Federal prosecutors are investigating whether former US president Mr Bill Clinton commuted the fraud sentences of four Hasidic Jewish leaders from New York as payback for their community's support for his wife's Senate race, the Washington Postreported today.
The four leaders of the tightly-knit New Square community were convicted in 1999 of stealing more than 30 million in government funds. They received prison sentences ranging from 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 years.
Mr Clinton commuted their sentences to 24 to 30 months, the Postsaid.
New Square residents voted almost unanimously for Ms Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York's Senate race last November, while nearby Hasidic communities voted just as overwhelmingly for her Republican opponent, former representative Mr Rick Lazio.
Six weeks after the election, the Clintons held a 45-minute meeting at the White House with the leader of the ultra-orthodox New Square community, Grand Rabbi David Twersky, who lobbied for clemency for the four men, the Postreported.