Key senator asks Clinton to explain pardons

Clinton told an audience of media and entertainment executives he wanted "to get out of the news"

In this story: Clinton wants 'out of news' Some hope probe will fade away Three White House aides will testify RELATED STORIES, SITES

From CNN Capitol Hill Producer Dana Bash and Correspondent Eileen O'Connor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Key Senate Republicans sent a letter to former President Clinton asking him to speak to Senate investigators about the pardons he issued hours before he left office, lawmakers said Wednesday.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told CNN he approved a letter written by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pennsylvania, to Clinton asking him to speak to Senate investigators about the pardons.

Hatch said such a conversation could lead to the end of the Senate probe.

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"I think he'd stop everything else if he could just sit down with the former president," Hatch said of Specter. "If he could just sit down and talk to him."

Sources close to Clinton said he has received the letter but that there are questions about it.

"Is Senator Specter speaking for himself, or the entire committee?" one asked. Another regarded it as a "first step." Neither would speculate on how Clinton would respond, with one noting that ranking Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont had not been told of the invitation.

Republican Judiciary aides say they backed the invitation before it was sent.

Clinton wants 'out of news'

While Clinton's decisions to issue pardons and commute the sentences of 176 Americans on January 20 continued to make news in Washington, the former president was in New York telling an audience of media and entertainment executives, "I want to get out of the news."

Asked whether he was disturbed by reporters' attention to the pardons, Clinton remarked: "People always get it right over the long run, and the truth will prevail. So I'm not worried about that at all."

Hatch suggested that Specter offered the former president the opportunity speak with committee members in any location of Clinton's choosing.

Specter would not give specifics on the letter, but said he is looking for a way to get Clinton's account on the issue.

"I've been searching for a way that we might have President Clinton's side of the matter in a professional way, and I'm continuing to explore that. The committee is not disposed to inviting him because of the sensitivity of inviting a former president and the potential for a circus-like atmosphere," Specter told CNN.

Specter has been leading a Senate Judiciary Committee probe into the issues surrounding the pardons, focusing on that of financier Marc Rich. Specter held one hearing on the matter and had been contemplating others later this month.

Hatch said he has never been enthralled with the idea of investigating Clinton, calling it bad for "the country and for the children."

Some hope probe will fade away

Senate GOP sources indicate many in the leadership would rather the probe fade away because they worry the longer it drags out, the more victimized Clinton could become and the more Republicans run the risk of looking like bad guys.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, told reporters earlier in the week that although he thought it was "time to move on" because the Clinton probe had been a "distraction" for Bush, the pardon controversy has had a positive effect by providing a "clear dichotomy" between the two men.

One Senate committee source said moves this week by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, who is leading the House probe into Clinton's pardons, added to the sense there "isn't a lot of stomach" for the investigation on the Senate side anymore.

The Senate investigation is smaller than the House probe because of a smaller staff and stricter Senate rules governing the process.

In an interview with CNN, Vice President Dick Cheney said Clinton "demeaned the presidency in the eyes of many people, and I think that's unfortunate."

Three White House aides will testify

Three former top White House aides will appear before a congressional panel Thursday to testify about the final days of decision-making that led to Clinton's last-minute pardon spree.

Former White House counsel Beth Nolan, chief of staff John Podesta and adviser Bruce Lindsey will tell the House Government Reform Committee about the deliberations over the controversial pardon for fugitive financier Marc Rich, which have sparked two congressional and one federal criminal probe.

Clinton, hoping to put the pardons scandal to rest, waived any executive privilege claims and gave his aides approval to testify freely when they appear before the panel.

The House panel subpoenaed the three aides in its widening investigation of possible influence peddling or links between campaign donations and the pardon of Rich and others on Clinton's last day in office. Marc Rich's ex-wife Denise gave more than $1 million to Democratic causes and $450,000 to the Clinton library.

A Clinton attorney and the committee reached an agreement on Wednesday that gives congressional investigators access to a winnowed-down list of donors to the Clinton Library Foundation, one day before the committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on some of the pardons meted out by Clinton during his last hours as president. (More on library agreement)

In the agreement between the Government Reform Committee and Clinton library and personal attorney David Kendall, the committee is to be given a list of some donors, amounts of donations and dates of the pledges.

Because of the compromise, an appearance by library president Skip Rutherford at the committee hearing was canceled.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Senate Judiciary Committee
House Government Reform Committee

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