Gary Condit: Clinton Redux
Hartford
Courant Editorial
July
18, 2001
Once
again, the nation's capital is consumed by scandal
involving
a public officeholder and an intern.
The
details of Rep. Gary Condit's situation are not identical
with
Bill Clinton's lying under oath about his relationship with
Monica
Lewinsky. But any smart lawmaker would have
learned
from the Clinton affair that obfuscating, misleading,
denying
and telling untruths will not work.
Mr.
Condit has chosen to live in a glass house and he
cannot
draw the curtains and pretend nothing has happened.
Yet
the California congressman has done just that and, in
the
process, served himself and his constituents poorly.
He
should have cooperated with investigators from the
moment
Chandra Levy disappeared on May 1. He should
have
volunteered to take a lie detector test administered by
the
FBI. He should have been forthright about his relationship
with
Ms. Levy, who is his constituent and had worked as an
intern
at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons in Washington.
[Please read the rest of this article in the archives at the Hartford COURANT website]
Dodd
Helped Friend Secure Presidential Pardon
By
DAVID LIGHTMAN
The
Hartford Courant, February 24, 2001
WASHINGTON
- Sen. Christopher J. Dodd personally wrote
President
Clinton a two-page letter requesting a pardon for
Edward
Downe Jr. of New York, who pleaded guilty in 1993
to
violating tax and securities laws. Clinton granted the full
and
unconditional pardon last month.
Downe,
a former director of the Bear Stearns investment
firm,
was also accused by the Securities and Exchange
Commission
of providing inside information to friends and
family
in the late 1980s, an effort that, according to the SEC,
allowed
them to amass $13 million in profits. Dodd, who was
present
at Downe's sentencing hearing in 1993, is an old
friend.
"They've known each other for 20 years," said Dodd
spokesman
Marvin Fast. "He's a very good friend."