|
"Foxman was
interviewed Monday by House investigators about
Rich, an ultra-wealthy commodities trader who had
been on the lam since his 1983 indictment on
evading $48 million in taxes and trading with the
enemy."
|
New York Post, March 24, 2001
JEWISH
GROUP TOOK RICH'S 100G BEFORE PUSHING
PARDON
Saturday, March 24,2001
By BRIAN BLOMQUIST
WASHINGTON
- Anti-Defamation League Director
Abraham
Foxman [left] admitted he sought a presidential
pardon for Marc Rich a month after his group accepted a
$100,000 donation from the billionaire financier.
Foxman, leader of one of the nation's largest Jewish
groups, wrote a letter to then-President Bill Clinton
on Dec. 7, urging a pardon for Rich.
But Foxman didn't reveal Rich's donation until yesterday.
An ADL official said it "probably" was made in November and
added that the group has no plans to give the money
back.
He said he'd been under the impression, after talking
with Rich, that the feds were bent on jailing him if he
returned to the country, denying him a chance to visit his
daughter's grave.
Foxman was interviewed Monday by House investigators
about Rich, an ultra-wealthy commodities trader who had been
on the lam since his 1983 indictment on evading $48 million
in taxes and trading with the enemy.
Foxman recommended to Azulay that Rich seek a pardon by
using his ex-wife Denise Rich - a major contributor
to the Clintons' campaigns and to Bill Clinton's library -
as an intermediary.
Denise Rich ended up writing a letter to Clinton and
pinning him down at a holiday
party at the White House to press for the pardon.
The ADL said Azulay had "pledged" in January 2000, a
month before the meeting in Paris, to make a contribution to
the ADL.
But the actual transfer of that money, $100,000,
"probably" occurred in November, said ADL spokeswoman
Myra Shinbaum.
Shinbaum said Rich had given $150,000 to the ADL over a
period of about 15 years, but, before last year, hadn't
given any money in a few years.
Shinbaum also said the ADL, which
annually budgets $50 million to
fight anti-Semitism, won't return the money.
"Return the money? No. The money is used for the work of
the ADL," Shinbaum said.
