A federal prosecutor and the FBI announced today they had opened a criminal investigation into the pardon granted to fugitive financier Marc Rich by former president Mr Bill Clinton on the final day of his administration.
Ms Mary Jo White, the United States attorney in New York, and the FBI head for New York Mr Barry Mawn said in a joint statement that questions remained concerning the pardons of Rich and associate Pincus Green.
The two agencies opened their probe to determine whether there had been a violation of federal law, according to the three-sentence statement, which said no further details would be released.
The announcement followed media reports yesterday that indicated Ms White was interested in contributions to the Democratic party made by Rich's ex-wife Denise.
Ms Denise Rich has contributed more than $1.3 million to the Democratic Party in the eight-year Clinton era, including $400,000 to help the former president set up his presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas, congressional officials said.
The US attorney's office launched an investigation in the early 1980s against Rich, a billionaire suspected of massive financial fraud for failing to pay more than $48 million in taxes.
Rich's flight to Switzerland in 1983 also came on the heels of charges he bought more than 200 million dollars' worth of oil from Iran, in violation of a US trade embargo, at the very moment in 1980 when Tehran was holding Americans hostage.
Media reports indicate Rich hired lawyers close to the Clinton administration who enlisted the help of top-level Israeli officials to encourage the president to grant him a pardon, a presidential prerogative that cannot be undone.
Clinton yesterday denied any wrongdoing. "I made the decision to pardon Marc Rich based on what I thought was the right thing to do," he said in a statement. "Any suggestion that improper factors including fundraising for the DNC or my library had anything to do with the decision are absolutely false," he stressed.
In response to the announcement, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer indicated that President George W. Bush had no wish to become involved in the affair.
"I do not think it is the role of the president to dictate to the independent Justice Department what investigations they should or should not conduct," Mr Fleischer said. "The president has expressed his opinion when he was asked about the Marc Rich pardon and the investigation thereof."
Two weeks ago Mr Bush said he was "troubled" by Mr Clinton's decision but acknowledged the presidential prerogative to issues pardons.
"I would not have made that decision myself, but the ability for a president to make decisions on pardons is inviolate, as far as I'm concerned," he said.
AFP