Clinton Pardons: Three Former Top White House Aides to Appear Before House Panel
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we go to Capitol Hill where, in the next hour, a House panel continues looking at one of those controversial Clinton pardons: the one for fugitive financier Marc Rich. Several things to update you. And in that case, and for that, we're joined by Bob Franken on Capitol Hill. Bob, hello.</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Quite a bit of drama expected at the -- probably about a half hour into the hearing, when the first witness, Beth Dozoretz, who is one of the people who had advocated for the Marc Rich pardon, is called to testify; called to testify about the significant contributions she's made for the Democratic Party, and more importantly to the Clinton public library -- the Clinton Presidential Library and her pledges. The question is, as you see her there, by the way, with her good friend, Bill Clinton, playing golf -- the question is, was that pledge of a contribution in any way an influence on the president's decision to pardon Marc Rich, the fugitive financier who has been spending the last 17 years in Switzerland. We know that story. It's been the subject of a hearing. She is going to take the Fifth Amendment protection against self- incrimination, says her lawyer. Why? Because, quote, "of the pendancy of other investigations," meaning the federal criminal investigation. She will not be allowed to do this by -- through her attorney. They are insisting that Beth Dozoretz come to the committee and suffer what the committee hopes will be a little bit of embarrassment over the fact that she will have to twice take questions from Congressman Chris Shays, a Republican, and refuse to answer them. That's how the committee is going to start. It will also not hear from Skip Rutherford, who is the man who heads the Clinton Presidential Library. He was going to be testifying and really grilled about the fact that there was no cooperation on the subpoenas for records of the contributors to the library. But a deal was reached yesterday, a compromise. Rutherford is going to be spared whatever agony that would have been. There will then be a panel that is probably going to be the centerpiece of the hearing. The panel is going to include the White House chief of staff at the time that President Clinton left office, John Podesta. It's going to include Beth Nolan, who was the White House counsel. It's going to include the person who was the very closest adviser to President Clinton over the years, Bruce Lindsey, and also Jack Quinn, Marc Rich's attorney. They will be asked about the circumstances about reports that they, in fact, opposed these pardons and were quite surprised, frankly, when President Clinton overnight decided to pardon Marc Rich. They will be testifying because the president has waived executive privilege. He could have said that their conversations were, in fact, covered by that constitutional privilege. But sources close to the president, ex-president, say he waived the privilege because he was trying to get this matter cleared up. So that will be the -- probably the greatest part of the day. Several hours expected as the focus is on exactly what happened in this last night of the presidency that resulted in the Marc Rich pardon, and, of course, all the suspicions that have been raised by the Republicans that there was some sort of quid pro quo -- it's a word we've heard a lot -- that influenced the decision to pardon Marc Rich -- Leon.</s>KAGAN: Actually, it's Daryn, but we'll take it from there. And, Bob, we'll see you in just a bit as we lead into those hearings in the next hour. Bob Franken on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.