The_RANDy_Corporation
03-10-2001, 02:26 PM
AtomicLibSmasher
ezOP/TaskMaster
posts: 1207
(2/18/01 7:09:04 pm)
Reply
FBI FILES: Roger Clinton - Pardon Peddler
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Sunday February 18, 10:56 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Newsweek
FBI Files on Roger Clinton Allege He Sought to Peddle
Influence With Former President's Administration
Pardon Granted Outside of FBI Review
NEW YORK, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Roger Clinton, pardoned by his half- brother in the last hours of the Clinton presidency for
a drug conviction in 1985, also came under subsequent FBI scrutiny several times, Newsweek has learned, including one episode in
which he allegedly sought to play middleman in the purchase of presidential pardons.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010217/HSSA008 )
No charges were ever brought, and a Clinton spokeswoman says the former president knew nothing of the FBI's interest in Roger.
But the White House did make a point of bypassing the FBI and processing the Roger Clinton pardon directly through high-level
Justice Department officials, Newsweek reports in the current issue.
The first probe began four years ago, when FBI agents interviewed Birmingham, Ala., businessman John Katopodis. According to
FBI reports obtained by Newsweek, Arkansas lawyer Larry Wallace approached Katopodis and allegedly assured him that he
could help get Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater to attend a conference that Katopodis was having to promote a new
regional airport. But, in return, he wanted a job for Roger Clinton.
``President Clinton told him [Wallace] ... he was concerned about his 'baby' brother Roger,'' states one FBI interview with
Katopodis. Wallace proposed that Roger receive a $35,000-a-month contract with a private foundation Katapodis helped run.
Katopodis balked. ``That's a pretty big consulting fee for someone who plays in a rock band,'' Katopodis told Newsweek. He says
he later got calls from Roger Clinton himself, pressing for the contract.
The FBI wanted Kotopodis to set up a meeting with Roger Clinton where they would be secretly recorded. Katopodis said he
``wasn't comfortable with the whole thing'' and the case died, reports Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Newsweek
Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman in the February 26 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, February 19).
In a second case, last year, FBI agents looked into allegations that Roger Clinton sought payments for help in arranging pardons.
The inquiry was dropped after Justice lawyers spotted a legal problem. Since Roger Clinton wasn't a federal official, it wasn't a
crime to seek money for promising to help deliver action by the government.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010218/ny_roger_c.html
``I tried to walk a line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal" - Slick Clinton
PaulRevere98999
Gold Star Member
posts: 145
(2/18/01 9:56:03 pm)
Re: FBI FILES: Roger Clinton - Pardon Peddler
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weren't there stories out in recent years where Roger was linked to business deals with ex-Soviet republic mafia?
ezOP/TaskMaster
posts: 1207
(2/18/01 7:09:04 pm)
Reply
FBI FILES: Roger Clinton - Pardon Peddler
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday February 18, 10:56 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Newsweek
FBI Files on Roger Clinton Allege He Sought to Peddle
Influence With Former President's Administration
Pardon Granted Outside of FBI Review
NEW YORK, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Roger Clinton, pardoned by his half- brother in the last hours of the Clinton presidency for
a drug conviction in 1985, also came under subsequent FBI scrutiny several times, Newsweek has learned, including one episode in
which he allegedly sought to play middleman in the purchase of presidential pardons.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010217/HSSA008 )
No charges were ever brought, and a Clinton spokeswoman says the former president knew nothing of the FBI's interest in Roger.
But the White House did make a point of bypassing the FBI and processing the Roger Clinton pardon directly through high-level
Justice Department officials, Newsweek reports in the current issue.
The first probe began four years ago, when FBI agents interviewed Birmingham, Ala., businessman John Katopodis. According to
FBI reports obtained by Newsweek, Arkansas lawyer Larry Wallace approached Katopodis and allegedly assured him that he
could help get Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater to attend a conference that Katopodis was having to promote a new
regional airport. But, in return, he wanted a job for Roger Clinton.
``President Clinton told him [Wallace] ... he was concerned about his 'baby' brother Roger,'' states one FBI interview with
Katopodis. Wallace proposed that Roger receive a $35,000-a-month contract with a private foundation Katapodis helped run.
Katopodis balked. ``That's a pretty big consulting fee for someone who plays in a rock band,'' Katopodis told Newsweek. He says
he later got calls from Roger Clinton himself, pressing for the contract.
The FBI wanted Kotopodis to set up a meeting with Roger Clinton where they would be secretly recorded. Katopodis said he
``wasn't comfortable with the whole thing'' and the case died, reports Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff and Newsweek
Washington Bureau Chief Daniel Klaidman in the February 26 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, February 19).
In a second case, last year, FBI agents looked into allegations that Roger Clinton sought payments for help in arranging pardons.
The inquiry was dropped after Justice lawyers spotted a legal problem. Since Roger Clinton wasn't a federal official, it wasn't a
crime to seek money for promising to help deliver action by the government.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010218/ny_roger_c.html
``I tried to walk a line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely, but I now recognize that I did not fully accomplish this goal" - Slick Clinton
PaulRevere98999
Gold Star Member
posts: 145
(2/18/01 9:56:03 pm)
Re: FBI FILES: Roger Clinton - Pardon Peddler
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weren't there stories out in recent years where Roger was linked to business deals with ex-Soviet republic mafia?