So far she has refused to testify on the grounds that she might incriminate herself.
Other issues under scrutiny are the means employed by Rich and his US lawyer Jack Quinn to orchestrate the behind-the-scenes lobbying which led to the pardon and, in particular, how the justice department and White's office were kept in ignorance of it.
Quinn says he focused his main effort on Rich's behalf by using his own access to the White House as a former counsel there and by encouraging prominent Israelis to pressure Clinton.
The former head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Avner Azulay, said that former prime ministers Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres both spoke personally to Clinton about Rich's proposed pardon.
Azulay said he believed Clinton granted the pardon because of Rich's role in helping Jews get out of Ethiopia and Yemen.
The presidential pardon power is enshrined in the constitution. In all, Clinton issued 395 pardons in eight years, compared with 393 issued by Ronald Reagan in his two White House terms.
Meanwhile, three of Clinton's closest White House aides will be subpoenaed for the next House hearing into Rich's pardon, officials said.
The panel on Thursday asked the three aides -- former chief of staff John Podesta, lawyer Beth Nolan and adviser Bruce Lindsey -- to testify at their first hearing last week, but none of them appeared. This time the committee plans to issue subpoenas to ensure their presence at the March 1 hearing, officials said.
The questioning will reach into the Bush administration this time, a committee source said, with the committee likely to call Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, one of Rich's former lawyers.
The House Government Reform Committee also asked Clinton and Rich to release all their aides and lawyers from any executive privilege so they can testify at the committee's March 1 hearing without betraying any confidentiality oaths.
"We're also asking ... Rich, if he has nothing to hide, to let his counsel speak freely and that goes for the documents that have been claimed by them as well," committee spokesman Mark Corello said.



