Clinton Pardons Rostenkowski, 58 Others
W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 23, 2000 -- President Clinton granted pardons on Friday to 59people, including Dan Rostenkowski, the former chairman of thepowerful House Ways and Means Committee felled by a corruptionscandal.
The White House announced that Clinton also issued a pardon toArchie Schaffer III, an Arkansas chicken company executive ensnaredin the corruption investigation of former Agriculture SecretaryMike Espy.
And he commuted the sentences of three others, including twowomen entangled in drug cases who got lengthy prison terms becauseof mandatory sentencing laws, the White House said. Those three brought the total number of presidential clemency grants to 62.
Pleaded Guilty to Mail Fraud
Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat, pleaded guilty in federalcourt to two counts of mail fraud and was sentenced to 17 months inprison and $100,000 in fines back in 1996.
It was the final act of a legal and political drama that begantwo years earlier when prosecutors probed the misuse of taxpayerfunds.
Prosecutors said Rostenkowski, long among the most powerfulfigures in Washington, used public funds to pay employees who didlittle or no work, and to buy personal gifts.
Rostenkowski’s pardon was a surprise. His name was not amongthose floating about town in recent weeks as Clinton’s presidencydraws to an end.
Others Under Consideration
The pardons are among the acts of presidential clemency thatClinton is weighing over the holidays. Others under considerationinclude former Wall Street financier Michael Milken and Whitewaterfigure Susan McDougal.
When pardoned, a person is no longer considered a felon andregains any privileges — such as voting — that might have beendenied because of the conviction. It does not, however, mean thatthe conviction is expunged from the person’s record.
Schaffer, the chief spokesman for the Arkansas-based poultryproducer, was convicted by a jury under a 1907 law of trying toinfluence agricultural policy by arranging for Espy to attend aTyson birthday party in Arkansas in 1993.
Both Republicans and Democrats in his home state had urgedClinton to pardon Schaffer, arguing the spokesman was convictedunder an obscure law by an independent counsel seeking to build acase against Espy. Espy was eventually acquitted.
“I feel great. This is wonderful news,” Schaffer said in atelephone interview from his lawyer’soffice in Fayetteville, Ark. “I would have preferred to have beenvindicated by the judicial system. We were prepared to continuebattling that, but we’re pleased with this outcome as well.”
Broad Support for Pardon
Even the federal judge who oversaw the case said he believedSchaffer was innocent and twice tried to acquit him, only to bereversed by an appeals court.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson reluctantly sentencedSchaffer to a year and one day in prison and a $5,000 fine, theminimum that he said was allowed under the Meat Inspection Act. Theextra prison day would have made Schaffer eligible forgood-behavior credits that could free him nearly two months early,the judge said.
Besides the pardon pleas, Schaffer supporters wrote nearly 100letters to Robertson asking that he show leniency. Schaffer, thenephew of former Arkansas governor and U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers,D-Ark., served in Bumpers’ administrations and led a business groupstudying educational reforms during Clinton’s tenure as governor.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Tim Hutchinson, bothRepublicans, were among those who pleaded with Clinton to pardonSchaffer.
“I think Archie is deserving and that he’s gone through alot,” Hutchinson said. “I’m pleased with the president’sdecision. He’s gone through trial after trial and appeals.”
The sentencing was one of the final items in Independent CounselDonald Smaltz’s six-year, $23 million investigation of Espy. Jurorsacquitted Espy in December 1998.