Former President Bill Clinton disclosed on Wednesday that two felons to whom he granted clemency on his last day in office paid large legal fees to his brother-in-law, but he denied prior knowledge of the payments and directed the money be given back.
Clinton said he told Hugh Rodham, brother of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton who is now the Democratic US senator for New York - to return the money to the felons.
"Neither Hillary nor I had any knowledge of such payments," Clinton said in a statement. "We are deeply disturbed by these reports and insisted that Hugh return any monies involved."
Senator Clinton, in a separate statement of her own, said she was "very disturbed" to learn of the fees paid to her lawyer brother.
"Hugh did not speak with me about these (clemency) applications," she said. "I believe that the payments should be returned immediately, and I understand he has taken steps to do so."
The amount of money was not immediately disclosed, but there were published reports that it was in the six figures.
One of two congressional committees already investigating Clinton pardons, particularly the one he gave to fugitive billionaire Marc Rich, promptly announced plans to examine the transactions.
"This news is deeply troubling," said Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican and head of the House of Representatives Government Reform Committee.
"We intend to look into this," Burton said in a statement. "We intend to ask Mr. Rodham to give us all the details of whom he represented and how much he was paid."
Rodham, a private attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, could not immediately be reached for comment. But his attorney, Nancy Luque of Washington, DC, insisted he had "done absolutely nothing wrong."
Luque said in a statement, "He has returned these fees solely because his family asked that he do so. Their request, presumably made because of the appearance of impropriety, is one he cannot ignore. There was, however, no impropriety in these matters."
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