Thursday, August 09, 2007

Will Hillary Pay for Bill's Sins

If one or more of her primary opponents is smart, Hillary Clinton will soon be forced to answer questions about some of the failings of her husband's administration. The Hill points out today that several recipients of Clinton pardons have not exactly been paragons of rectitude since finding favor with Bubba:

Financier Marc Rich, businessman Almon Glenn Braswell and Roger Clinton Jr., the president’s half-brother, were among the 140 individuals President Clinton pardoned during his last day in office. The GOP-led Congress investigated these pardons in 2001, probing the familial and financial connections between the White House and those pardoned.

The legal issues that the trio faced over the past six years range from drug charges to fraud to tax evasion.

Clemency experts said it was not surprising that legal trouble continued to follow pardon recipients. Douglas Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University, said to believe otherwise would be “wishful thinking” given the “inevitable realities” about many individuals seeking presidential pardons.

John Edwards has demonstrated a willingness to criticize Hillary by going after Bill -- at least on trade policy. Which of them will try to get at 'the sleaze factor?'

After all, if you're going to lose the primary, why not try to go down swinging?

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