Countdown To A Pardon

By Andrew Goldstein

--DEC. 11 Marc Rich's lawyer, Jack Quinn, delivers a phone book-size pardon petition for Rich and his partner, Pincus Green, to White House counsel Beth Nolan. The petition includes more than 20 letters of support, including one from the mayor of Jerusalem and another from the maestro of the Israeli Philharmonic. (Rich's foundations have contributed some $200 million to Israeli and Jewish causes.) Nolan does not forward the petition to the Justice Department.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres calls Bill Clinton to lobby for Rich's pardon. During a conversation with Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, already lobbying for the pardon of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, pushes for Rich's pardon, according to a Quinn e-mail.

--DEC. 13 Al Gore concedes the election.

--DEC. 15 Senator-elect Hillary Clinton agrees to an $8 million deal for her memoirs.

--DEC. 20 At a White House event featuring Barbra Streisand, Rich's ex-wife Denise takes Clinton aside to plead Rich's case. In recent years, Denise has contributed nearly $1 million to the Democratic Party and its candidates, $70,000 to Hillary's Senate campaign, $450,000 to the Clinton library and $10,000 to Clinton's legal defense fund.

--DEC. 22 Clinton grants his first batch of pardons to 62 people, including former Representative Dan Rostenkowski, convicted of misuse of public funds.

--DEC. 24 The New York Times' Maureen Dowd reveals Hillary's "secret shower" thrown by friends and donors. The Clintons later disclose $190,027 worth of gifts from supporters--including coffee tables and chairs from Denise Rich, valued at $7,375, and a dining table from Beth Dozoretz, the wealthy former finance chair of the Democratic National Committee and close friend of Bill Clinton's.

--DEC. 25 Quinn e-mails colleagues, "The greatest danger lies with the lawyers [presumably White House counsels Bruce Lindsey and Beth Nolan]. I have worked them hard, and I am hopeful that E. Holder will be helpful to us." Eric Holder, the Deputy Attorney General, is the only Justice Department official who knows about the pardon application.

--DEC. 26 Rich lawyer Robert Fink e-mails colleagues, "Frankly, I think we benefit from not having the existence of the petition known."

--DEC. 28 After Rich's lawyers toy with the idea of enlisting the help of Hillary Clinton or New York Senator Chuck Schumer, Denise Rich slams the plan. According to a Quinn e-mail, a "friend" [thought to be Dozoretz] advises Denise "not to discuss [the pardon] in front of HRC."

--DEC. 30 Quinn asks colleagues whether Leah Rabin, widow of the slain Israeli Prime Minister, might help. Avner Azulay, Rich's point man in Israel, responds, "Not a bad idea. The problem is how do we contact her? She died last November."

--JAN. 3 Hillary Clinton is sworn into the Senate, which prohibits the receipt of any gift worth more than $50.

--JAN. 4 Azulay sends an e-mail to Quinn suggesting that a pardon for Rich might make it easier for Israeli officials to accept the rejection of a pardon for jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard ("one more reason to say yes to MR").

The White House begins shipping furniture and other gifts to the Clinton home in Chappaqua, N.Y. When the gifts come to light in February, the Clintons will pay for $86,000 worth of them and return $28,000 worth of furnishings that are deemed White House property.

--JAN. 5 Quinn sends a personal letter to Clinton, in which he writes, "I believe in this case with all my heart."

--JAN. 9 Quinn e-mails colleagues, "I think we've benefited from being under the press radar. [White House chief of staff John] Podesta said as much."

--JAN. 10 Bill Clinton calls Dozoretz in Aspen, Colo., and says he wants to grant the Rich pardon. According to an Azulay e-mail, Clinton told Dozoretz that he "is doing all possible to turn around the White House counsels"; Clinton "sounded very positive" but said, "We have to keep praying." It was Dozoretz who secured Denise's hefty donation to the Clinton library.

Quinn forwards a copy of his "all my heart" memo to Holder. He adds, "Dear Eric, I hope you can say you agree with this letter. Your saying positive things, I'm told, would make this happen." Holder later testifies he never received the letter and that it didn't reach the pardon attorney until Jan. 18.

--JAN. 17 On the last trip of his presidency, to Little Rock, Ark., Clinton banters with reporters. "You got anybody you want to pardon?" he asks. "Everybody in America either wants somebody pardoned or a national monument."

--JAN. 19 Independent counsel Robert Ray announces a deal in the Lewinsky matter: Clinton confesses misconduct, and Ray shuts down the prosecution.

Clinton speaks by phone with Barak, who makes a final plea for Rich.

Quinn talks to Clinton. They cut a deal: Rich will get the pardon, but he won't use the statute of limitations to avoid civil prosecution. Quinn's notes from the conversation include a few inscrutable phrases: "stayed away--publicity," "defensible," "inequity," "bias--rich Jew."

White House counsel Nolan calls Holder to ask for his opinion. Holder, aware that Barak is lobbying hard, says if there's a foreign policy benefit he's "neutral, leaning toward favorable." Quinn later testifies that Nolan told him in the days after the pardon that "if Mr. Holder hadn't participated in the process...this pardon wouldn't have happened."

Clinton and close friend Harry Thomason finish off some apple cobbler and watch State and Main; Clinton keeps popping up to work on pardons.

--JAN. 20 Shortly after midnight, White House lawyer Meredith Cabe mentions for the first time to Justice pardon attorney Roger Adams that Rich and Green may be on the pardon list. She asks for a criminal-records check on the pair because they had been "living abroad" for several years--she conveniently doesn't call them fugitives. Two hours before Bush's Inauguration, the White House issues 177 pardons and commutations.

Clinton and chief of staff Podesta take a last turn through the Oval Office. Says Podesta, taking a longer view: "We did a lot of good."

--By Andrew Goldstein