No one on the Mother Jones 400 has generated as much attention as Denise Rich. The high-society songwriter made nearly $400,000 in donations to Democrats over the last two years -- part of a total of more than $1.1 million she has contributed since 1993. She has also pledged $450,000 for Bill Clinton's presidential library. And White House records show that she visited the executive mansion more than a dozen times during Clinton's presidency, including the night before Clinton granted a pardon to her former husband, Marc Rich, a fugitive who had renounced his U.S. citizenship.
She penned a letter to Clinton on her ex-husband's behalf on December 8 -- one month after sending the Democrats a check for $25,000. "Let no one think exile for life is a light burden," she wrote. "When our daughter was dying from leukemia, Marc was cruelly denied the opportunity to see her by the prosecutors." Her former husband, she wrote, had paid his dues. "Exile for 17 years is enough. Marc has made the lives of countless others better."
Marc Rich was charged with over 50 counts of tax evasion, fraud, and conspiracy in 1983. He did business with Iran during the hostage crisis and made deals with South Africa, despite an apartheid-era embargo. Since fleeing the country, he has lived in Switzerland and has donated more than $200 million to charity over the last 20 years, particularly to organizations in Israel. Many of his Israeli benefactors wrote or called Clinton on Rich's behalf, including Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, Zubin Mehta of the Israeli Philharmonic, several former mayors of Israeli cities, numerous museum directors, and former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.
In defense of the pardons of Marc Rich and his colleague Pincus Green, Clinton has explained that several prominent tax experts and a small body of legal precedent justified the reprieve. His own advisors disagreed. "The staff informed the president that it was our view that the pardon should not be granted," says John Podesta, Clinton's chief of staff. But, as White House counsel Beth Nolan notes, "The president was the president."
To date, Denise Rich has refused to discuss whether her contributions played any role in the pardon, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination. "Her political fundraising and charitable activities have absolutely nothing to do with the pardon granted to her former husband," Rich's publicist declared. Clinton called any suggestion of quid pro quo "utterly false."
As congressional investigations continue, Rich can take solace in her own Grammy-nominated song "I Don't Wanna Be Misunderstood." In the end, singing may be the only way to clear her name.
-- Jennifer Karlin
