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On his last full day in the White House, President Bill Clinton made several farewell calls to world leaders. After lunch, Clinton spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. As they prepared to say farewell, Clinton told Barak he was working on the clemency petition of Marc Rich, a Swiss businessman and a fugitive from the biggest tax fraud in U.S. history. “Might it move forward?” Barak inquired. The Israeli prime minister was intensely interested in Rich. During an earlier conversation, portions of which were released to Congress, Barak told Clinton that Rich had helped out the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, on more than one occasion. “It’s a bizarre case, and I am working on it,” Clinton said. Apparently realizing others were listening, the president added: “It’s s best we not say much about that.” Barak agreed. Profoundly influenced by Barak and other prominent Israeli leaders, the president signed Rich’s pardon in one of his last official acts in office.

Few outside the business world had ever heard of the Belgium-born billionaire before the pardon, which Clinton’s FBI Director Louis Freeh earlier this year called a “corrupt act.” Rich preferred to remain in the shadows and let his highly-paid lawyers... >>>