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 New York, Saturday, March 24, 2001
JEWISH GROUP TOOK RICH'S 100G BEFORE PUSHING PARDON Saturday,March 24,2001 By BRIAN BLOMQUIST
Foxman, leader of one of the nation's largest Jewish groups, wrote a letter to then-President Bill Clinton on Dec. 7, urging a pardon for Rich. But Foxman didn't reveal Rich's donation until yesterday. An ADL official said it "probably" was made in November and added that the group has no plans to give the money back. Foxman said last Monday that he regretted writing to Clinton, saying he had a change of heart after learning the feds had offered to let Rich return to the United States on bail to face his legal troubles. He said he'd been under the impression, after talking with Rich, that the feds were bent on jailing him if he returned to the country, denying him a chance to visit his daughter's grave. Foxman was interviewed Monday by House investigators about Rich, an ultra-wealthy commodities trader who had been on the lam since his 1983 indictment on evading $48 million in taxes and trading with the enemy. The ADL acknowledged that Foxman and Rich's Israeli representative, former Mossad agent Avner Azulay, met in Paris last February to discuss ways to resolve Rich's legal problems. Foxman recommended to Azulay that Rich seek a pardon by using his ex-wife Denise Rich - a major contributor to the Clintons' campaigns and to Bill Clinton's library - as an intermediary. Denise Rich ended up writing a letter to Clinton and pinning him down at a holiday party at the White House to press for the pardon. The ADL said Azulay had "pledged" in January 2000, a month before the meeting in Paris, to make a contribution to the ADL. But the actual transfer of that money, $100,000, "probably" occurred in November, said ADL spokeswoman Myra Shinbaum. Shinbaum said Rich had given $150,000 to the ADL over a period of about 15 years, but, before last year, hadn't given any money in a few years. "We see absolutely no connection" between Foxman's letter to Clinton and Rich's $100,000 payment to the ADL, Shinbaum said. Shinbaum also said the ADL, which annually budgets $50 million to fight anti-Semitism, won't return the money. "Return the money? No. The money is used for the work of
the ADL," Shinbaum said.
Related item:
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Foxman
was interviewed Monday by House investigators about
Rich, an ultra-wealthy commodities trader who had
been on the lam since his 1983 indictment on
evading $48 million in taxes and trading with the
enemy. 
WASHINGTON
- Anti-Defamation League Director Abraham
Foxman [left] admitted he sought a presidential
pardon for Marc Rich a month after his group accepted a
$100,000 donation from the billionaire financier.
David Irving