Why David Geffen Dislikes the Clintons -- Meet Leonard Peltier

President Bill Clinton's Decision Not to Pardon Leonard Peltier Lost
His Wife a Key Supporter -- and Helped Gain Barack Obama a Friend

By DAVID SCHOETZ
Feb. 22, 2007 - - The sharpest political snipes among the Democratic
2008 presidential hopefuls can be traced beyond media mogul David
Geffen to a jailed man named Leonard Peltier.

Peltier, convicted of murder in 1977 for allegedly gunning down a
pair of FBI agents in a shootout at South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation, was one of the primary reasons cited by Geffen for
jumping ship from New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign in favor
of fellow Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Lawyers have been challenging Peltier's conviction for the past 30
years. He has become a cause celebre, with critics arguing that the
government's successful prosecution was corrupt.

In 2001, Geffen, a key Democratic supporter with deep pockets and
influence among Hollywood's elite, was one of many high-profile
backers of a clemency campaign for Peltier, an American Indian
activist, during the final days of Bill Clinton's presidency.

FBI supporters, however, fought back, launching an aggressive
campaign of their own to keep a man who they believed killed two
agents behind bars. Among their tactics were full-page newspaper ads
and a march on the White House to influence Clinton's decision.

Ultimately, Peltier was left off a list of 140 people granted
presidential pardons by Clinton during his second term.

"President Clinton looked at the facts and did not act," one agent
said at the time. "That's all I've ever wanted out of this."

But the list of people who received clemency, teamed with the
continued belief by many that Peltier was wrongfully convicted, left
many angered by Clinton's decision.

"Up to the last minute, they were fully expecting that he would
receive clemency," Barry Bachrach, Peltier's attorney, told ABC News.
"But you end up seeing people like Marc Rich, a known felon, getting
clemency instead."

"There was a mass outcry," Bachrach said.

Peltier remains in a Pennsylvania prison. He is scheduled for a
parole hearing in December 2008.

Curt Goering, deputy executive director for Amnesty International in
the United States, worked on the Peltier clemency campaign and
recalls Geffen's contributions both in terms of time and money.

To him, Peltier's continued influence on Geffen does not come as a
total surprise.

"It's another indicator that his case has achieved such substantial
support from people for a long period of time," Goering said.

"The disappointment was so huge," he said. "People didn't forget and
many even resolved to redouble their efforts."

That was clearly the case in comments made by Geffen in a lightning
rod New York Times column Wednesday.

''Marc Rich getting pardoned? An oil-profiteer expatriate who left
the country rather than pay taxes or face justice?'' Geffen told
Times' columnist Maureen Dowd.

And then, referring to the Peltier case, Geffen continued, ''Yet
another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things
that they genuinely believe in.

"Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's
troubling," Geffen said.

The column, which ran a day after Geffen hosted a California
fundraiser for Obama that fetched $1.3 million and drew celebrities
including Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman, set off a day of
bitter back-and-forth between the Obama and Clinton camps.

Clinton lashed out first, blasting Obama for being hypocritical.

"He decries the politics of 'slash and burn,' and yet his chief
supporters in California are engaged in the politics of slash and
burn," said Howard Wolfson, Clinton's spokesman.

Obama returned serve, saying, "The Clintons had no problem with David
Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their
invitation in the Lincoln Bedroom."

The Clinton campaign also erroneously referred to Geffen as Obama's
"finance chair" when he actually has no official role with the campaign.

Geffen, having sparked the maelstrom, offered his own statement,
confirming the accuracy of Dowd's reporting and denying a formal
position in the Obama campaign. He also offered his "strongest
possible" support for the candidate.

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