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Roger Clinton Subject of Cash-for-Pardons Probe NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON (UPI) – Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating allegations that former president Bill Clinton's ex-convict brother, Roger Clinton, solicited payment to help an Arkansas man obtain a presidential pardon in January, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. The newspaper quoted "sources familiar with the matter" as saying prosecutors are trying to determine if Roger Clinton solicited Phillip David Young, the owner of a North Little Rock restaurant, for $15,000 to help secure a pardon. Young was said to have turned down the purported offer, the newspaper reported. He ultimately was pardoned by Clinton for his conviction for illegally transporting game fish across state lines. Young's lawyer, Eugene O'Daniel of Little Rock, called investigators twice in January and was the source of information on Roger Clinton's alleged involvement. The lawyer made the phone calls after the Justice Department had made a recommendation on the Young pardon application, but before the president had decided to grant the request, the Times said. Roger Clinton is one of three relatives of the former president who lobbied for pardons. The others are his two brothers-in-law, Hugh and Tony Rodham. The New York prosecutors, in their inquiry seeking information about Roger Clinton, also have asked the pardon attorney's office for any materials relating to the commutations for four Hasidic Jews from New Square, N.Y. But, one source said, "this was the first time they asked about Roger Clinton." Roger Clinton, in an exclusive interview with the Los Angeles Times last month, said that he promised a half-dozen of his closest friends, including people he had served time with in prison, that his brother would pardon them. Insisting that he never solicited money or accepted any, the former president's brother said he compiled a list of six names and wrote down reasons why they should be pardoned, the Times reported. "I put it into a stack of papers on a table in the White House where he would see it," Roger Clinton. "I put the names on it. I put down their relationship to me. And I said they had all gone through the Justice Department and they were deserving." Shortly before Bill Clinton left office, Roger Clinton said he asked his brother about the pardons, which he said Bill Clinton told him he would "look into." Roger Clinton said that he learned from the newspapers Jan. 21 that none of his friends were pardoned and that it caused a "rift" between his brother and him. Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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