Mr. Podesta recalled that he was first contacted about the Rich pardon last December by Peter Kadzik, a friend and lawyer whose firm had represented Mr. Rich in his criminal case.
Arianna Huffington, the author and columnist, who has written critically about the Rich pardon, sold her house to Ms. Dozoretz and her husband several years ago.
My everybody-did-it defense wasn't doing the trick, and blaming the Jews for the Rich pardon on the Op-Ed page of The Times kind of backfired.
Mr. Quinn told the House panel that on the afternoon of Jan . 20 after the pardon had been issued and Mr. Clinton was no longer president, Ms. Dozoretz called him about the Rich pardon.
But interviews and an examination of Congressional records show that Mr. Holder, who at the time of the pardon was the deputy attorney general, was more deeply involved in the Rich pardon than his supporters acknowledge.
The Rich pardon will be the subject of scrutiny in the Senate on Wednesday when Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, is scheduled to hold a judiciary subcommittee hearing on clemency issues.
Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview on Monday that Mr. Holder's role in the Rich pardon would be "a big question" at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Mr. Ross, who remained involved in Mr. Clinton's Middle East peace efforts until the final days of the administration, said that he had not been asked about the Rich pardon by the president.
Mr. Clinton has steadfastly insisted that he decided to grant the Rich pardon on the merits and that his decision had nothing to do with donations made or promised to his library.
John C. Coffee Jr., a law professor at Columbia University who is an expert on white-collar crime, said: "She was the one person who could credibly look at the Rich pardon without it appearing to be a political witch hunt.
Both from the left and right, blogs are abubble, energized by news reports that Mr. Holder was more deeply involved in the Rich pardon than Mr. Holder's supporters acknowledge.
