A bit more on Attorney General nominee Eric Holder’s role in the Marc Rich pardon, from The Importance of Being Famous, by Maureen Orth, published by Macmillan in 2004:

Meanwhile, at the Justice Department, according to [Roger] Adams, the pardon attorney, “none of the regular procedures were followed.” [Marc Rich’s attorney Jack] Quinn relied primarily on his friend Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, who, at the time, was sending Quinn resumes of people on his staff and asking for his help in finding them jobs after Clinton left office. Between November 2000 and the night of January 19, Quinn wrote to and spoke with Holder several times. On January 19, Quinn told Holder he would be called by the White House counsel’s office about the pardon. Holder later testified to Congress that the opinion he gave — “neutral, leaning toward favorable” — was out of foreign policy considerations, because it would help Barak.* He now says he never thought a pardon would be seriously entertained. But at no time during this period did Holder attempt to notify anyone at the Justice Department’s Pardon Office or the Southern District of New York about the application.

*Not Barack, but Israeli politician Ehud Barak.