President Barack Obama is naming a Washington lawyer who represented a Clinton administration official tied with a fugitive financier who did business with Iran during the hostage crisis, according to the New York Times.
Obama’s choice for counsel, W. Neil Eggleston, is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis who has represented numerous government officials as an associate White House counsel for former President Bill Clinton.
Eggleston represented Cheryl D. Mills, a board member of the Clinton presidential library foundation during a congressional investigation into a white-collar criminal’s pardon and his ex-wife’s donations to the library.
According to the Times:
And in 2001, he represented Cheryl D. Mills, a board member of the Clinton presidential library foundation, during a congressional investigation into Mr. Clinton’s last-minute pardon of the fugitive financier Marc Rich, whose ex-wife had donated to the foundation.
Rich was indicted in the 1983 for violating a U.S. embargo on Iran by purchasing crude oil from the country during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Rich and his business partner were indicted on 65 different counts, including tax evasion. Clinton pardoned Rich hours before he left office in January 2001.