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WASHINGTON (AP) - The investigation into former President Clinton's last-minute pardons is widening amid revelations that his wife's brother collected nearly $400,000 for helping secure a pardon and a prison commutation for two clients. At the request of the first family, Hugh Rodham refunded the payments on Wednesday. A congressional investigative committee immediately demanded documents and answers. Clinton and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said they were unaware of the arrangements with Rodham and were "deeply disturbed" by what had happened. Rodham contacted Clinton's closest adviser in the White House, Bruce Lindsey, at least once in connection with one of the cases, which involved a major political contributor's son convicted on drug charges, legal sources said. Rodham "acceded to his family's request that he return legal fees earned in connection with pardon requests," his attorney Nancy Luque said. "Their request, presumably made because of the appearance of impropriety, is one he cannot ignore," Luque said. "There was, however, no impropriety in these matters." Legal sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Rodham, who is a lawyer, was paid for months of work on the prison commutation request of Carlos Vignali and received a "success fee" for helping win the pardon of Almon Glenn Braswell. The money included $200,000 after the Braswell pardon was granted and the rest paid over a period time as Rodham worked on the Vignali commutation, the sources said. They declined to provide an exact amount but said it totaled just below $400,000. The money was returned to Braswell and Vignali's family, the sources said. "Yesterday I became aware of press inquires that Hugh Rodham received a contingency fee in connection with a pardon application for Glenn Braswell and a fee for work on Carlos Vignali's commutation application," the former president said in a statement. "Neither Hillary nor I had any knowledge of such payments. We are deeply disturbed by these reports and have insisted that Hugh return any monies received." Mrs. Clinton added, "I was very disturbed to learn that my brother ... received fees in connection with two clemency applications. Hugh did not speak with me about these applications." A source close to the former president, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Lindsey had been contacted by Rodham and was aware of Rodham's involvement with the Vignali request. The source said Lindsey did not know about the presidential relative's involvement in the Braswell matter. The source said Clinton didn't know Rodham was working on behalf of the two pardon applicants and the decisions on both men were made on the merits of their situations. The Braswell pardon has generated controversy because after it was granted on Jan. 20 it was disclosed that the businessman was under investigation on new allegations. Braswell didn't apply for his pardon through the Justice Department, but Vignali did seek his commutation through the department in August 1998. The 140 pardons and 36 commutations Clinton granted just hours before President Bush took office on Jan. 20 have generated criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike and prompted congressional probe and a U.S. attorney's criminal investigation. Until now, however, critics have mainly focused on the clemency Clinton granted to fugitive financier Marc Rich, who was indicted in 1983 on charges of tax evasion and making illegal oil deals with Iran. Investigators want to know whether donations by Rich's former wife contributed to the pardon. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., a longtime critic of Clinton and chairman of the House committee investigating the pardons, called the revelations of the payments to Rodham "deeply troubling" and vowed an investigation. "This makes it look like there is one system of justice for those with money and influence, and one system of justice for everyone else," Burton said. Burton sent letters Wednesday night demanding answers and records from the key players, including Rodham and Vignali's family. Hugh Rodham and his brother, Tony, generated controversy once before when they became involved in a business deal supported by an opposition leader in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The Clinton administration was forced to tell the Georgian government that it did not support the $118 million project to grow, process and export hazelnuts. One legal source said Rodham's work on the two clemency matters involved gathering supporting documents for the application, lining up people to advocate the pardons and getting the information "through channels" to the Clinton administration. They declined to identify those channels. Rodham worked on Braswell's last-minute request for just a couple of weeks and worked on the Vignali case for several months, the source said. Clinton has denied any wrongdoing, saying all the clemency decisions were made on the merits. In the Vignali matter, numerous political figures lobbied to commute his drug sentence, including Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, a sheriff and community leaders. Vignali walked out of prison Jan. 20 after serving six years of a 15-year sentence for participating in a major cocaine ring. He is the son of Horacio Vignali, a wealthy Los Angeles political contributor. The source said the White House asked the Justice Department to conduct a criminal background check on Braswell, did not know of the ongoing inquiry and was told the check found nothing negative. Clinton decided to pardon Braswell because his wrongdoing was nearly two decades old and there was no indication of problems since, the source added. Federal prosecutors are now investigating Braswell in connection with "a massive tax evasion and money-laundering scheme," according to court documents filed in 1999 in Los Angeles. Braswell, 57, was convicted for fraud and other crimes stemming from false claims in 1983 about the effectiveness of a treatment for baldness. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison followed by five years' probation.
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