| For Immediate Release Jan 19, 2001 |
Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
�Apology� Not Enough � Clinton Should Have Been Indicted for Crimes � Judicial Watch Will Ask Court To Reject Deal (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest law firm that investigates and prosecutes public corruption, today responded with outrage to the reported plea deal Independent Counsel Robert Ray struck with President Bill Clinton. The deal reportedly asks for nothing more than an apology from Clinton, despite all the evidence that Clinton, among other crimes, committed perjury and obstruction of justice, threatened witnesses, tried to intimidate prosecutors, and bribed witnesses with government jobs. For instance, Judicial Watch obtained testimony from Linda Tripp that her life was threatened after she came forward in the Lewinsky scandal. Judicial Watch also said today that Independent Counsel Ray�s plea deal �is an abuse of his office, which is charged with investigating and prosecuting crimes, not extracting meaningless letters of apology from criminal wrongdoers.� (The New York Times reported that Ray is a lifelong Democrat who plans to run for elected office one day.) Judicial Watch also criticized George W. Bush for recent comments saying that Clinton should be allowed to �move on� and �enjoy life and become an active participant in the American system.� These comments essentially sent a signal to let Clinton �off the hook.� �This deal shows how thoroughly corrupted our legal system has become. The powerful get away with criminal wrongdoing that would send any other person to jail for years,� stated Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. �We will investigate this �miscarriage of justice� and ask the federal court panel overseeing Ray to reject the plea,� said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. | |