PardonMeIvotedforHillary3-4-01pg1

�Pardon me. I Voted for Hillary.�

On November 7,2000, a small Hasidic community of New Square, NY overwhelming voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton for Senator. New Square has a history for voting �en-bloc� for candidates. There are irregularities with the support for Ms. Clinton with how they normally vote.

Two puzzling aspects make one wonder what went on behind the scenes in New Square. The first is that two other Hasidic communities voted almost as decisively for Rick Lazio as New Square had for Clinton. The other is that an ultra-orthodox Jewish community voted for somebody with anti-Semite tendencies.

Paul Adler, then the Chair of the Rockland Democratic Committee and a huge fund-raiser for Clinton�s campaign, set for Hillary to visit New Square in August to meet Grand Rabbi Twersky.

Adler was arrested in September for mail fraud and tax evasion charges. He also admitted to bribery, but was never formerly charged. He offered a local planning board member a government job through political contacts in exchange for an approval for a subdivision. The application was denied and the board member never received a government job.

Adler arranged for another meeting between Twersky and the Clintons. This meeting took place on December 22 in the Oval Office. On January 20, then-President Clinton pardoned the four men who embezzled $40,000,000 in federal funds for a fake yeshiva.

Many questions need to be answered. If Ms. Clinton wanted the entire Hasidic support, why didn�t Adler arrange for Hillary to visit Kaser (which is less than five miles away), or Kiryas Joel in neighboring Orange County? Was it just �votes-for-pardons� or was there money involved? Why was there a need for Hillary to go to New Square and meet with Rabbi Twersky if she had a comfortable lead in all the polls? Why did Rabbi Twersky meet with President Clinton if the votes were enough for a pardon? Did Paul Adler attend the meeting in the Oval Office? Was any of the $40 million dollars ever returned? If it wasn�t, does it have to now that they�ve been pardoned? Was the application for a subdivision for property in New Square?

Once these questions are answered, there will be a better understanding of the events that took place which led to the pardon of the four men from New Square.
                                                                        --Michael P. Weinheimer   3/4/01

Michael P. Winheimer is a fellow at the Global Freedom Institute

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