignali case but not the Braswell one.
Mr Rodham has been accused in the past of trying to trade on his family connections in an unsuccessful Senate campaign in Florida.
Meanwhile, the Clintons have said they are willing to give a congressional committee documents relating to contributions by Ms Denise Rich, wife of the pardoned Mr Marc Rich, to the Clinton Library, a private foundation that does not have to make public its finances.
--(Additional reporting Reuters)
