FBI Stuns Again: Releases Files on Bill Clinton’s Pardon of Fugitive Marc Rich
The Hillary Clinton campaign got yet another unpleasant surprise on Tuesday. Â This time, the FBI released 129 pages of documents from a 2001 investigation into Bill Clinton’s controversial presidential pardon of fugitive Marc Rich.
The bureau initially released the heavily redacted files on Monday, but drew more attention to the documents in a tweet Tuesday. The Clinton team questioned the timing of the release, which comes one week before the election and just days after Director James Comey’s stunning announcement that the FBI was looking into newly discovered emails related to its investigation of Hillary Clinton.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin reports on this and the latest from Hillary Clinton campaign trail:
USA Today also reports:
“Rich, who died in 2013, was a financier who fled to Switzerland after being indicted on multiple federal charges, including tax evasion, in 1983. Clinton’s motive for pardoning Rich on his last day in office was questioned because Rich’s ex-wife, Denise Rich, was a wealthy Democratic donor who made a $450,000 donation to Clinton’s presidential library foundation and more than $100,000 to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign.”
In a statement, the FBI said that any material requested three or more times under the Freedom of Information Act is automatically made available to the public online on a “first in, first out basis.”
