Clintons still under the microscope

From CNN Correspondent Kate Snow

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The senator and the president are still making headlines, but this time those headlines are on the op-ed pages, where former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton are being criticized for what some see as a lack of ethics.

"My sense is that the president's exit from office was a reminder of how fast and loose they played with the administration of justice throughout their entire administration," said former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, who ran the Department of Justice under former President George Bush.

Thornburgh is among those attacking President Clinton for pardoning friends and former donors in his last days in office.

Among the 150 presidential pardons issued just last weekend: Billionaire Marc Rich, who fled to Switzerland after being accused of tax evasion, price rigging and illegally buying oil from Iran.

Rich's wife donated more than $1 million to Democrats, including Bill and Hillary Clinton.

His pardon prompted strong words from Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

"I think it's a disgrace," McCain said.

But it's not just Republicans. Even the Senate's top Democrat was critical.

On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said the use of presidential pardons should be reviewed.

"I disagree with the pardon of Mr. Rich. I think it was inappropriate. But I don't know all the facts, and I can't pass final judgment on it," Daschle said.

On Sunday, President Clinton was asked to defend the pardons.

"The word pardon is somehow almost a misnomer," he said. "You're not saying these people didn't commit the offense, you're saying they paid, they paid in full."

Also, following the Clintons to New York were concerns about a long list of nearly $200,000 in gifts the first family received before leaving the White House.

Said the Washington Post: "The list demonstrates again the Clintons' defining characteristic: They have no capacity for embarassment."

On the list of gifts: $5,000 in china from the Spielbergs, golf clubs and sofas.

Sen. Hillary Clinton wouldn't be allowed to accept gifts like that now, but a spokesman for the senator says the Senate ethics rules didn't apply when she was first lady.

Associated Press news material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.