Scandal: Hillary Clinton’s brother got $400,000 for clemency. Sen. Clinton is “heartbroken”

A ``heartbroken'' Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Thursday she was shocked that her brother Hugh Rodham got some $400,000 for urging clemency for two felons who were pardoned by her husband, former President Clinton. But the former first lady said she was unaware of the payments to Rodham, which have subsequently been returned. Indeed, she said she knew nothing about the payments until Monday evening, and still has not spoken to her brother. ``I was very disappointed and saddened by this whole matter,'' Clinton, a Democrat, told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. ``It came as a surprise to me and it was very disturbing.'' She added that she was ``heartbroken and shocked.'' Asked if she blamed political enemies for the controversies that have dogged her since being sworn in as New York's junior senator last month, she said no, but when asked specifically whom she did blame, Clinton replied, ``I think my brother made a terrible misjudgment.'' Former President Clinton on Wednesday disclosed that two felons to whom he granted clemency on his last day in office paid large legal fees to his brother-in-law. But he denied he had prior knowledge of the payments and has insisted the money be returned. In response to questions about the latest uproar over the presidential pardons, the former first lady said, ``I did not have any involvement in the pardons that were granted or not granted and I'm just very disappointed about my brother's involvement,'' Reuters reports. The senator has consistently referred questions about the last-minute pardons to her husband's staff, and did so again on Thursday.