Scandals: Pardongate Heats Up

Pressing her investigation of the Clinton pardons, U.S. Attorney MARY JO WHITE has subpoenaed the ex-President's brother Roger, requiring him to appear before a grand jury on April 20 for questioning about his role in an alleged swindle involving a Texas pair's attempt to get a pardon for a relative. ROGER CLINTON'S lawyer, Bart Williams, is asking White to give his client time to decide whether to testify or claim the Fifth, but she may be a tough sell. "They are moving speedily along, and they are not letting people have extensions," says a lawyer involved in the probe. BETH DOZORETZ, a friend of Bill Clinton's, testified before the grand jury earlier this month, as have JACK QUINN and ROBERT FINK, lawyers for pardoned fugitive MARC RICH. A lawyer close to the case says White has also struck an immunity deal with political donor DENISE RICH, which means that anything the financier's ex-wife says cannot be used against her. White has zipped through most of the witnesses in the case of four Hasidic Jews sentenced for stealing government funds. There's not much there, says another lawyer. Even if there were proof that HILLARY CLINTON promised to lobby her husband for the commutations in exchange for the town's votes in her Senate run, that's no crime. "Politicians make promises all the time," says the lawyer. "That's nothing new--or illegal."

--By Viveca Novak