Clinton's Brother Settles Debt SuitBy TRAVIS LOLLER ? Sep 13, 2007
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ? A lawsuit accusing Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Rodham Clinton's brother of failing to repay debts to a Tennessee carnival operator has been settled.
Tony Rodham was accused of failing to repay $107,000 plus interest to the bankrupt estate of Edgar Allen Gregory Jr. and his wife, Vonna Jo, both of whom received a presidential pardon in 2000.
The case was scheduled to go to trial on Thursday, but the parties reached a settlement agreement, said Rodham attorney Samuel Crocker. The terms were not disclosed.
Rodham had claimed in court documents the money he received from the Gregorys was for consulting services, but the trustee for the Gregory estate said it was a loan.
The Gregorys received pardons for a bank fraud conviction from President Clinton about two years after Rodham became a paid consultant to United Shows of America, a carnival business the couple owned.
Rodham has said he talked to his brother-in-law about the pardon, but he said President Clinton made the decision to grant clemency on the merits of their case.
After President Clinton left office, the Republican-controlled House Committee on Government Reform found that United Shows paid Rodham $240,000 for undocumented consulting services and that President Clinton was interested in the pardons solely because of his contacts with Rodham.
Hillary Clinton, a New York senator, has said her brother was not paid for his help with the Gregorys' pardon.
Another brother, Hugh Rodham, was paid more than $400,000 for his successful efforts to win pardons for a businessman under investigation for money laundering and a commutation for a convicted drug trafficker. He eventually returned the money at his sister's request.
In the closing hours of his presidency,
Bill Clinton pardoned 140 people, including billionaire financier Marc Rich, who fled the United States in 1983 rather than face charges of tax evasion, fraud and making illegal oil deals with Iran.
Rich's ex-wife, songwriter
Denise Rich, contributed $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library project, $1.1 million to the Democratic Party and at least $109,000 to Hillary Clinton's bid for the Senate.
Hillary Clinton, who has been critical of President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, said her husband's pardons were simply a routine exercise in the use of the pardon power, and none was aimed at protecting the Clinton presidency or legacy.
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