Denise Rich

Denise Rich said she contributed generously to Democrats because she wanted to support her country, and she did nothing wrong in helping her ex-husband get a presidential pardon. "I feel that what I did is right, and I would do it again," she said in an interview in New York for ABC's "20/20" that will air tonight. Rich also denied she ever had a sexual relationship with President Clinton, who pardoned her former husband, Marc Rich, in January.

The Justice Department announced Thursday it has concluded a grand jury inquiry into former President Clinton's eleventh-hour grant of clemency to four influential members of a Hasidic community that voted by a huge margin to send Hillary Rodham Clinton to the U.S. Senate. "We thoroughly investigated it, and it wasn't appropriate to bring charges against anybody in the case," said U.S. Atty. James B. Comey in Manhattan.

Democratic donor Denise Rich has struck an immunity deal with prosecutors investigating Bill Clinton's pardon of her ex-husband, fugitive financier Marc Rich, Time magazine reported on its Web site Saturday. In addition, U.S. Atty. Mary Jo White has subpoenaed the former president's brother, Roger Clinton, to appear before a grand jury this week to discuss his role in an alleged pardon swindle.

Denise Rich said she contributed generously to Democrats because she wanted to support her country, and she did nothing wrong in helping her ex-husband get a presidential pardon. "I feel that what I did is right, and I would do it again," she said in an interview in New York for ABC's "20/20" that will air tonight. Rich also denied she ever had a sexual relationship with President Clinton, who pardoned her former husband, Marc Rich, in January.

There's something about Denise Rich--her lavish parties, her abundant philanthropy and political contributions and, most prominently, the controversial pardon granted her ex-husband--that makes people think her songwriting is some sort of hobby. Aren't songwriters usually starving-artist types, begging to be discovered?

For weeks she's been portrayed as a high-flying Manhattan hostess, a songwriting society maven who played only a secondary role in the controversial pardon of her ex-husband, fugitive financier Marc Rich. But in fact Denise Rich made crucial decisions in the elaborate lobbying campaign, contacting President Clinton on three occasions and vetoing a plan to seek support from Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to memorandums and e-mails generated by her husband's legal team.

Democratic fund-raiser Beth Dozoretz invoked the 5th Amendment on Monday, joining Denise Rich in refusing to testify before a congressional committee about their role in pushing for a controversial presidential pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Former President Clinton's last-day pardons are final and irrevocable, but congressional Republicans are exploring legal options that could lead to sanctions against Clinton or the prosecution of anyone who sought to buy such favors.

Congressional investigators are hoping to learn more from former President Clinton's top aides about what led to his last-minute pardons, but prospects of obtaining their testimony are far from certain. The House Government Reform Committee has asked Clinton to waive any executive privilege claims that could keep aides such as former White House lawyers Bruce Lindsey and Beth Nolan from disclosing what they know, but the panel has received no response.

It has become the most controversial--and mysterious--of President Clinton's last-minute pardons: Marc Rich, a fugitive commodities trader indicted in 1983 on charges of massive tax fraud and illegal oil trading with Iran, is now free from prosecution after 17 years on the lam. But why would a billionaire who thumbed his nose at the U.S. justice system, a businessman facing more than 300 years in prison, receive such largess?

Democratic donor Denise Rich has struck an immunity deal with prosecutors investigating Bill Clinton's pardon of her ex-husband, fugitive financier Marc Rich, Time magazine reported on its Web site Saturday. In addition, U.S. Atty. Mary Jo White has subpoenaed the former president's brother, Roger Clinton, to appear before a grand jury this week to discuss his role in an alleged pardon swindle.

There's something about Denise Rich--her lavish parties, her abundant philanthropy and political contributions and, most prominently, the controversial pardon granted her ex-husband--that makes people think her songwriting is some sort of hobby. Aren't songwriters usually starving-artist types, begging to be discovered?

Prosecutors in New York have convened a federal grand jury to begin collecting potential evidence for their investigation of the pardon of fugitive commodities broker Marc Rich. The jury already has issued subpoenas and is collecting the fund-raising "lists and documents" for Bill Clinton's presidential library--a clear sign that it is looking for evidence of a quid pro quo between the Rich pardon and donations to the former president.

Democratic fund-raiser Beth Dozoretz invoked the 5th Amendment on Monday, joining Denise Rich in refusing to testify before a congressional committee about their role in pushing for a controversial presidential pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich.

Driven to prove himself as compassionate as his predecessors, Bill Clinton oversaw an unruly avalanche of clemency requests that too often bypassed normal channels and was sometimes steered toward him by relatives and intimates, say aides and others involved in the process. In the final months of his presidency, Clinton was open about his unhappiness with his clemency numbers.

Former President Clinton said it was "utterly false" to suggest he pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich in return for donations to the planned Clinton presidential library. "The suggestion that I granted the pardons because Mr. Rich's former wife, Denise, made political contributions and contributed to the Clinton library foundation is utterly false," Clinton writes in an opinion article for today's New York Times. "There was absolutely no quid pro quo.

Former President Bill Clinton insists he pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich because it "was the right thing to do." He hasn't offered to explain what made it right, leaving that chore to Jack Quinn, one of Rich's lawyers and Clinton's former White House counsel, who got his old boss to issue the pardon in his final hours in office. Quinn says Clinton "grasped the essence of my argument" that the case "should have been handled civilly, not criminally."

The U.S. attorney in New York has opened a criminal investigation to determine if President Clinton's last-minute pardon of fugitive commodities broker Marc Rich was secured with illegal payments, sources in the federal government said Wednesday. The decision by Mary Jo White, a Democratic appointee, to investigate the Rich pardon came just a day after President Bush criticized congressional reviews of the matter, saying it was "time to move on."

President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich is a saga of secrecy, tenacity, sleight of hand and pressure from Rich's ex-wife and one of her friends, who together have steered millions of dollars to Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton's causes and those of fellow Democrats. Whether it is a story of bribery as well or illegal gifts from abroad is the subject of congressional inquiries and a criminal investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in New York.

For weeks she's been portrayed as a high-flying Manhattan hostess, a songwriting society maven who played only a secondary role in the controversial pardon of her ex-husband, fugitive financier Marc Rich. But in fact Denise Rich made crucial decisions in the elaborate lobbying campaign, contacting President Clinton on three occasions and vetoing a plan to seek support from Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to memorandums and e-mails generated by her husband's legal team.