Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com
Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2002

And a critic alleges that it is a result of "a tacit agreement between the Clintonites and the Bushites not to probe too deeply into each others affairs.”

The White House warns that documents dealing with the last-minute pardons issued by the former president should not be revealed to the public because releasing them would set a precedent that would hamper a president's ability to get confidential advice from parties outside the White House. "The president is entitled to receive confidential advice and candid assessments from government attorneys," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Judicial Watch, a non-profit watchdog group, filed a lawsuit last year seeking to see records of the 177 pardons and commutations that Clinton considered or approved on the last day of his presidency, including the pardon Clinton issued to fugitive international financier Marc Rich. Also sought was data dealing with lobbying done by Clinton’s brother, Roger Clinton, for others seeking presidential clemency.

Government briefs submitted to U.S. District Court earlier this month argued that public revelation of the documents would violate a president’s right to receive confidential advice.

"The release of these documents would have a chilling effect on the deliberative process," McClellan said, adding that the Bush administration is not claiming executive privilege but instead is arguing that Freedom of Information (FOI) laws should not be used to force publication of a president’s decision-making processes. He pointed to a Justice Department memo which argues that the pardon process "is a core presidential power exclusively entrusted and executed by the president himself, and documents generated in the process of developing and providing advice to him are squarely subject to the privilege."

Judicial Watch doesn’t see it that way. The group’s president, Tom Fitton, argues that the Bush administration is claiming that executive-branch communications outside the White House are protected by presidential privilege in the face of court rulings holding that the presidential communication privilege applies only to the president and his advisers inside the White House.

"We believe there is a tacit agreement between the Clintonites and the Bushites not to probe too deeply into each others affairs and this is part of it,” Fitton told the Associated Press.

"What's ludicrous is that the Bush White House is essentially saying, 'Leave Marc Rich alone, leave Roger Clinton alone, they're private figures.'"

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