When it became widely known this week that her brother, Hugh Rodham, had been paid a $400,000 contingency fee to advance the cases of convicted felons Carlos Vignali and Glenn Braswell in the rapidly spreading pardons for money scandal, Hillary Clinton bravely stepped up to the microphones to express her dismay at being deceived by her younger brother.

"As soon as we found out Monday night, I was heartbroken," the Senator told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

Shocked. Shocked, she was. Saddened. Heartbroken and "very disappointed." Just as the smartest woman in America got settled into the business of representing the people of New York State, she learned that she'd been tricked again by the men in her life.

"I knew nothing about my brother's involvement in these pardons," she said. "I knew nothing about his taking money for his involvement. I had no knowledge of that whatsoever. I'm very disappointed and I'm very disturbed."

How could she have been expected to know that her ne'er do well brother would take advantage of his family in such a way? For all she knew, her brother was simply partaking of the free room and board at the White House during the final two weeks of the Clinton administration. How could she have guessed that he'd been spending at least some of his time there parlaying pardons with Bruce Lindsey, the former President's closest advisor?

Here's how. In spite of her clumsily rambling denouncement of her younger brother's extreme lack of ethics in securing the pardons and regardless of her unconvincing denials that she knew anything about pardon shakedowns, Mrs. Clinton is known by veteran Clinton watchers to have been closely involved in just about every major decision that her husband undertook while at the White House. During her eight years as an un-elected, un-appointed official in her husband's administration, she made a point of cultivating her own allies among the top legal staff there. Her palace guard included the likes of Bernard Nussbaum, Vince Foster, Harold Ickes, and to some extent Jack Quinn, to name just a few. These people worked closely with the former First Lady in everything from the internal reinforcement of her less than moderate policies to stonewalling Congressional investigations.

She closed this week's hand in the pardon game by playing the victim card, but although her victim status has served her poll numbers well in the past, it's extremely unlikely that either First Lady Hillary Clinton or Senator Hillary Clinton has ever been the victims of someone else's scams.

Until this week, the pardon scandal had been dominated by the Marc Rich affair. Even respected high ranking Democrats have been jumping the Clinton ship over it. Jimmy Carter, who maintained silence out of respect for the office through the entire Clinton presidency, even after he was snubbed by the Clintons during the 1996 Democratic Convention, has characterized the Rich pardon as disgraceful. Hamilton Jordan, Carter's White House chief of staff, explained that Clinton's evaluation of the cases was the most irregular process he had ever seen. Die-hard media Clinton defenders are falling like flies. On Thursday, Alan Colmes proclaimed, "I decry these pardons. Don't lump me in with the Kool-Aid drinkers," a reference to the cult-like behavior that he only now recognizes. Even James Carville is attempting to disentangled himself from the wreckage. They can't seem to get away fast enough.

And so it ought to be. The Rich pardon was sleazy, criminally quid pro quo, even. However, the most significant aspects of the Clinton pardons appear to have developed this week. It's not just Hugh Rodham's $400K that screams impropriety and possible massive money laundering. It's the involvement in pardon pushes by Senator Clinton's key money people -- her Senate campaign mastermind, Harold Ickes, and her campaign treasurer, Bill Cunningham -- that makes this a matter requiring diligent and thorough investigation.

The bodies in the Clinton pardon scandal are falling uncomfortably close to the Senator Clinton's door. It's becoming less about her philandering sociopath husband and more about her now.

This is, to be sure, a proximity issue. Thursday when the news broke that Bill Cunningham had been the advance man for the pardon requests of two Arkansas felons and that he'd done so at the behest of Harold Ickes, it should have launched, not just a red flag, but a blazing signal flare. It may not have been noticed much amid the melodrama of Mrs. Clinton's tragic betrayal by her own blood, but it should have been. There is big money at stake here, perhaps millions of dollars funneled into the Clinton Library Slush Fund. Perhaps funneled somewhere else, but is there any doubt that we 're looking at a shell game at this point?

It's not the fact that someone is getting paid to represent the cases of criminals requesting pardons and clemency. It's who the legal representatives are. It's about their motives, abilities, and their relationships with the former President and his wife. Questions around the ability or propensity of these representatives to engage in potential money laundering practices need to be studied. Closely.

© Lynette Warren 2001 All rights reserved


Previously by Lynette Warren...

Gale Norton, Enviro-Capitalist (02/15/01)

The Parting Shot (01/26/01)

Faith vs. Blind Faith (12/27/00)

Under the Mistletoe with Sinn Fein (12/15/00)

Mrs. Clinton Goes to Washington (12/08/00)

It's the Outrage (12/01/00)

The Great Florida Vote Hunt (11/24/00)