I don't know if David Geffen knew this was coming when he made his comments to Maureen Dowd, but the Clinton pardons have again reared their ugly heads. The Boston Globe reports today that Hillary's brother, Tony Rodham, has been ordered by a bankruptcy judge to respond to an allegation that he has failed to repay a $107,000 "loan" that he received from Edgar and Vonna Jo Gregory, who had been convicted of bank fraud and were pardoned by Bill Clinton in 2000.
Hillary had admitted that her brother Hugh Rodham had accepted $400,000 from two people to advocate for pardons or commutations, but denied she or Bill Clinton had done so, and she advised Hugh to return the money. (I can't remember for sure whether he ever did so). But at the time, she said that Tony, although he had advocated pardons for the Gregorys, hadn't accepted any money from them. It turns out that Tony Rodham had been working as a "business consultant" for the Gregorys, and claims that the $107,000 at issue was part of his salary, but that it had nothing to do with the pardons.
This controversy, which apparently may be settled, has also reignited discussion of the Marc Rich pardon:
President Clinton's pardons have been a political issue for Hillary Clinton because of her ties to a number of the cases. In addition to the people who paid her brothers, those receiving pardons included commodities trader Marc Rich, a fugitive who was prosecuted for tax evasion by then-US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani and fled to Switzerland. Rich was pardoned after his former wife, Denise Rich, contributed heavily to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.
Controversy over the pardons was reignited last week after Hollywood mogul and former Clinton supporter David Geffen criticized the Clintons for the Rich pardon.
"It is a legitimate campaign issue," said Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law. He said that Hillary Clinton should answer questions about her brothers' and her own involvement in the pardons because "the stench of the Marc Rich pardon still stinks and it has never been adequately explained."
This may all amount to nothing, but it's certainly not what the Hillary Clinton campaign needs right now, especially with her overall lead over Obama tightening up in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll. which also showed Obama taking over a significant lead among black voters, whereas Hillary had previously been leading overwhelmingly among black voters. All-in-all, it hasn't been a good couple of days for Team Clinton.