Roger Clinton friend denies deal over pardon plea

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A 20-year friend of Roger Clinton who unsuccessfully sought a presidential pardon denies giving or offering any payment or favor to the brother of the former president in exchange for trying to secure a pardon.

Joseph J. McKernan, 42, told CNN he never gave, offered, or promised anything to Roger Clinton to lobby for the pardon. "There was no talk of money, absolutely not," McKernan said.

Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana and chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, sent a letter Thursday to Roger Clinton, seeking information about his possible involvement in five pardon applications. Among them was one for McKernan, who served prison time with Roger Clinton in the early 1980s, according to McKernan's attorney.

McKernan was convicted of drug charges and federal prison records show he served less than a year.

McKernan said that since his release from prison in May 1985 he has stayed out of legal trouble, and now works as an investigator at a Baton Rouge, La., law office. He said he was "surely disappointed" he did not receive a pardon, because he feels he deserved one.

McKernan's attorney, Richard G. Crane of Nashville, told CNN his client's friendship with Roger Clinton may have helped with the pardon application, even though it was ultimately rejected. "Sometimes you need some help getting it to the top of the stack," Crane said.

Crane said the pardon application was first submitted to the Justice Department in July 1998.

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