WASHINGTON — An unsigned note found in the Clinton White House archives has revived questions about whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton knew of her brother's efforts to win presidential clemency for convicted Los Angeles cocaine dealer Carlos Vignali.
Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who has headed a six-month investigation into controversial clemencies granted by President Clinton, cited the note in asking Hugh Rodham last month if he had told "anyone on the White House staff that the Vignali matter was important to the first lady."
The White House note, a copy of which was obtained Wednesday by The Times, was discovered by investigators for the House Government Reform Committee in a Vignali file kept by former senior Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey. The note, which was neither signed nor dated, quotes Rodham as saying that the Vignali matter "is very important to him and the First Lady as well as others."
According to one committee official, investigators think the note was written in December or January. It was found in the National Archives files for the Clinton White House and bears the stamp "Clinton library photocopy."
"We're guessing it was written by a Lindsey secretary or an assistant," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We'd like to know for sure."
Neither Lindsey nor Rodham's lawyer, Nancy Luque, could be reached for comment Wednesday. In testimony before the Burton committee last spring, Lindsey acknowledged that Rodham had spoken to him several times about the Vignali case.
Rodham, a Florida lawyer, has acknowledged being paid more than $200,000 by Vignali's father, Horacio Vignali, to press President Clinton's aides for a commutation for his son. His lawyer said the money was returned. The younger Vignali was freed from prison in January after serving six years of a 15-year sentence for narcotics charges.
Sen. Clinton insisted in February, when her brother's involvement became public, that she knew nothing of it. A spokeswoman reiterated her denial on Wednesday.
"As Sen. Clinton said to everyone months ago, her brother never discussed this with her and she knew nothing about it," said the aide, Karen Dunne.
Sources close to the New York Democrat expressed irritation that Burton committee investigators were, as one put it, "excited about a note that isn't signed or dated. The premise that Hillary knew or cared about a coke dealer in L.A. is bizarre."
