Dan Burton

U.S. Representative Dan Burton

Dan Burton is an Indiana Republican U.S. Representative who investigated allegations of improper actions related to Bill Clinton's eleventh-hour pardon of commodities broker Marc Rich. In particular, Burton questioned the timing of the pardon so soon after his ex-wife Denise Rich gave the Clinton Foundation a gift of $450,000. Denise Rich's friend Beth Dozoretz also pledged to raise $1 million for the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. Clinton's last-minute pardons included Marc Rich's business partner Pincus Green.

Burton subpoenaed records of all contributions and pledges of more than $5,000 to the Clinton Foundation. On March 2, 2001, the Clinton Foundation agreed to turn over to Burton's House Committee on Government Reform a list of one hundred names of donors who contributed that amount or more. House investigators uncovered the fact that Clinton Foundation board member Cheryl D. Mills was present during a discussion of the pardon of Marc Rich at the White House on January 19, 2001.

Mary Jo White, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, also launched a criminal investigation into the matter in February 2001.

References

• Alison Leigh Cowan, "Ex-Wife of Pardoned Financier Pledged Money to Clinton Library," New York Times, February 9, 2001.
• Kevin Sack, "Pardon Is Trouble for Clinton Library," New York Times, February 18, 2001.
• "A New Front in the Pardon Investigation," New York Times, February 16, 2001.
• Don Van Natta, Jr. and David Johnston, "Clinton Library Will Yield Details on Big Donations," New York Times, March 3, 2001.