The Democratic Party in general has turned their heads with a number of former President Bill Clinton-related scandals, but the Marc Rich pardon may be harder to conquer and spin off as just another ploy by the conservative right to take down Clinton.

As of Jan. 19, a day before Clinton pardoned Rich, the business mogul was wanted by the FBI for more than 50 counts of fraud and income tax evasion. He fled the country soon after being indicted in federal court and has been living in Switzerland for the past 18 years.

One would begin to wonder why Clinton would go out of his way to pardon this fugitive, but then the relationship of Rich’s ex-wife Denise and her financial contributions to the Clintons makes the pardoning of Rich become quite clear.

There is no denial of the fact that Denise Rich donated $450,000 to Clinton’s presidential library. She also donated elaborate furniture to the Clinton’s that they were actually supposed to take after leaving the White House. In addition to the furniture and money to the Clinton’s proposed library, Denise Rich raised more than one million dollars in campaign contributions for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.

The evidence quite clearly suggests Clinton purposely pardoned Rich exclusively for his ex-wife’s monetary generosity. Why else would the former president pardon a fugitive with such an extensive list of serious criminal charges against him? This comes as no surprise to myself and a majority of Americans who have grown accustomed to Clinton scandals and his criminal behavior.

Die-hard liberal Clinton supporters don’t have a leg to stand on in justifying Rich’s pardon, the evidence of a buy-off is too overwhelming.

Matthew Hagbom
finance freshman