The Clinton Clemency Page

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When he left office in January 2001, President Clinton refused clemency to Jonathan Pollard,
  • in spite of his repeated express commitments to Israel to free Pollard in return for numerous heavy concessions
  • in spite of his commitment to free Pollard as an integral part if the Wye Accords
  • in spite of the appeals of the Jewish community, and
  • in spite of the gross injustices of the Pollard case which include:
    • a grossly disproportionate sentence
    • a broken plea agreement
    • the use of secret evidence
    • a false charge of treason
    • ineffective assistance of counsel
    • ex parte communication between prosecutors and judge
    • a lack of due process
    • a sentencing procedure infected by false allegations and lies
Jonathan Pollard is serving his 16th year of a life sentence for an offense that usually carries a 2 to 4 year sentence (with actual prison time served often considerably less.)

President Clinton showed his contempt for Israel and the American Jewish Community by refusing Pollard clemency while granting it to a host of convicted felons, guilty of such crimes as:

  • murder
  • kidnapping
  • armed bank robbery
  • carrying explosives during the commission of felony
  • burglary
  • distribution of crack cocaine near a school
  • possession of firearms by convicted felon
  • malicious damage to government property
  • conspiracy to effectuate the escape of a federal prisoner
  • distribution of cocaine, crack and heroin
  • racketeering
  • extortion
  • money laundering
  • conspiracy to defraud the United States
  • embezzlement from a federally funded program
  • bank fraud

For details, see the:

Two of the clemencies in particular that were granted by President Clinton, one to a tax fraud racketeer and fugitive from the law, Marc Rich; and the other to an urban terrorist, Susan Rosenberg, have prompted outrage across the spectrum in America and have elicited calls for a congressional investigation. Jonathan Pollard continues to languish in prison in his 16th year of a life sentence.

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