Global Intelligence Update 7/27/98 "There is no issue on which we have been more consistently wrong than on the ability of United States President Bill Clinton to weather the endless barrage of charges and accusations that he has faced.. While it is still not clear that his Presidency will end in resignation or impeachment, it does appear to us that events are moving forward in such a way as to force the President to devote the bulk of his remaining time in office to defending himself. As a consequence, his ability to conduct foreign policy will be hampered. The consequences of an American administration absorbed in an internal legal and political crisis must now be factored into the global equation.The one exception to the U.S.'s immunity to the repercussions of political scandal is foreign policy, which is the constitutional responsibility of the President and which cannot be transferred. .The deepest problem will come in China and throughout Asia. The campaign finance probe focuses on the role of China, and particularly of governmen and army officials, in passing money to the United States. This will inevitably strain U.S.-Chinese relations, along with U.S.-Indonesian relations. It may also have domestic Chinese political implications. We note, for example, that the Chinese government last week ordered the People's Liberation Army to get out of commerce and focus on ilitary affairs. While undoubtedly deriving from domestic concerns, we wonder the extent to which anticipation of American legal processes contributed to the decision. Whatever the consequences within internal Chinese politics, it is still clear that the campaign finance investigation will increase anti- Asian feeling in the United States at the same time that the Asian financial system will be undergoing its most severe tests. .."

Trie channeled more than $1.2 million to the DNC and to President Clinton's legal defense fund, all of which was returned on the suspicion it was foreign-tainted. At least $1 million was wired to Trie from Asian banks. Keshi Zhan, who earns $22,408 annually as a municipal employee was called Trie's social secretary. Her mother, Ying Qun Ma, is a retired senior Chinese government official and her father, Fan Zhan, has been a professor of Russian linguistics at prestigious Beijing University. Keshi Zhan held a joint bank account with Trie and Shao Zhengkang, a senior executive of a corporation owned by the Chinese State Council, the government's highest administrative body. She also had signatory authority over funds held by Ng Lap Seng, a Macao-based business partner of Trie's, that were used to make political contributions to the Democratic National Committee. A deposit of $12,500 from a Trie-Ng account was made to the joint Trie-Zhan-Shao account in February 1996, on the same day, Zhan made a $12,500 contribution to the DNC with funds from the Trie-Zhan-Shao account. Shao is a high-ranking officer of China Everbright in Hong Kong and Beijing, which is wholly owned by the Chinese State Council. Zhan shared another joint account on behalf of Trie with Shao and Su Yonghi, a former Chinese Embassy attache in Washington. Democrats on the investigating committee refused to grant immunity to Keshi Zhan for her testimony.

Far Eastern Economic Review quotes House Government Reform and Oversight Committee sources as saying Chinese money came in the form of a $3,000 check written by the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, as a partial reimbursement for a $5,000 contribution from Sioeng to Wong's campaign, payable to Ted Sioeng, an Indonesian businessman who gave $400,000 to the Democratic National Committee during the 1996 election cycle. Committee investigators said the FBI intercepted telephone calls from the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, mentioning Sioeng and plans to influence American elections Visa applications for investigators to meet with Sioeng in Hong Kong have been denied by the Chinese government.

Government Reform and Oversight Committee investigators may present evidence that Sioeng helped to get the daughter of a former Chinese consul-general in Los Angeles, Zhou Wenzhang, into the little-known Iowa Wesleyan College on a full scholarship. Sioeng has been on the board of trustees of the college since 1994. Since then, many of his contacts in Asia have obtained honorary degrees from the college. Tsang Hin-chi, chairman of Hong Kong-listed clothing-maker and retail-giant Goldlion Holdings may be investigated because of extensive links between himself and Sioeng in the U.S. and Asia. Tsang has been a member of the standing committee of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, since 1994 and is one of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-China figures. His company derives 80% of its revenue from mainland China. Tsang and Sioeng have known each other at least since 1994. In April of that year, Sioeng arranged for Tsang to be granted an honorary doctorate from Iowa Wesleyan. Sioeng's Belize-based SS Group owns 24% of a $7 million cigarette manufacturing and marketing venture that Goldlion set up with the government of Hainan province in 1995. In 1996, Sioeng and his daughter became part-owners and directors of Goldlion's U.S. subsidiary, Goldlion International. The company opened a store inside Sioeng's Hollywood Metropolitan Hotel in early 1996 and the store was managed by Tsang's eldest son, Jimmy. It folded after a few months and Sioeng's stake in Goldlion International was bought out by Goldlion. Jimmy Tsang and his wife, Jean Lim, attended a major DNC fund-raiser in Washington with Sioeng in February 1996.

Strangely, Senator Glenn offered to negotiate an immunity agreement on behalf of John Huang. And in Senate Campaign Finance Hearing, Senator Robert Toricelli who received donations from John Huang said "I find the fact that Mr. Huang would maintain an arrangement where he would make phone calls outside the Department of Commerce not in and of itself suspicious." John Huang had top secret clearance at Commerce and would go across the street to an office run by Riady partner, Stephens' of Little Rock - for documents, phone, fax, etc. Senate Campaign Finance Hearing committee member, Senator Carl Levin received donations from John Huang. Senate Minority Leader, Tom Daschle who accepted donations from Maria Hsia and who personally recommended John Huang to be placed in Commerce, was instrumental in imposing a fixed deadline on the Senate Campaign Finance Hearings. After Senator Thompson announced in November 1997 that he was suspending the public hearings, the FBI obtained evidence that the Ministry of State Security in Beijing - boasted that it had been successful in "thwarting" the inquiry.

8/3/98 The Michael Reagan Information Exchange Mary Mostert "Senator Hatch " Pledges Leniency if Clinton Tells the Truth . " That does not really describe what the man who would play a key role in an impeachment trial actually said yesterday on Meet the Press . What he said was , " If he comes forth , and tells it [ the truth ] , and does it in the right way , and there aren ' t a lot of other factors to cause the Congress to say this man is unfit for the presidency and should be impeached , then I think the president would have a reasonable chance of getting through this . ".Something hasn't surfaced yet. Whatever it is I strongly suspect that it's far more serious than Clinton merely committing perjury over his sex exploits.The Lippo Company controls the largest producing low- sulfur coalmine in the world. Low sulfur coal is in huge demand by energy producing companies trying to comply with environmental mandates. The only other easily accessible large deposit of environmentally friendly low sulfur coal is in Utah. But, a mere one month before the large contributions to the Clinton Campaign from the Lippo group were reported, Clinton suddenly, with no advance discussion, even with the Democrat Congressman in whose district the property lay, designated 1.7 million acres which contained the coal "a national monument." . I rather suspect that Clinton will do whatever he thinks he has to do to keep the Congress from finding out what ELSE he promised Lippo, besides the squelching of their competition from Utah..With the Indonesian currency at about 25% of what it was when Clinton was getting contributions for his campaign from them, their stock market mostly dead and unemployment growing rapidly, watch for efforts by Clinton to repay them with US Taxpayer funds funneled through the IMF ."

7/14/98 AP Tom Raum ".Lott told the Senate that investigators had unearthed "serious and credible charges of direct Chinese financing'' of 1996 Democratic campaigns. While declining to elaborate on the "new information,'' Lott said it "should remove all resistance to naming an independent counsel.'' ."

Summarized from WorldNetdaily 7/14/98 Charles Smithe re: Ron Brown's "Indonesia Advocacy Projects" document obtained via the Freedom of Information Act: Involved in the privately held Indonesian Paiton Power Plant (two 600 million watt, coal fired, plants) in the US led consortium was Mission Energy (a partner of Lippo Group part owned by Mochtar Riady,) Mitsui & Co., Ltd. of Japan, General Electric Capital Corporation of the U.S., and P.T. Batu Hitam Perkasa,. U.S. Ambassador Barry worked directly with Executive Director of the Asian Development Bank, Linda Yang, to obtain financial support despite the questions of kick-backs to Suharto. In fact, the document states that Ms. Yang was "doing all she can" to help Indonesia obtain the financing for Paiton. In the end, the Suharto corruption quietly killed the ADB financing and the Asian Development Bank refused to back the deal. However, Lippo partner Mission Energy and the Suharto family successfully got the U.S. Government to officially back the project. Thus in 1995, the Brown led Commerce Department found financing for Paiton through the U.S. taxpayer. In April, 1995, $1.82 billion in limited recourse project debt was provided to Paiton by The Export-Import Bank of Japan, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation ("OPIC") of the United States, and eight commercial banks. The Paiton power plant was designed to burn "low-sulfur Indonesian coal". In 1996 President Clinton created the 1.7 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, placing off-limits the world's largest deposit of low-sulfur coal. The Lippo group is the primary owner of the only other supply of low-sulfur coal in the world, located in Indonesia. Clinton's move left the only remaining low-sulfur coal supply in Lippo hands, creating a Riady monopoly. The move vastly increased the dollar value of Riady's low-sulfur coal reserves in a single stroke of Clinton's pen. The Indonesian coal reserves, co-incidentally, just happen to be located close to the U.S. taxpayer backed Paiton power plant.

Summarized from WorldNetdaily 7/14/98 Charles Smithe re: Ron Brown's "Indonesia Advocacy Projects" document obtained via the Freedom of Information Act: In 1997 the Commerce Department was forced in court by Judicial Watch to reveal that the Lippo Group successfully gained official U.S. support for a power project in Fujian, China. The controlling partners in the project included Mission Energy, Bechtel Enterprises and Lippo. Handwritten notes and a Commerce e-mail revealed that Mission Energy representatives met with Commerce officials to discuss the project and that the Lippo Group specifically was mentioned. The Lippo-Mission-Bechtel project also makes use of low-sulfur coal.

Summarized from WorldNetdaily 7/14/98 Charles Smithe re: Ron Brown's "Indonesia Advocacy Projects" document obtained via the Freedom of Information Act: In August, 1994, the Ron Brown trade trip to China included support for a third Lippo backed power project in China with the Arkansas-based Entergy Corp., yet another large Clinton contributor. Former DNC fund-raisers Ira Sockowitz and John Huang worked for Brown in 1994 at the Commerce Department and were charged by Brown to "vet" or check out the Entergy project in China.

Summarized from WorldNetdaily 7/14/98 Charles Smithe re: Ron Brown's "Indonesia Advocacy Projects" document obtained via the Freedom of Information Act: The connections between Riady and Clinton have a much more sinister theme than coal monopolies and taxpayer backed power plants in the middle of Asia. Testimony before Senator Thompson's committee last year revealed Moctar Riady's involvement in Chinese espionage. Testimony revealed the Lippo Group is in fact a joint venture of China Resources, a trading and holding company "wholly owned" by the Chinese communist government and used as a front for Chinese espionage operations. China Resources investments in Lippo expanded rapidly during the Clinton administration, coinciding with illegal six-figure Lippo contributions to his 1996 re-election. Many of those illegal donations originated with former Lippo employee John Huang. Huang also had direct access to President Clinton and a secret clearance.

Jewish World Review Linda Chavez 9/8/98 "What few people believed even weeks ago -- that a president could face impeachment because of a sex scandal -- now seems probable. And, ironically, it's the Democrats who will try to keep the focus narrowly on the Lewinsky matter. Even those Democrats willing to dump Clinton overboard aren't anxious to have an impeachment investigation look too closely at whether Chinese communists helped finance the president's re-election or whether administration and Democrat Party officials were trading national security secrets and policy favors for campaign cash.."

Washington Post 9/21/98 George Lardner Jr "Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung set up fake businesses in California with at least a half-dozen Chinese executives to make it easier for them to get U.S. visas, according to testimony and records compiled by House Republican investigators. Chung brought most of the executives, who included the offspring of two retired Chinese generals, to fund-raisers for the Clinton-Gore 1996 reelection effort. Irene Wu, Chung's top assistant from 1995 to 1997, said in a deposition to the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee that "all of these companies" were set up to facilitate travel to the United States by the Chinese business officials and eventually help them establish permanent residency here. The companies engaged in no real business activity, Wu said in her July 28 deposition. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Russ Bergeron said setting up dummy companies to acquire visas is a "growing fraud," particularly in faraway countries such as China. He said it involves "all kinds of scams," including bogus business cards, letterheads for nonexistent companies, phony tax returns and fake photos of business locations.."

11/17/98 from the Year of the Rat ".In Jakarta, James Riady likes to brag about where he was on the afternoon of April 19, 1993. On that day 80 members of the branch debate in religious cult or holed up in their compound outside of Waco, Texas, when it was shattered by a tank led assault. By the time the FBI and the Treasury's Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents had completed their work, 17 American children had burned to death. As might be expected, the White House was a busy place that afternoon, and the president was preoccupied. Bill Clinton was not too distracted, however, to chat with his leading contributors James Riady, John Huang, and Mark Grobmeyer in his little study off the Oval Office*. James Riady later told Indonesian diplomats that, during their chat, a television in the corner showed the Waco compound burning "over and over" as CNN repeated its coverage. Bill Clinton even took time to show his visitors the White House Situation Room, then on Full Alert **. White House logs confirm that James Riady and his companion were in the presidential offices (West Named) of the White House that day. They apparently also dropped and on Robert Rubin, now Secretary of the treasury, who was then a White House economics official***. ."

From the affidavit of Nolanda Hill: ".7. After the elections of 1994, and the Democrats' loss of Congress, I became aware, through my discussions with Ron, that the trade missions were being used as a fundraising tool for the upcoming Clinton-Gore presidential campaign and the Democratic Party. Specifically, Ron told me that domestic companies were being solicited to donate large sums of money in exchange for their selection to participate on trade missions of the Commerce Department. Ron expressed to me his displeasure that the purpose of the Commerce trade missions had been and were being perverted at the direction of The White House.

From the affidavit of Nolanda Hill: ".11. In early 1996, Ron showed me a packet of documents, about 1 inch thick, which he removed from his ostrich skin portfolio. Ron told me that these documents had been provided to him from Commerce Department files as part of the collection efforts to produce documents to Judicial Watch in this case. I reviewed the top five or six documents, which were on Commerce Department letterhead under the signature of Melissa Moss of the Office of Business Liaison. What I reviewed comprised letters of Ms. Moss to trade mission participants, each of which specifically referenced a substantial financial contribution to the Democratic National Committee (DNC).."

Los Angeles Times 4/4/99 William Rempel, Henry Weinstein, Alan Miller "...By 1994, Chung was trading money for access to the highest levels of the U.S. government. Chung "got caught up in this system," his attorney, Sun, told a federal judge just before he was sentenced last December. It was Chung's way of opening doors and getting to "hobnob with the big boys and girls." U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real in Los Angeles expressed skepticism at claims made by DNC officials that they had no idea Chung's money might have had foreign origins. He said if they "didn't know what was going on, they are the dumbest politicians" in his experience. Real then sentenced Chung to community service instead of a prison term...."

Los Angeles Times 4/4/99 William Rempel, Henry Weinstein, Alan Miller "...Ji works directly for Xiong Guangkai, the deputy chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army, who supervises all intelligence and foreign policy for the army. Xiong is a politically powerful figure in China and a close ally of Chinese President Jiang Zemin...."

4/4/99 Ed and Bill (Year of the Rat authors) "...We believe that Bill Remple, Henry Weinstein and Alan Miller have done a major service through their long frontpage article in today's Los Angeles Times. It's posted elsewhere by Rodger Schultz. Freepers should particularlty notice the reference to General Xiong Guangkai. He is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence and is the same guy who threatened to incinerate Los Angeles. He is also the person who ran provocation operations against the students at Tiananmen. For example, he tried to plant weapons on them toshow they were part of an armed insurrection. Xiong is also a very frequent visitor to the United States. He sneaks in and out so often he almost qualifies for a green card! Xiong is also the PLA master behind the US-PRC military to military relationship. Freepers should also notice the reference to Lt. Col. Liu telling Chung that she and General Ji are relying on 'others to funnell funds to Democratic campaigns.' What 'others'? What 'Democratic campaigns'? Who else is tainted? Was it knowing? If you look at the chart on page 219, you will see all the money flows coming from PRC-related sources. It makes a kind of inverted triangle. We are now beginning to suspect that it should more of a diamond shape. That is, there should be lines going up from the boxes that read 'PLA' or 'PLA-Intelligence' etc to a single point and that single point would be the master spy, General Xiong Guangkai. Ed and Bill ..."

Los Angeles Times 4/4/99 William Rempel, Henry Weinstein, Alan Miller "...Like Liu, Ji is the offspring of a politically prominent father. Ji Pengfei served as China's foreign minister from 1972 to 1974 and later as a vice chairman of the National People's Congress. The elder Ji also supervised negotiations over the future of Hong Kong and helped draft the Basic Law under which Hong Kong is ruled. More significantly, the younger Ji is head of Qingbaobu, the wing of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army that is in charge of military intelligence. His responsibilities also include military intelligence in Hong Kong. Gen. Ji, who is in his mid-50s, was promoted to this post in 1992 during a closed five-day session of the Central Military Commission chaired at the time by future President Jiang. Ji has kept a low profile since that time and seldom appears in news accounts...."

4/4/99 AP/LA Times "....Chung and Ji were brought together by Liu Chaoying, who was a Chung business partner as well as a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army, the Times said. Liu did not respond Friday to questions sent by the Times to her office in Hong Kong. In their first meeting in August 1996, Chung said, he declined Ji's money but the general said he was already engaged in similar transactions with others serving as conduits for Chinese funds to support Clinton's reelection. Within a few days, Liu deposited $300,000 into Chung's Hong Kong bank account, telling him it was from Ji, sources told the newspaper. Federal election records show that five weeks after receiving the money, Chung donated $35,000 in three checks to the Democratic National Committee. The remaining funds went to one of Chung's California bank accounts but it is not known how that money was used...."

Los Angeles Times 4/4/99 William Rempel, Henry Weinstein Alan Miller "...The chief of China's military intelligence secretly directed funds from Beijing to help reelect President Clinton in 1996, former Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung has told federal investigators. Chung says he met three times with the intelligence official, Gen. Ji Shengde, who ordered $300,000 deposited into the Torrance, Calif., businessman's bank account to subsidize campaign donations intended for Clinton, according to sources familiar with Chung's sealed statements to federal prosecutors. "We like your president," Ji said, according to sources familiar with Chung's grand jury testimony. Chung testified that he was introduced to the intelligence chief by the daughter of China's retired senior military officer..... Chung told investigators that he and Ji were brought together by Liu Chaoying, the daughter of retired Gen. Liu Huaqing. At the time, she was a Chung business partner as well as a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army...Chung was introduced to Ji by Liu on Aug. 11, 1996, in Hong Kong. Chung told investigators that Ji's rank and government affiliation were not immediately apparent and that the general used a false name during that initial encounter. During this meeting Ji talked about providing money to help the Clinton campaign, Chung told investigators. Ji said he was going to provide some funds for Liu to give to Chung, sources familiar with Chung's grand jury testimony said. Chung told federal investigators that he tried to tell Liu outside the meeting that he didn't want Ji's money. Liu, in turn, attempted to reassure Chung by telling him that they were engaged in similar transactions with others serving as conduits for Chinese funds to support Clinton's reelection. Within a couple of days, Liu moved $300,000 into Chung's Hong Kong bank account. She told him it was from Ji. By that time, Chung was aware of Ji's position and decided he could not refuse the money, according to his account to investigators. After Ji's initial meeting with Chung, the two men joined Liu on another occasion. Details from that session could not be obtained. A third encounter took place in Beijing in late September 1996. Chung carried a congratulatory letter to a Beijing University student from Education Secretary Richard W. Riley and sought Liu's help in locating the student. Liu arrived at Chung's hotel with Ji. No further details about that meeting were available...."

Los Angeles Times 4/4/99 William Rempel, Henry Weinstein Alan Miller "...Soon after returning home from Hong Kong and his meeting with Ji, Chung hired the Chinese intelligence chief's son, then a University of California at Los Angeles student, to work at his Torrance fax business in late 1996.... Investigators were given access to Chung's Hong Kong bank records to help trace the origin of the $300,000 deposit. Most of the money never got to the Democratic Party on Clinton's behalf. Chung has told investigators that Liu said she and Ji also were relying on others to funnel funds into Democratic campaigns...."

Washington Weekly 4/5/99 Marvin Lee "...On November 8, 1995, at a presidential luncheon at the "Car Barn" in Georgetown, an unusual constellation of guests were in attendance: Charlie Trie, Ng Lap Seng and Eric Green met Richard Mays and Eric Wynn. Also attending was then-Commerce Secretary Ron Brown who addressed the assembled people as "The Trie Team," and said that "big business helps us everywhere." What is "The Trie Team"? We know from Timperlake & Triplett's book "Year of the Rat" that Trie and Lap Seng are members of the "Four Seasons" Triad gang of Chinese organized crime. We also know that Trie is a long-time friend of Bill Clinton. Another long-time friend of Clinton is Richard Mays, a Little Rock lawyer whose name has appeared in the Whitewater and tainted blood scandals as well as the investigation into the death of White House Deputy Counsel Vince Foster. He is also a fundraiser for Clinton who has repeatedly solicited money from people reported by the Washington Post to be tied to U.S. organized crime: Eric Wynn and Richard Tienken. Mays has also successfully raised campaign contributions from Charlie Trie. The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee during its Campaign Finance investigation obtained a video tape of the Car Barn event in Georgetown. During a recently released deposition of Richard Mays, David A. Kass, Investigative Counsel for the Committee asked about the Car Barn event. Mays did not seem comfortable testifying about the event that was co-chaired by himself and Charlie Trie, and had no explanation for why participants apparently had tried to hide photos from the event showing President Clinton and several top DNC officials socializing with members of U.S. and Chinese organized crime. Mays admitted during the deposition to giving Eric Wynn "free legal advice." Mays left for Africa when the Committee later subpoenaed him to testify during Campaign Finance hearings....What is the link between U.S. and Chinese organized crime? The Car Barn event may be providing the answer. It was a fundraising event. Could it be that U.S. and Chinese organized crime serve as one of the funnels of cash between the Chinese military and the Clinton administration? The Chinese military - Lt. Colonel Liu Chaoying - Johnny Chung - White House channel could not possibly have paid for all the military technology obtained from the Clinton administration by the People's Liberation Army...."

CNN 4/6/99 Freeper drib "…In the midst of reporting the same old things about Kosovo, CNN reported some new findings on Chinagate. Apparently there is a Chinese military official that has signed a confession that the Chinese Military DID in fact contribute to Clinton's campaign, and that the money did not come from Buddists (or wherever) …"

Rueters 4/5/99 "…An adviser to a California company was charged Tuesday with violating federal election law in 1996 by giving the Democratic Party a $150,000 check drawn from an account funded by a South Korean corporation. The Justice Department said Robert Lee, 49, a consultant to a fledgling development company, was charged in federal court in Los Angeles with a misdemeanor violation. Under the law, foreign contributions to U.S. elections are prohibited. According to court documents, Lee was working for K&L International Partners Inc., which had bid on a project in Inglewood, California…."

World Net Daily through Softwar.net 4/13/99 through E-Mail Alert "...According to documents provided by the Commerce Dept., White House official Robert Rubin and U.S. Trade Rep. Ambassador Celia Barshesky were both involved in policy meetings with the CSPP. A May 1994 "CONFIDENTIAL" letter to Ron Brown, partially withheld by the Commerce Dept., states the CSPP held a meeting with Brown, "Robert Rubin" and "Amb. Barshesky" where super-computer exports to China and Russia were discussed. However, Rubin was soliciting campaign donations from CSPP members at the same time. In November 1994, DNC million dollar donor Sanford Robertson wrote a letter to President Clinton, thanking him for the August 1994 trade trip to China and he included a "P.S." about Robert Rubin. Robertson wrote to Clinton the smoking gun of Chinagate, a letter directly implicating the President in trade trips in exchange for money. The Robertson letter states "PS - Bob Rubin came to our home on Thursday for a Dianne Feinstein dinner, which raised over $100,000 for her campaign. Bob, of course, turned out the financial community and Silicon Valley."..."

Washington Times 4/9/99 Jerry Seper "...Chinese military intelligence officers diverted illegal campaign donations to the Clinton-Gore Re-Election Committee through a Hong Kong bank controlled by an Indonesian family with long-standing ties to President Clinton, authorities said. Federal law enforcement officials, congressional investigators and others said several hundred thousand dollars in cash went to the campaign through several emissaries handpicked by the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The money, the sources said, originated in Beijing and initially was routed by the PLA to China Resources Holding Company Ltd. in Hong Kong. From there, it was transferred to the Hong Kong Chinese Bank -- jointly owned by the Chinese government and Lippo Group, a multibillion-dollar Indonesian conglomerate owned by longtime Clinton supporters Mochtar and James Riady, the sources said. Eventually, the cash was moved to other banks, then wired to the emissaries, who distributed it to the Clinton-Gore campaign U.S. intelligence officials believe the PLA bought into the Hong Kong bank after Mr. Clinton's 1992 election as a way of gaining access to the president through the Riady family, which has been a supporter of Mr. Clinton since he was governor of Arkansas...."

Washington Times 4/9/99 Jerry Seper "...Johnny Chung, a California businessman who gave more than $350,000 to the Democratic Party, has linked Democratic fund-raisers John Huang and Charles Yah Lin Trie to the PLA fund-raising scheme in grand jury testimony and sworn statements as part of a plea agreement in a Justice Department probe. Chung, an admitted bagman for Chinese intelligence, testified that his former business partner, Liu Chao-ying, a Chinese aerospace executive and lieutenant colonel in the PLA, told him Mr. Trie and Mr. Huang were "directed in their fund-raising activities by the Chinese government."..."

Washington Times 4/9/99 Jerry Seper "...At least one House committee is investigating the leadership of China Resources, based on preliminary information showing that top PLA officers have assumed key positions with the firm to continue efforts to influence U.S. policy on several issues. Of particular concern, the sources said, is a possible connection between China Resources and the PLA's chief military intelligence officer, Gen. Ji Shengde, who -- according to Chung's grand jury testimony -- ordered that $300,000 be transferred to Chung for donations to the Democratic Party. That transfer -- first reported by the Los Angeles Times -- took place after Chung personally met with Gen. Ji in Hong Kong in a meeting arranged by Miss Liu. The sources said Chung testified that Gen. Ji told him he already was engaged in similar transactions with others serving as conduits for Chinese money for Mr. Clinton. The cash eventually was wired to Chung's account at the Overseas Trust Bank in Hong Kong. He gave $35,000 to the Democratic National Committee. The rest was moved to a separate account at a California bank. It is not clear how it was used...."

Washington Times 4/9/99 Jerry Seper "...Lippo denies any wrongdoing in its relationship with the president, although the sources said the PLA was counting on the Riadys' ties to Mr. Clinton for access of its own. They said the PLA knew the Riadys' Worthen National Bank in Little Rock, Ark., had given Mr. Clinton a multimillion-dollar loan to get through the 1992 presidential election, and had handed over $100,000 to former Associate Attorney General Webster L. Hubbell after he quit the Justice Department and before he pleaded guilty to two Whitewater felonies. Lippo sold a 15 percent interest in its Hong Kong bank to China Resources in 1993, four days after Mr. Clinton's 1992 election victory. By July 1992, the company had sold off half the bank to China Resources in what U.S. authorities believe was a continuing effort by the PLA to cash in on the Riadys' relationship with Mr. Clinton. China Resources paid what U.S. intelligence officials said was a huge premium over the net asset value of the bank, giving Lippo a profit of $164 million...."

Washington Times 4/9/99 Jerry Seper "...A key player in the suspected plot appears to be Mr. Huang, a former Lippo employee, Commerce Department official and Democratic National Committee fund-raiser, who served as vice president of the Hong Kong bank from 1985 to 1986. When Mr. Huang left Lippo to join Commerce, he received a $780,000 bonus. China Resources, according to the sources, was used by the Chinese government as a cover for its spying activities. Owned by the PLA, Chinese military intelligence officials are said to be free to penetrate its operations for economic espionage. More recently, it has invested in several Lippo ventures within Indonesia. ..."

www.scmp.com 4/9/99 Reuters Freeper Thanatos "...The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) says it is attracting 1,000 recruits a day, including girls as young as 16, but admits it also uses press-gangs. A KLA officer in charge of 150 troops on the Albanian border said young ethnic Albanians expelled at gunpoint from their homes in Kosovo were queueing to join up. Gjejnaze Sula, a doctor who had been working with a US aid charity, left home to swell the KLA's ranks after a Serbian neighbour told her mother she was on a hit list...."

www.scmp.com 4/9/99 Reuters Freeper Thanatos "...Recent US polls may show public support for using Nato ground troops in Kosovo is growing - but proving that would have been difficult in the rural western Pennsylvania town of Evans City on Wednesday night. Saying he felt ambiguous about expanding Nato's war against Yugoslavia to include ground troops, Republican Representative Phil English asked people at a town hall meeting for their opinions. Their comments and a show of hands made it clear they did not want to see US soldiers advancing and retreating over Yugoslav terrain. "I haven't been given the argument I need to support ground troops," Mr English told the gathering of 55 residents. But he said he also understood the argument that not using such troops would hinder Nato from driving Serbian forces out of Kosovo..."

Stratfor 4/9/99 "...1920 GMT, 990409 - Reports coming from the G-8 meeting in Dresden appear to have reached an important turning point. The G-8 appears to be softening on a key demand that NATO troops be permitted to enter and control Kosovo as part of any agreement. The G-8 has shifted from the NATO formula to a broader international force. This will allay a critical Serbian fear, which is that the NATO force would be used as a cover for Kosovo's secession. An international force, including Greeks, Italians and Russians would permit supervision of a cease-fire and settlement without the political implications feared by the Serbs. Further G-8 meetings will be held, but if this shift holds, the possibility for a cease-fire in the next few days is substantial. It is clear to us that the Italians and probably the Germans are now insisting on an end to the conflict...."

The New York Times 4/9/99 Thomas Friedman "...Boy, I sure hope the Clinton team loses this war in Kosovo, because if it wins, there will be no one to pick up the Nobel Peace Prize. If I read The Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal correctly, everyone in this Administration has already blamed everyone else in this Administration for failure in Kosovo. Reading the front pages, one finds that the Joint Chiefs blame Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for dragging them into a morass. The State Department blames the Pentagon and the NATO allies, the C.I.A. says it predicted the war would go badly, the Vice President is worried that it's going to sink his election chances, the Congressional Democrats want to dump the whole Clinton foreign policy team for failing to anticipate Serbian behavior, and the Republicans don't know what they want but they all agree it's Bill Clinton's fault. Talk about turbo finger-pointing. You don't even have to leave this Administration and write your memoirs to betray it -- now you can do it on the job...."

Wall Street Journal 4/9/99 David Cloud Phil Kuntz "...Even as Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji visits President Clinton here, the steam is going out of one of their biggest problems: the federal investigation into whether China hatched an elaborate plot to funnel money into the Clinton-Gore 1996 re-election effort. Justice Department and congressional investigators have uncovered significant evidence that funds from China wound up in Democratic National Committee coffers. But law-enforcement officials think the evidence more strongly suggests uncoordinated efforts by business entrepreneurs who have prominent party or government positions, rather than a Chinese government plot. Even if there were such a plot, law-enforcement officials now seem to have concluded that there is little point in charging those responsible in China, because there is little chance they would ever be turned over to U.S. custody. That leaves the matter in the hands of U.S. counterintelligence officials... Sen. Thompson is especially scornful of skepticism by law-enforcement officials about what his committee dubbed the "China Plan" to funnel money to the Clinton campaign. He concedes that there is no evidence indicating that each step of the alleged conspiracy was directed by Chinese President Ziang Zemin. But he adds, "We know how the Chinese government operates -- through various companies. Practically everything is the government over there." ....But prosecutors have run into unexpected problems in two of the major cases, those of Little Rock, Ark., businessman Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie and Los Angeles immigration consultant Maria Hsia, both Democratic fund-raisers. Federal District Judge Paul Friedman has dismissed several counts against both of them, ruling that U.S. law doesn't prohibit foreigners from contributing "soft money" -- that is, unregulated donations to help build up political parties -- as it does "hard money" used to directly influence an election. He also has thrown out charges alleging the defendants caused false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission..... The biggest remaining mystery of the case is whether DNC fund-raiser John Huang, whose attempts to tap Asian-American donors helped to ignite the scandal, will ever be charged. In seclusion since the first days of the scandal, Mr. Huang may soon be heard from again: Judicial Watch, a conservative group with a number of civil suits pending against the Clinton administration, has subpoenaed him to appear next week to give a deposition in a related suit it has filed against the Clinton administration...."

RNC.org 4/99 "...Furthermore, several of the DNC's largest campaign donors, solicited by DNC vice chairman fund-raiser John Huang, funneled nearly a half-million dollars into at least six state Democrat parties in 1996, according to state and party records. Totaling at least $482,500, the donations showed even broader involvement by a handful of fat-cat dollar party donors in financing the 1996 elections. Donations solicited by Huang ended up in Michigan, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, Florida and Illinois. (Source: The Washington Post, 1/26/97) ....Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak and her sister-in-law Duangnet Kronenberg were indicted by a U.S. District Court. Kanchanalak's husband Jeb and mother-in-law Praitun Kanchanalak were named as unindicted co-conspirators. They were charged with funneling money to the DNC and Democrat state parties in California, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. (Source: The Chattanooga Times, 7/14/98) ....A review by the Los Angeles Times of state campaign finance records showed that many of the same people connected to improper contributions to national campaign funds - along with their business associates and relatives - funneled money to California state figures. Among the largest state contributions to the California State Democrat Party from figures involved in the federal campaign finance controversy was $54,500 in checks from Duagnet Kronenberg ($30,000) and P. Kanchanalak ($24,500), both of McLean, Virginia. In both instances, the DNC directed the money to California. (Source: Los Angeles Times, 4/2/97) .... Pennsylvania Four prominent Asian-Americans, at the center of the political money scandal, funneled $895,000 into the Pennsylvania State Democrat Party. At the urging of John Huang, one of the largest donations, $25,000, came from Pauline Kanchanalak. Kanchanalak's sister-in-law, Duagnet Kronenberg also, gave $25,000. Sen Jong Hsui contributed $20,000, and C. Joseph Giroir Jr. from Little Rock Arkansas gave another $25,000. (Source: Philadelphia Daily News, 1/29/97) ..."

Washington Post 4/9/99 Steven Mufson "…William Triplett, a longtime congressional staff member, had spent Wednesday morning doing some spring cleaning, doing some research on Chinese nuclear spying and watching President Clinton give a speech that suggested some of China's critics are Cold Warriors looking for a new enemy in the post-Soviet world. "I'm not a warmonger looking for an enemy," countered Triplett. "I've got real people pointing nuclear weapons at the United States." …. "My friends and I fight the good fight when we can by causing as much pain and suffering as we can," Triplett says. "Bill Triplett's name is a household word" among China experts, says Robert Kapp, head of the U.S.-China Business Council, which has helped arrange a dinner in New York for Zhu. "He has strong views on the dangers of China's intentions in the world and China's conspiratorial inclinations." An informal network, the "midnight patriots" take their name from a complaint made by one of the Founding Fathers -- Triplett cannot remember whether it was George Washington or Thomas Paine -- that too many people were "sunshine patriots," behind the country only during good times. "Midnight patriots are there when things are tough," Triplett says. Their goal: End Communist rule in China. "I think we have an obligation as leader of the democratic alliance." ….Last year Triplett cowrote "Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised U.S. Security for Chinese Cash." Published by the right-wing Regnery Publishing Inc., the book has sold 100,000 copies, Triplett says. The book focuses on allegations that top Chinese officials used a variety of conduits to illegally funnel money to the Clinton-Gore campaign. "Our thesis is simple," Triplett and his co-author Edward Timperlake wrote. "The Clinton administration has made a series of Faustian bargains and policy blunders that have allowed a hostile power to further its aims in Washington. In the main, Bill Clinton and Al Gore did it for money."…. "

The New Australian No. 116, 19-25 4/99 Peter Zhang "...Those who go along with Zhu's self-serving argument overlook how pathological Clinton is. Now let us consider what Zhu has really said: Clinton, the nation's commander-in-chief, compromised, for a lousy $300,000, the country's national security, gave Chinese intelligence access to highly classified work and nuclear-weapons labs, including neutron bomb technology, gave it free-reign to plant agents and encouraged the transfer of high-tech equipment with military applications. I believe that is what you Americans call a bargain-basement deal, which only proves what a bargain Beijing got and just how venal Clinton really is. But Zhu and General Ji know that the actual bribes, and that is what they are, came to much more than $300,000. The real truth is that millions of dollars were pumped into Clinton's coffers by various means. One less obvious method was to get companies to heavily donate to the Clintons for the financial privilege of dealing with the PLA and its holding companies. What Americans must ask themselves is why was Beijing so anxious to see Clinton elected? Why was it prepared to spend any amount to see him in the White House? In other words, what was in it for them? Though the exact amounts are known to only a few, of whom Zhu is one, I doubt if American intelligence will ever find out how much Beijing really spent, one way or another - but the amount is irrelevant. What counts is the act. In China, it is called treason and the penalty is death. How does Beijing feel about the exposure? Comfortable, is the answer. No one saw Zhu break out in a sweat. And why should he? Beijing has assessed, and correctly I think, that the scandal is so bad that both parties are prepared to suppress most of the details to protect the presidential office from acute embarrassment, which unfortunately means Clinton ...."

Freeper Jolly reports on Reuters; American Investigator 4/15/99; 04/97 Jennifer Genevieve; China By Any Other "...Wang Jun and Li Ka Shing always seem to end up on top. Here is an interesting article show who stands to benifit the most when Chian gets WTO...China's entry into the World Trade Organisation may not be a done deal yet but investors in the Hong Kong stock market are already looking forward to the gains that lie ahead, particularly for ports and telecoms firms.... The question for investors is now ``when'' rather than ``if,'' analysts said. .....Goldman Sachs is predicting a jump in China trade flows to US$600 billion in five years from US$324 billion in 1998. ``Obvious beneficiaries are exporters and port companies,'' it said in a recent research report. ....Targeting that growth, analysts have singled out COSCO Pacific Ltd , China Merchants Holdings (International) Co Ltd , Wharf (Holdings) Ltd and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd as the main beneficiaries....China-backed banks such as CITIC Ka Wah Bank Ltd and Union Bank of Hong Kong Ltd would benefit through joint ventures with financial service subsidiaries of their China shareholders, DBS said in a report. ``Union Bank and CITIC Ka Wah are likely to accelerate their merger plans with their mainland sister banks,'' it added...."

Reuters 4/22/99 "...Chinese and US trade negotiators reopened talks on Thursday in a drive to put the finishing touches on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) deal that Premier Zhu Rongji narrowly missed clinching in Washington. US Assistant Trade Representative Robert Cassidy and China's top WTO negotiator, Long Yongtu, opened what were expected to be lengthy talks at 10.30am in Beijing. ''We are following the joint statement of President [Bill] Clinton and Premier Zhu,'' Mr Cassidy told reporters, referring to the two leaders' pledge in Washington to conclude talks on China's 13-year-old WTO bid this year...... The People's Daily made it clear Beijing expected Washington to deliver on its promise to support China's entry to the WTO. ''The US government has clearly pledged to firmly support China's entry to the WTO in 1999,'' the newspaper said in a front page editorial hailing Mr Zhu's North American tour. ''Both sides agreed to begin talks before the end of April to settle remaining issues to China's entry to the WTO.'' ...."

AP 4/23/99 James Jefferson "...FBI agents investigating Democratic Party fund-raiser Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie sought evidence that Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown met with a Chinese arms dealer the same day that the dealer attended a White House coffee with President Clinton, according to court documents unsealed today. Trie faces federal charges in the campaign fund-raising probe. Agents searched his Little Rock home in October 1997 after obtaining a search warrant that alluded to a Feb. 6, 1996, meeting attended by Brown and Wang Jun just weeks before Brown's death. Trie, a central figure in the controversy over foreign-linked campaign donations to Democrats, arranged for Wang to attend a White House coffee with President Clinton the same day. Wang's company, Poly Technologies, has been implicated in smuggling of arms into the United States. He is identified as an adviser to the Chinese government in the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's report on its investigation into illegal campaign fund raising in the 1996 election. Wang's visit to the White House was previously reported and Clinton has said it was inappropriate. Previous reports, however, did not mention a meeting the same day between Brown and Wang...."

Washington Weekly 5/2/99 RICKI MAGNUSSEN AND MARVIN LEE "...TIMPERLAKE: The PRC issue is breaking very quickly and there's a lot more to come. It took about 3 months to get to this point where the American Investigator ran an expose on network television this week. It took a while, but we found a home video of Charlie Trie going off shore in 1992 before Clinton was elected president. At that time Clinton had been nominated as the Democratic candidate for President. And Trie goes off shore to China, identifies himself as Clinton's key guy, he's meeting with Chinese officials -- we have tape of this -- and the Arkansas crowd attending the meeting says that Bill Clinton's policy for China could be affected by Chinese officials.

Washington Weekly 5/2/99 RICKI MAGNUSSEN AND MARVIN LEE "...QUESTION: Considering that Johnny Chung has identified several channels of communication between the Chinese military and president Clinton, how close do you think that Clinton is to the Chinese military? TIMPERLAKE: Very close. Here's the reason why. Johnny Chung, who is a hustler, was picked because he figured out that the administration would take money for access. By our analysis, it looks like Chinese military intelligence saw that Johnny Chung was a clever fellow who knew how to work Bill Clinton. So Lieut. Col. Liu was assigned his case officer to recruit him. Her trade craft broke down, however, because in order to recruit Chung she brought him offshore and introduced Chung to Major General, I believe, Ji. And Ji is the famous fellow reported in the paper as saying: "We like your president" and he indicated that they had other individuals or channels of money. That happened several times. Now, General Ji reports to the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, a four star, who got there by providing agent provocateurs and discrediting the students who were at Tiananmen in 1989. That's what his job was, to get those poor kids. He's the gentleman who threatened to nuke Los Angeles over the Taiwan issue, that's the guy who did that. He is the ultimate spy master. His major general is general Ji, who met personally with Johnny Chung and Lieut. Col. Liu--by our count three times. They created a shell corporation called Marchwell to buy Lieut. Col. Liu access to President Clinton twice. And through a contribution to Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, she managed to meet the senior executive of the Securities and Exchange Commission about placing offerings on the American stock market of PRC companies. Now, I always thought that it was just about money, but it turns out that it was more than that. Apparently, the goal was to create a lot of shell companies in the import/export business and high-tech business so they could accomplish the goal of buying American high-tech equipment across the board, equipment like gyroscopes, computers and high tech communications equipment and flood them out of the country thereby overwhelming our safeguards, our Customs, the FBI and counter intelligence operations. So that was the goal and we don't know how successful she was because Chung is the only person of 122 people who has actually gone in front of the grand jury and (in our opinion) told the truth. That's a very powerful statement because the rest of them, if there were a strong law enforcement operation from the Justice Department, the conspiracy would have been broken by now and we would know how bad the damage was that was done to America. It's very apparent that the Attorney General of The United States has chosen to keep her job and sacrifice America at this point. The country is in great jeopardy, because as long as the conspiracy stands we don't know bad the damage was and we can't bring people to justice and until we bring people to justice we don't know how to rebuild the military because we don't know our total vulnerability. Prudence dictates that we should at this point assume a worst case scenario. Everything is gone! I was director of mobilization for the Department of Defense and we looked to the fact that our technology would save us. The great strength of America is our high-tech labs and our high-tech imperative to always be on the cutting edge and that is now compromised and sold out because of Bill Clinton accepting bribes from the People's Republic of China. ..."

NewsMax.com 5/11/99 Inside Cover "...Rep. Norm Dicks, the ranking Democrat on the Cox Committee, calls Chinagate espionage the worst breach of U.S. security since CIA master-spy Aldrich Ames was caught selling secrets to the KGB in the early 90's. ...According to Federal Election Commission documents, Aldrich Ames made his first $1,500 donation to the Democratic National Committee in Sept. 1991, the same month Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for president. The super-spy followed with another $1,000 the month after Clinton placed second in the New Hampshire primary. And in July 1992, the month the Democrats actually nominated the Arkansas governor for president, Ames kicked in another $2,500 to the cause. The super-spy's history of financial support for Clinton was first uncovered by NewsMax.com's Carl Limbacher in 1997 at the height of the DNC's mad scramble to give back illegal contributions from their foriegn donors...."

Political Insights 4/30/99 Justin Valente "....Madeleine Albright has been quoted as saying that the administration does not wish for us to be the only superpower in the world. Their position has always been that the more countries that have nuclear capability, the less likely it is that anyone will use it. In effect, this says that we would trust the Communist Chinese or Saddam Hussein enough to place them on the same moral ground with the U.S., leaving our fate in their hands, so to speak. Can you see how inconsistent this is? Perhaps this helps to explain the administration's cavalier attitude toward the China situation. The story that hardly makes the news, but won't go away, is heating up again..... Over 2 thousand wire taps requested by the FBI and only one was rejected by Janet Reno's Justice Department. Can you guess who that was for? ....Even without the Cox report, there is enough information available on our sale of dual use technology to China to raise a few eyebrows. Major donations were made by Loral and Hughes to the DNC, closely followed by waivers, allowing them to sell their products to China. White House "coffees," attended by many Chinese "players," (with help from John Huang, Charlie Trie, and Johnny Chung,) who came to line the pockets of the Clinton / Gore campaign. An election year - 1996, the same year the wire tap of Dr. Lee was not approved, the same time the Clinton administration was informed of espionage at Los Alamos (actually it was 1995, but you get the picture), the same year Bill Clinton won his second term as President of the Unites States. Recently, John Huang, in a Judicial Watch deposition, was asked if he was ever promised a presidential pardon in exchange for his silence on these matters. Huang pleaded the fifth to this, along with 2 hundred or so other questions. This failed to make the headlines, much the same as it did when 100 others took the fifth in front of Senator Fred Thompson's Senate committee....."

Drudgereport 5/6/99 "...Friday's redhot LOS ANGELES TIMES unloads its Chung File. Reporters Alan Miller and Bill Rempel reveal details that Chung is expected to provide in testimony scheduled to begin Tuesday: Chung says he was told by an associate of Beijing's military intelligence leader that "China had funneled $500,000 to an international trading company established by a former Clinton White House aide and Arkansas attorney Mark Middleton." The TIMES also reports that Chung escorted the wife and son of the Chinese military intelligence chief to a political fund-raiser in Los Angeles in '96 -- fund-raiser where Democratic officials insisted on a $25,000 campaign contribution for the opportunity to introduce his guests to the president...."

Los Angeles Times 5/7/99 WILLIAM C. REMPEL and ALAN C. MILLER ".....Chung's accounts, gathered from a series of recent interviews with The Times, also are expected to shed new light on a possible China strategy to build relations with individuals who had special access to the White House and U.S. political leaders.... Among the new information that Chung is expected to provide in testimony scheduled to begin Tuesday: He was told by an associate of Beijing's military intelligence leader that China had funneled $500,000 to an international trading firm established by a former Clinton White House aide. A Beijing banker told Chung that a former Arkansas restaurateur who was a longtime friend of President Clinton approached the Chinese government sometime prior to February 1996 asking for $1 million to help support Clinton and the Democratic Party..... Now, Chung is poised to become the first prominent figure in the 1996 campaign finance scandal with ties to China to testify publicly before Congress..... Chung says he met Ji at a restaurant in Hong Kong, where Chung was introduced as "a good friend of President Clinton" by Liu Chaoying, the daughter of China's retired top general and a vice president of China Aerospace Corp. Ji, who used the false name "Xu" for their first meeting, told Chung: "We like your president. I will give you 300,000 U.S. dollars. You can give it to the president and the Democratic Party. We hope he will be reelected," Chung recalled. Later, in front of Chung, Ji informed Liu that he would wire $300,000 to her and she was to transfer it to Chung. Chung said that Ji also told Liu that he required a receipt "in order for me to report [the expenditure] to the [intelligence] agency." According to Chung, he told Liu, with whom he had an independent business relationship, that he objected. "She said, 'Take it. It makes no sense to spend your own money. Use ours,' " Chung recalled. And, in an apparent effort to further reassure Chung, Liu said, "We've done this before." According to Chung, Liu cited others with American political ties who she said also received support from China. Chung said Liu told him that China steered business to a Hong Kong aerospace executive with controversial links to the Republican Party. She also said that "we gave a Singapore group $500,000" intended for former Clinton aide and Arkansas attorney Mark E. Middleton "to do good things for China." Chung testified before the grand jury that Liu also mentioned the involvement of a "Mr. Wong.".....Middleton, who raised funds for Clinton's 1992 campaign, came to the White House as an assistant to Thomas F. (Mack) McLarty, Clinton's first chief of staff. He left the White House in early 1995 to set up an international trading company. Financial documents show that in 1996 Middleton received a wire transfer of $499,985 from a bank in Asia. And congressional investigators have obtained a note written by Middleton to Singapore billionaire Yip Yan Wong in which the former White House aide thanks Wong for "the update on Ms. Liu."..... Chung, in interviews and statements to FBI investigators, said Liu identified the Hong Kong aerospace executive as Ambrose Tung Young, a major Republican backer who has written pro-China articles for a GOP think tank. In 1994, Young worked with then-Republican Party Chairman Haley Barbour to help arrange a loan of $2.1 million to the Republican National Policy Forum. Shortly thereafter, that group repaid $1.6 million to the Republican National Committee before the GOP's sweep of Congress. ...."

Reuters 5/6/99 "...The committee concluded technical information transferred during satellite launches enabled China to improve its space launch vehicles and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. "Because such analyses and methodologies are also applicable to the development of other missile systems, the committee believes that, where practicable, the PRC (China) will use the transferred information to improve its short range ballistic missiles, intermediate range ballistic missiles, and related technology,'' the report said. "These missiles could threaten U.S. forces stationed in Japan and Korea, as well as allies in the region,'' it added. Since 1990, the United States has approved 33 satellite launches in China. Former President George Bush, a Republican, authorized 14 of those launches, and President Clinton, a Democrat, authorized 19. Each launch is accompanied by a series of technical meetings between U.S. satellite engineers and the Chinese launch service provider in which detailed information is exchanged. "Such interactions between American and PRC (Chinese) engineers provided the PRC (China) with the opportunity to obtain technology and know-how applicable to both civilian and military space programs,'' the report said. Investigations into satellite launches that failed provided China with technical information from U.S. firms, it said. The report cited the explosion in 1995 of the rocket attempting to launch the Apstar-2 satellite built by Hughes Electronics Corp. and the rocket launching the Loral Space Communications Ltd. Intelsat 708 satellite veering off course and crashing into a nearby village in 1996. "The decision to launch U.S. commercial satellites on PRC (Chinese) space launch vehicles created a tension between U.S. national security interests and U.S. commercial interests,'' the report said. The committee said it believed its findings justified a ''reappraisal'' of the policy allowing the export of U.S. commercial satellites to China for launch and recommended a congressional review of the pros and cons of phasing it out. The 45-page report also looked into China's efforts to influence U.S. policy and said intelligence information showed that China undertook a "covert program'' to influence the U.S. political process through donations in the 1996 elections. ..."

The New York Times 5/8/99 David Johnston "....But for all Chung's activities, the most explosive subject Chung is expected to address in his testimony is the source of the payment he received from the People's Liberation Army through Liu Chaoying, a lieutenant colonel and aerospace executive whose father was a top military commander and member of the Communist Party's ruling leadership. In recent weeks, Government officials have said that Ms. Liu was an intermediary for the funds, provided to her by General Ji, the intelligence chief, whose involvement was first reported by The Los Angeles Times...... Chung is also expected to testify about conversations with Ms. Liu that mentioned Mark E. Middleton, a former aide to Clinton and lawyer from Arkansas. Chung said she told him Chinese officials entered into a business arrangement with Middleton. But Robert D. Luskin, Middleton's lawyer, said Middleton had never worked for Chinese clients...."

NY Post 5/10/99 Vincent Morris "....Key senators investigating espionage at American nuke labs said yesterday they've uncovered new evidence that the Chinese military funneled money through U.S. banks to buy influence in Congress. "There are very suspicious banking relationships here," said Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into security breaches at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, the top Democrat on the committee, agreed. "The effort was to influence not only the presidential elections, but ... congressional elections," said Kerrey, who appeared with Shelby yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Both lawmakers refused to provide additional details but said upcoming reports would shed more light on the charges. Their allegations came as the Energy Secretary Bill Richardson - for the first time - conceded that the Chinese government stole America's nuclear secrets during President Clinton's administration. "There have been damaging security leaks," Richardson said on the same show. "The Chinese have obtained damaging information ... during past administrations and [the] present administration." In the past, senior White House officials, from Clinton on down, have denied that any nuclear secrets were stolen - or in the case of Clinton, denied being told about stolen atomic blueprints...."

NewsMax.com 5/9/99 "....Now that it's clear America's nuclear security has gone up in smoke, it may be time to borrow a phrase from the Great Chicago Fire and ponder the role of former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary and her onetime cash cow, Johnny Chung. Recent media reports have focused on the $300,000 Chung received from Chinese military intelligence and the $35,000 of that sum (at least) that found its way into Democratic National Committee coffers. But the press seems to be suffering a bout of collective amnesia regarding information on Chung it reported two years ago, which points to a much more direct financial connection to Mrs. O'Leary -- and even a member of the First Family. O'Leary was in charge of security policy at U.S. nuclear labs where Newsweek, for instance, has now described the Chinese penetration as "total". Here's what's been on the record about the Chung-O'Leary money trail for nearly two years: "No less startling was Mr. Chung's allegation that the Democratic Party was not the only player with a ravenous appetite for money. He also described how he was, in effect, shaken down for a $25,000 donation to Africare, a charitable organization supported by the Energy Secretary at the time, Hazel O'Leary." (New York Times -- Aug. 22, 1997) Here's how Chung himself put it, in an exchange with NBC's Tom Brokaw days before the Times report: BROKAW: Were you surprised when someone could get you in to see Hazel O'Leary if you would write a check to her favorite charity? CHUNG: I begin to understand a little bit, but I am still a little bit suprised. BROKAW: Yeah. Who picked up the check? CHUNG: There's one gentleman, present himself as the Energy Department official, and said I'm here to pick it up, the $25,000 check... BROKAW: To Africare? CHUNG: To Africare. BROKAW: A charity that the Energy Secretary supports, she sends over somebody from the Energy Department to pick it up, and you get a meeting with her with a very prominent Chinese petrochemical official? CHUNG: Yes. (Investor's Business Daily -- Aug. 26, 1997.....

Washington Post 5/11/99 Pete Yost "...Testifying publicly for the first time, Johnny Chung said today he used campaign contributions to buy his Chinese clients access to President Clinton and other politicians, but ``never acted as an agent for the Chinese government.'' ...In all, Chung contributed $360,000 to the Democratic Party and visited the White House more than 50 times from 1994 to 1996, when the controversy over foreign campaign donations erupted. Chinese business executives frequently accompanied him..... And he criticized officials of the Democratic National Committee for attacking him in court ``when they were fully aware that I was doing a lot of business and cultivating friendships with people from the People's Republic of China.'' .....Chung said he took in more than $2 million from his foreign clients, and some of that money he used to make contributions to gain access to fund-raisers and White House events...... Chung said he accepted $300,000 from Gen. Ji Shengde, the head of Chinese military intelligence, who told him to use it to help Clinton and the Democratic Party..... In addition, according to congressional sources, Chung also will say he was told by Ji associate Liu Chaoying, the daughter of China's retired top general, that: --China steered business to a Hong Kong aerospace executive with links to the Republican Party. --China had funneled $500,000 to an international trading firm of former Clinton White House aide Mark Middleton, who worked for presidential chief of staff Mack McLarty. Middleton's lawyer, Robert Luskin, has denied that Middleton worked for China...."

5/11/99 Chung testimony observations by ohmlaw98 "...Although it appears Chung was out of the main loop, he appears to implicate others such as Trie amd Middleton, and paints a clear picture that there is a Chinese connection to the Clinton crime machine. Chung has also detailed the framework and methods used by Clinton and the DNC to evade federal campaign laws and conceal the proceeds from their PLA benefactors by routing cash from Hong Kong banks into US holding ("straw")companies. From there it is transferred into the general election accounts at the DNC, and finally to the Clinton/Gore campaign. The "blockbuster" I see developing out of reports is the testimony of the relationship between Charlie Trie and Liu Chao-Ying. Trie possesed several holding companies in the US. Some were backed by the Riady Family and infused with capital from their Lippo co-owned Hong Kong China Bank. Others from Macau and Ng Lap Seng. And now we know that this is the bank that routed money from Liu and Gen. Ji to Johnny Chung in California. With Trie in the picture, we now have the Arkansas connection, Ron Brown, the Riady's, Ernie Green, Mark Middleton....Webb Hubbell? Now that Chung has connected Trie to Liu, the picture is very clear. As others here at FR have already concluded the Chinese benefactors are not only PLA intelligence officers, they are executives and directors for the intelligence gathering arm of Aerospace companies like "China Resources Co." and "Great Wall". The same companies that have worked with Hughes and Loral to perfect delivery systems for their growing arsenal of new and improved nuclear warheads......"

Fox News Channel Website 5/11/99 "...Testifying before a congressional committee, Johnny Chung admitted Tuesday to making illegal campaign contributions to President Clinton, but he also implicated others - including the Democratic National Committee - in the scandal....In his testimony, Chung criticized DNC officials for attacking him in court "when they were fully aware that I was doing a lot of business and cultivating friendships with people from the People's Republic of China." Chung made more than $360,000 in political contributions from 1994 to 1996. Much of that sum originally came from a Chinese general who wanted Chung to aid Clinton's re-election..... After he pleaded guilty, Johnny Chung told the panel Tuesday, he was threatened and offered money from Beijing "to take care of" his legal expenses and family if he refused to cooperate with the FBI. Chung said the threat - and an introduction to a defense attorney who claimed to have Justice Department connections - came from a man who indicated he was connected to a Chinese general who had earlier given Chung $300,000 to contribute to Clinton's re-election and the Democratic Party..... In his prepared statement, Chung said that after he pleaded guilty and was cooperating with the FBI, he was contacted by Robert Luu, a U.S. citizen in Beijing, who said he was helping Liu Chao Ying, the Chinese woman who introduced him to Ji. Luu "starting talking about a Commander Lee, who wanted to take care of me," Chung said. "The message was as follows: 'If you keep your mouth shut, you and your family will be safe.'" Chung said Luu also introduced him to a well-connected former Watergate lawyer, whom Chung didn't name. Chung said he met at least a dozen times with Luu, who never gave him any money. .... Chung also was expected to testify that he was told by a Beijing banker that former Little Rock, Ark., restaurateur Charlie Trie approached the Chinese government sometime before February 1996 asking for $1 million to support Clinton and the Democratic Party..... "

AP 5/11/99 Pete Yost "...But he [Chung] testified he had extensive contacts with Chinese officials -- one who went by a code name -- who were eager to win political influence with Clinton. And he detailed how a 2 1/2-year political giving spree won him access to the White House for his well-heeled Chinese clients.....Chung said Luu then introduced him to an attorney in San Gabriel, identified during the hearing as David Brockway, promising that the lawyer would take care of his legal problems and that Luu would pay his legal bills if he kept quiet. Some of the conversations with Luu were photographed and recorded by FBI agents, who at one point placed Chung and his family in protective custody, Chung said. ``When I met with the attorney and Mr. Luu, there were FBI agents throughout the building,'' Chung said. ``I was told the attorney was connected and knew the No. 3 person'' at the Justice Department ``and that he was familiar with the judge that was presiding over my case.'' ``The lawyer gave me an example of someone who did not cooperate and how everyone around him was taken care of. He said that this client was sentenced to a country club jail,'' Chung said. Neither Brockway nor Luu could be reached for comment......They spoke about Clinton, Chung said, and Ji told him: ``We hope to see him re-elected. I will give you 300,000 U.S. dollars. You can give it to the president and the Democratic Party.'' .....Chung criticized DNC officials for attacking him publicly ``when they were fully aware that I was doing a lot of business and cultivating friendships with people from the People's Republic of China.'' The DNC ``should be ashamed of themselves for attempting to jump on me and hide from the fact that they aggressively solicited me for money,'' Chung said. ``I now realize that they took my money with a smile and made fun of me when I turned my back.'' ..."

Judicial Watch Press Release 5/12/99 ".... In addition to Johnny Chung, Judicial Watch has many more depositions planned in the weeks ahead, including past officials of the DNC, such as Marvin Rosen - who worked closely with John Huang and other Asian-American fundraisers. Judicial Watch continues to uncover documents concerning the DNC's involvement in trade missions, which it has failed to produce to the Court, despite Court orders to do so. As Johnny Chung confirmed yesterday, the DNC is deeply involved in the Chinagate scandal. No matter how much the DNC seeks to blame others, it will be held accountable for its outrageous violation of law and its sellout of the interests of the American people to Communist China...."

Insight Jennifer G. Hickey "....The Chung testimony resurrected concern that contributions to the Clinton-Gore campaign from China's intelligence services were to buy influence for the Beijing government. His detailed account of his role in the 1996 campaign-finance scandal was, scandal watchers are saying, a smoking gun....Although repeatedly delayed, the testimony of the former busboy and Democratic Party fund-raiser who visited the Clinton White House on more than 50 occasions began on a political note when Chung lit into the reluctance of the congressional panel to approve campaign-finance reform. According to a Capitol Hill staffer, it was as if Al Capone had been brought to Washington to lecture congressmen on the need for better laws against bootlegging...... And the DNC's need of Chung is eloquently evidenced in a Nov. 10, 1995, memo from the DNC's Ari Swiller, asking DNC chairman Don Fowler to call Chung concerning a donation he was to make. "Johnny committed to contribute $75,000 to the DNC at the reception in Los Angeles on September 21. He has still not sent his contribution. Tell him if he does not complete his commitment ASAP bad things will happen," said the memo. It looked like an offer Chung couldn't refuse..... Perhaps it was summarized best by U.S. District Judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles in his sentencing of Chung: "If Mr. [former DNC chairman Don] Fowler and Mr. [DNC finance chairman Richard] Sullivan didn't know what was going on, I think they are the dumbest politicians I've ever seen.".....From the get-go, however, ranking member Waxman tried to make the issue Chung's character rather than corruption of the DNC and the Clinton-Gore campaign. Democrats on the committee were shocked, shocked, that bribery was afoot and took Chung to the woodshed..... A final footnote involves the case of James Parish, a 16-year veteran of the State Department who worked at the American Embassy in Beijing from 1994 to 1996. Parish met Chung when the latter brought a Mr. He, the head of Haomen Beer, to the embassy to assist in getting He's visa renewed. Chung swears Parish arranged visas for dozens of individuals for whom Chung was getting invitations to the United States and, in return, Chung got Parish into a VIP reception with Clinton, trained Parish's secretary in computer skills and spent $7,000 to $8,000 on seven students Parish knew who wanted to be educated in the United States. Chung says this relationship ended when He asked Chung to take a "shopping bag full of money and visas" to Parish....."

Reuters 5/18/99 "...A U.S. appeals court Tuesday reinstated criminal charges against a Democratic fund-raiser accused of soliciting illegal political contributions from a Buddhist temple for the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign. The court said a federal judge was wrong in dismissing five of the six counts charging Maria Hsia with causing false statements to be filed with regulators in a scheme to solicit illegal contributions and disguise them as lawful. The ruling, which sent the case back for trial, was a major victory for the Justice Department campaign finance task force and its investigation of alleged Democratic fund-raising abuses during the 1996 election...... The appeals court ruled that Friedman was wrong in citing the First Amendment's broad protections of religious expression and free speech in dropping five of the charges. "We see no constitutional difficulty in use of the statutes against the conduct alleged here,'' Judge Stephen Williams wrote in the ruling....The appeals court also ruled that Friedman was wrong in requiring that prosecutors show that Hsia knew her conduct was unlawful...."

Associated Press 5/18/99 James Jefferson "...The trial's star witness was expected to take the stand later today. Dia Mapili, who was Trie's bookkeeper, was expected to testify under an immunity deal that her longtime boss ordered her to destroy documents subpoenaed by a Senate committee investigating political fund raising. In opening statements Monday, defense attorneys said Mrs. Mapili lied about Trie before a grand jury after becoming "utterly confused'' under Justice Department pressure...."

Washington Times 5/18/99 Bill Gertz "...A Senate investigation into illegal foreign political payments could not make a direct connection between them and Mr. Clinton's conciliatory policies toward China. Both the White House and the Chinese government deny that Chinese cash influenced policies. But a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee report in 1998 concluded: "It is clear that illegal foreign contributions were made to the DNC and that these contributions were facilitated by individuals with extensive ties to the PRC [People's Republic of China]. It is also clear that well before the 1996 elections, officials at the highest levels of the Chinese government approved of efforts to increase the PRC's involvement in the U.S. political process." ..."

Investor's Business Daily 5/19/99 "...There's no good reason for a child to own an AK-47,'' President Clinton said last week while pushing his kiddie gun control bill. Just as there's no good reason for a U.S. president to entertain the head of a communist entity that sells AK-47s to kids, right? Don't expect an answer from Clinton. He did just that on Feb. 6, 1996. ..... In May 1996, agents of Wang's dealership and another Chinese arms company, Norinco, were arrested for trying to smuggle AK- 47s into the U.S. for sale to drug gangs..... Wang was escorted by one of Clinton's old Arkansas pals. Among other things, Trie was the top donor to the Clintons' legal defense fund - that is, until trustees deemed his cash too dirty to keep. But here's what makes the idea that Wang was just a random guest really hard to swallow. Shortly after the White House meeting with Clinton, Trie escorted Wang across 14th Street to the Commerce Department. There, he met with Commerce Secretary Ron Brown - and John Huang, as we now know from court-ordered depositions.....Clinton's never been pressed on his ties to Wang. Of the 103 so-called coffees, Clinton told the press they were just ''respectful hearings'' for citizens. First off, Wang's not a citizen. Second, what could the president possibly hear and respect from the chief dealer for the world's No. 1 arms proliferator? Unless it's the sound of money dropping into his campaign coffers..... Last week, he held a White House summit called ''Youth, Violence and Responsibility,'' which capped Clinton's multi-city campaign in the wake of the Colorado school shootings to raise our consciousness about the perils of youth violence and guns. Oh, now he cares...."

Reuters 5/19/99 "...Documents allegedly destroyed by a former Democratic fund raiser would have been valuable to a congressional inquiry into President Clinton's 1996 campaign financing, an FBI agent testified on Wednesday. Agent Jerome Campane testified on the third day of the trial of Yah Lin "Charlie'' Trie on federal charges of obstructing a U.S. Senate investigation into alleged campaign spending abuses during Clinton's reelection race...."

Freeper Sockdolagre observes 5/17/99 "... The day after the DNC returned 600k in donations because they were revealed to be from illegal chinese sources, loral/schwartz donated the exact figure to the DNC...."

Koenig's International News 5/19/99 Charles Smith "... As Lawrence DiRita, a scholar at the Heritage Foundation, reported three years ago, Galaxy officials approached several large U.S. telecommunications companies prior to 1994 in the hope of involving them in their partnership with SC&M Brooks. U.S. executives who spoke to the Galaxy representatives said that the Chinese side was counting on the influence SC&M brought to the partnership. Some of those U.S. executives, who declined to participate because of the obvious national security implications, asked out of curiosity how Galaxy intended to get U.S. government approval to transfer to China dual-use (civilian/military) technology. "In response, the Chinese spoke quite openly about the relationships they had already established with senior Democrats, mentioning Mr. Stevenson by name," DiRita explained....."

AP 5/21/99 James Jefferson "...Presidential friend Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie today reached a plea agreement on an obstruction of justice charge against him, but details were withheld pending an announcement in court, a prosecutor said..... U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. sent the jury home for the day after the lawyers sought time to resolve differences over defense documents. ... "

Drudge 5/21/99 "...The Justice Department has obtained a note from the Little Rock office of Charlie Trie that suggests he was aware of a bribery, Jeff Gerth of the NY TIMES is planning to report in Saturday editions... The note, handwritten in Mandarin on stationery from a Hong Kong hotel, lists "Hughes" and the U.S. government, export licenses and a bribery problem, Gerth reports... Developing... "

MSNBC 5/21/99 Brokaw and Cox "... Brokaw: "This comes at a time when Charlie Trie, one of the president's friends, a fund raiser, is on trial in Little Rock... Is there a connection between this espionage and political donations that the administration got from Chinese officials?" Cox: "Recently, it has been learned that some of the money that came into the United States apparently for political purposes was in fact directed by the MID, the Military Intelligence Division of the People's Liberation Army. And in fact, directed by the head of that agency, essentially the counterpart to our director of Central Intelligence, General Leeds. The fact that the MID is engaged in the collection of military technology suggests that one of the aims, if not the principle aim, of putting that money in the United States was to make connections to facilitate setting up front companies which would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, that can be used to buy technology inside the United States that wouldn't require an export license." ...."

Judicial Watch Press Release 5/21/99 "...By allowing Trie to escape punishment for obstructing a Senate investigation and funneling illegal donations to the Democratic National Committee in exchange for favors from Bill Clinton, Janet Reno and her corrupt Justice Department have saved Bill Clinton and the DNC from further damaging revelations about their illegal fundraising practices that would have surely come out during upcoming trials of Trie. Judicial Watch also announced today that it will seek Court permission to question Charlie Trie about his participation in the 1994 Commerce Department trade mission trip to China and related matters...."

The Boston Globe 5/26/99 Michael Kranish "...When a Senate panel two years ago investigated allegations that foreign money was given to the Democratic Party, it hoped to nail down the specifics with testimony from three fund-raisers with connections to the Chinese government. But all three men refused to testify without being granted immunity. Now, the same three men, John Huang, Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie and Johnny Chung, are secretly telling what they know to the Justice Department in exchange for guilty pleas to relatively minor offenses..... ``It looks bad,'' said Senator Fred Thompson, the Tennessee Republican who headed the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee investigation in 1997. He noted Huang reportedly has not implicated ``higher-ups.'' ``If this is the kind of cooperation they are getting for a probation sentence, it heightens our concern,'' he said in an interview. Thompson said he plans to launch a new investigation focusing on why the Justice Department decided to plea bargain. Thompson often has said an independent counsel should be appointed to examine the campaign finance matter because the administration has a vested interest in closing the probe...."

Washington Weekly 11/17/97 "...Friday's leak through the Washington Post that the FBI has known since 1991 that the Democrat Party is infiltrated by Chinese agents is a seminal event. For it offers sufficient detail to complete the picture of how the entire Chinese intelligence penetration succeeded. When combining it with other leaks, intelligence reports, and congressional investigation results, the following picture can be put together: In the 1980s, the People's Republic of China made a decision to build the most powerful military force in the world. In less than a decade, China's annual military spending tripled. In terms of manpower, it already had the largest army in the world. But to project force, it needed a modern Navy as well. To rival the U.S. military, it needed advanced U.S. military technology, and it needed U.S. dollars to purchase such technology. Republican administrations had permitted trade with China that produced hard currency, but had employed tight export controls to prevent advanced U.S. military technology from falling into the hands of Communists. So the Chinese government bet its money on two Southern Democrats with an expressed and desperate desire to ascend to the U.S. Presidency...."

Washington Weekly 11/17/97 "...Mainland China used its archrival Taiwan, as well as Hong Kong, as conduits for the funds paid to Clinton and Gore. Democratic Taiwan and Hong Kong are the last places you would look for Communist agents, and the many U.S. subsidiaries of Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and Indonesian companies and organizations offered convenient footholds through which to launder money and buy influence with U.S. politicians. China Resources bought into Lippo Bank of Hong Kong and Indonesia and placed its officers John Huang and James Riady in Arkansas. John Huang was born in Mainland China, but had served in the Taiwanese air force. Ya Long Economic Trading of the Chinese Hainan province sought influence and legitimacy through the Hsi Lai temple of Taiwan, through its representative Maria Hsia, born in Taiwan. Both John Huang and Maria Hsia are known by the FBI to be agents of Communist China. Together with James Riady, they formed the Pacific Leadership Council, and invited none other than then-Senator Al Gore to the Hsi Lai temple headquarters in Taiwan in 1989. On behalf of the Chinese government, Maria Hsia promised Al Gore that she would persuade all her colleagues "in the future to play a leader role in your presidential race." ..."

WorldNetDaily 5/27/99 Joseph Farah "....n 1992, the largest single interest to contribute to the Clinton-Gore campaign was not Hollywood. It was not even big labor. Believe it or not, it was the Riady family of Indonesia, ethnic Chinese billionaires who, according to U.S. law enforcement and intelligence, are active agents of Beijing's intelligence apparatus. The Riadys were back again as major contributors in 1996. They were there to provide hush money to an indicted Webster Hubbell when he was ready to blow the whistle on his buddy, the president. And that's just the Riady family. That doesn't even begin to take into consideration all the other funny money funneled into the country through Charlie Trie and a host of others on the take from the Chinese military. What's worse is the fact that the Riadys owned Clinton long before he ever ran for president. The Chinese agents discovered young Bill Clinton in the 1970s when he first ran for attorney general in the state of Arkansas. There's history here -- ugly, soul-selling history....."

Washington Weekly 5/31/99 RICKI MAGNUSSEN ".... TIMPERLAKE: Basically, the Cox report is a definitive bipartisan statement that the U.S. national security is tremendously compromised. I was one of the staff members that established the Cox committee and I want to say what it isn't. The Cox committee was not empowered--nor did it have the scope--to look into campaign finance. A different committee took care of that. Chairman Cox and his team were basically looking into technology transfers. Because of that, individuals who are trying to spin it are trying to make exonerations of the president out of it and that is wrong, this is not a time for spin. Accept it for the reality and fix the problem, that's kind of the bottom line to the Cox report. It's got very useful documents, it highlights the vulnerability....But it is not an exoneration of the campaign finance issue. The Cox report has not investigated linkages to campaign finances, it was not designed to, that was not their scope.....So the point now is what should be done about it. The Cox report starts the process but we are going to have to rebuild our national security with a lot of money and identify the fact that we have lost literally hundreds of billions of dollars. More importantly, as the director of mobilization in the Reagan years, to me the most important issue is that we have lost our technology edge, that's the big deal with us. Americans tend to look at warfare as an issue of trading fire power for man power, that's how we tend to do it, and because of that we have always kept the technology edge and that has given us time to respond to crises by staying ahead and always making sure that we had sufficient quality and that we had sufficient quantity of high-tech quality. That was our goal and that is now all compromised and that's the problem, because with the loss of this technology we have lost our most precious asset: time....."

WorldNetDaily 6/1/99 Charles Smith "...The Cox report notes some very interesting parties helped John Huang stay in touch with his boss. According to the Cox report, "Huang maintained contact with representatives of the Lippo Group while he was at the Department of Commerce." "During the 18 months that he was at Commerce," states the report, "Huang called Lippo Bank 232 times, in addition to 29 calls or faxes to Lippo Headquarters in Indonesia. Huang also contacted Lippo consultant Maeley Tom on 61 occasions during the same period. Huang's records show 72 calls to Lippo joint venture partner C. Joseph Giroir." The one key fact missing from the Cox report is that "Maeley Tom" is also an employee of the powerful beltway lobbyist company, Cassidy Associates. In 1994, Cassidy Associates sent Democratic National Committee donor Maeley Tom to Indonesia on a Ron Brown trade mission. The same mission included DNC donors Charlie Trie, Pauline Kanchanalak and Nora Lum. Why no mention of the D.C. lobbyists? The answer may be that Cassidy Associates also made hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations to both Republicans and Democrats. In fact, Cassidy Associates made a total of over 2,500 political contributions between 1991 and 1998, nearly one donation every two days...."

Fox News 6/3/99 "...In late spring of 1998, Johnny Chung, the former Democratic fund-raiser who pleaded guilty last year to charges of breaking campaign finance laws, was approached by Robert Luu, a suspected Chinese operative. Over the course of many conversations, Luu essentially asked Chung to engage in a cover-up, to hide the sources of the money he'd funneled to Democratic causes in the 1996 campaign season. Much of that cash had come from Gen. Ji Shengde, head of Chinese military intelligence, and had been arranged by Liu Chaoying, a lieutenant colonel in China's People's Liberation Army and a senior manager at China Aerospace International, a firm that launches American satellites into space on Chinese rockets. Robert Luu wanted these names kept out of Chung's upcoming grand jury testimony, and he told Chung that if Luu cooperated, he and his family would be taken care of. What Luu didn't know was that Chung, already under observation by the FBI, had agreed to wear a wire and that every word they spoke, every fax and note they exchanged was being recorded by American law enforcement authorities. Fox News has obtained transcripts of the FBI wiretaps, and now presents an exclusive look at excerpts from the hundreds of pages of secret communications...."

Freeper Helen from Insight 9/9/97 "..."There were bugs placed in over 300 locations," says a high-level source with detailed knowledge about the extraordinary top-secret operation run by the FBI in conjunction with intelligence personnel from the National Security Agency, or NSA, and the Office of Naval Intelligence, among many others. . . . . "Just about every single room was bugged," according to the high-level source who spoke to "Insight" on condition of anonymity. "Vehicles were bugged," as were telephones and conference centers. Even a charter-boat trip arranged by the president to Blake Island, a 475-acre state park in the Puget Sound, was monitored by agents with electronic-listening devices...."

Freeper Helen from Insight 5/26/97 "..."The ex-Russian intelligence agent's allegation of Chinese penetration has been confirmed by Randolph Quon, a former Hong Kong investment banker for two decades. Quon is close to several of the Chinese princelings - the sons and nephews of China's ruling leaders who head the major Red Chinese trading companies. He says China had a "guan-xi," or connection to get access, for its U.S. political operation. "Li Peng was told the Lippo Group had a back channel to the White House, to Bill Clinton," Quon says, through "dealmaker" John Huang, the former Commerce official and ex-vice president of the Indonesia-based Lippo Group, which had extensive joint ventures with Chinese power companies. All utility companies in China are operated by the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, say defense-intelligence specialists." ..."

Freeper Helen from NY Post 6/12/97 "...A key Republican last night said there's electronic eavesdropping evidence that Democratic funny-money man John Huang passed classified spy data to a China-linked company. "We believe that the intercepts that we have show that Mr. Huang was passing on classified information ... dealing with the economy, espionage and breaches of national security," House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.) told CBS. ..."

Freeper Helen from BTOnline 7/11/97" ..."US President Bill Clinton admitted on Wednesday that he intervened personally in hiring a political fund-raiser now under scrutiny by Congress for soliciting illegal campaign donations from Asian sources."..."

NY Times 6/7/99 AP "...A federal judge Monday declared a mistrial in the tax evasion trial of Democratic fundraiser who is also accused of funneling money through Buddhist nuns at a 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign fund-raiser. The jury had reported it was unable to reach a verdict Friday on the tax evasion charges, which are separate from the Buddhist nuns case. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez told the panel to resume deliberations, but the jury again reported it was divided on all four counts but leaning toward acquittal Monday. Outside the courtroom, Maria S. Hsia pledged to repair her reputation. ``I think Asian-Americans have to work together and support each other, and they have to stand up and fight for justice, not just for ourselves but for our children,'' she said.

Curt Weldon Website 6/8/99 "... Now, I can tell my colleagues my constituents cannot ever get in the White House. We cannot even get White House tour tickets which are available for schools because we only allow four a year. These are American schoolchildren. Let me read you, Mr. Speaker. John Huang; he visited the White House four times in March of 1993, four times in April of 1993, two times in May, one time in June, one time in November, all in 1993. Now my constituents cannot do that. Yet this White House opened the floodgates to welcome selected people in who were a part of this network, Mr. Speaker...."

Curt Weldon Website 6/8/99 "...What is this document, Mr. Speaker? These are the FBI wiretap transcripts of conversations between Chung and Robert Lu, the FBI wire tapped transcripts that took place from May 6 of 1998 all the way through August of 98. In these transcripts in the words of these key players in this process, the American people, Mr. Speaker, for themselves can see what was going on and can read with their own eyes about the discussions that were taking place....Before I yield to my good friend, Mr. Speaker, I want to say what the rallying cry of this Member, and I would ask for, if I could, a price for that for the next day so I can decide whether or not to put it in the Congressional Record, but I would tell the American people it is available. It was given to me by Carl Cameron from Fox News. It is running nationwide, and I would encourage every American person, every colleague of mine, to read the transcripts contained in here of conversations as documented by the FBI....."

newsmax.com 6/9/99 Carl Limbacher and Caron Grich "....Some suspect that the Clinton administration staunchly supports the Baku-Ceyhan route, not so much out of concern over pipeline security -- but because the Turkish route was initially favored by a major contributor to the Democratic National Committee, Lebanese oilman Roger Tamraz. As recently as May 1995, the U.S. took no official position supporting either the Black Sea, Turkish or other pipeline plans. That month, Tamraz met with NSC official Shelia Heslin but failed to sell her on his plan to pump oil from Baku to the Turkish port city of Yumurtalik. Afterwards, Heslin tried to keep Tamraz out of the White House and away from Clinton. But throughout the summer and fall of 1995, $195,000 of Tamraz's money made its way into DNC coffers. That September, the persistent oilman attended two White House coffees with Clinton on hand. Afterwards, former Clinton Chief of Staff Mack McLarty arranged for Tamraz to meet with Energy Department officials. By October, Tamraz's project had the backing of the Clinton State Department. The pressure brought to bear on Tamraz's behalf was quite impressive, considering that even with his subsequent donations, he had given a only $300,000. But for that amount, spare change really for someone in Tamraz's league, DNC chairman Don Fowler personally chatted up Ms. Heslin on Tamraz's behalf. Around the same time, even the Clinton CIA began sending Heslin favorable reports on the Lebanese oilman. But just as Tamraz seemed to be making headway, the Azerbaijani oil consortium began to move away from the Turkish route, seeing projects like Tamraz's as too costly. Falling crude prices throughout the late 90's cooled other larger oil companies on a Turkish pipeline as well. Still the Turkish route, Baku-Ceyhan in particular, continued to enjoy strong American support, despite the fact that by October 1998 the major oil companies had flat out rejected the plan...."

newsmax.com 6/9/99 Carl Limbacher and Caron Grich "...Writing for Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty in May, Michael Lelyveld explained it this way: "For several months, the gap between the U.S. government and the oil industry appeared to be widening....the (Clinton) administration has refused to accept the industry's rejection and has mounted a determined diplomatic effort to keep the Baku-Ceyhan scheme alive....The result has been increasing friction and loss of (U.S.) credibility on the pipeline issue." One possible reason the U.S. stubbornly clings to the now rejected Turkish pipeline may be Turkey's ever increasing value as a strategic ally.....

Chicago Sun Times 6/10/99 Robert Novak "...In the first week of July 1997, the Justice Department dispatched a lawyer from its campaign-finance task force and an FBI agent to Little Rock, Ark., in quest of a warrant to search the home and offices of restaurateur and Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie. But they were called back to Washington before any warrant could be issued. Not until 3 1/2 months later was the search made. By that time, as court testimony has shown, material subpoenaed by Senate investigators was destroyed by Trie's order. After the story of the aborted search warrant was confirmed last week by Justice in briefing the House Government Reform Committee staff, Chairman Dan Burton subpoenaed records of what transpired two years ago. Typically, the department missed the subpoena's due date. Such stonewalling by Attorney General Janet Reno long ago cooled the investigative fervor of the Republican-controlled Congress. But not Burton's. Dogged despite intense abuse, the chairman still targets illegal foreign financing for President Clinton's re-election in 1996. What's more, Burton has cited new evidence in asking Reno to reconsider something she has steadfastly refused: naming an independent counsel. This effort to breathe life into Burton's inquiry comes as Reno's lieutenants are putting a lid on the scandal that once threatened the Clinton presidency. Trie and fund-raiser John Huang both have entered guilty pleas for lenient sentences, with the Clinton White House and the Democratic National Committee off the hook. The Justice Department's deadly delay in executing the Trie search warrant bears an eerie resemblance to its refusal to wiretap a scientist suspected of giving nuclear weapons secrets to China. In Trie's Little Rock trial last month, his office manager, Maria Mapli, testified under a grant of immunity that she followed Trie's orders to destroy information sought by Sen. Fred Thompson's investigation beginning in mid-1997. According to committee sources, the FBI pressed for the search warrant, only to be forestalled by Justice Department orders from Washington. "It is troubling to wonder what additional records that we will never know about may have been destroyed in this time frame," Burton said in a June 4 letter to Reno accompanying the subpoena...."

Chicago Sun Times 6/10/99 Robert Novak "...The Burton committee's open-ended investigation still is seeking testimony from Trie and Huang. But, as usual, the Justice Department is insisting on delays..... In again calling for an independent counsel, Burton in a May 26 letter to Reno cited two pieces of evidence that "coffees" at the White House were, in fact, fund-raisers. The first was the assertion in former White House Special Counsel Lanny Davis' new book that the "coffees were held to raise money during a political campaign. That's a fact." The second, retrieved from the computer of March Fong Eu, former U.S. ambassador to Micronesia, describes the coffees as fund-raisers presided over by the "man"--presumably Bill Clinton. Reno, guided by her highly political aides, has been impervious to new evidence when she has refused to invoke the independent-counsel statute. That was made clear in a chilling interview on ABC's "Nightline" May 26 with former Justice Department campaign-finance task-force chief Charles LaBella. His 94-page memo recommending an independent counsel, he indicated, was ignored last year because Reno already had made up her mind. "Nobody talked to me about that [report]," LaBella said. "Nobody ever debriefed me on my report." He was soon shuffled out of government service. LaBella also revealed that he had been ordered by the deputy attorney general's office: "Don't talk to Congressman Burton." Complaining to me that "we have been blocked by the Justice Department," at every turn, Burton is one member of Congress who argues that an independent counsel mechanism is essential...."

Chicago Sun-Times 6/10/99 Robert Novak "...n the first week of July 1997, the Justice Department dispatched a lawyer from its campaign-finance task force and an FBI agent to Little Rock, Ark., in quest of a warrant to search the home and offices of restaurateur and Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie. But they were called back to Washington before any warrant could be issued. Not until 3 1/2 months later was the search made. By that time, as court testimony has shown, material subpoenaed by Senate investigators was destroyed by Trie's order. After the story of the aborted search warrant was confirmed last week by Justice in briefing the House Government Reform Committee staff, Chairman Dan Burton subpoenaed records of what transpired two years ago. Typically, the department missed the subpoena's due date. Such stonewalling by Attorney General Janet Reno long ago cooled the investigative fervor of the Republican-controlled Congress.... This effort to breathe life into Burton's inquiry comes as Reno's lieutenants are putting a lid on the scandal that once threatened the Clinton presidency. Trie and fund-raiser John Huang both have entered guilty pleas for lenient sentences, with the Clinton White House and the Democratic National Committee off the hook..... According to committee sources, the FBI pressed for the search warrant, only to be forestalled by Justice Department orders from Washington. "It is troubling to wonder what additional records that we will never know about may have been destroyed in this time frame," Burton said in a June 4 letter to Reno accompanying the subpoena. The Burton committee's open-ended investigation still is seeking testimony from Trie and Huang. But, as usual, the Justice Department is insisting on delays. Expressing concern that in return for their light sentences, the cooperation by the two fund-raisers might be "very limited," Burton wrote Reno: "The American people have a right to know what role these individuals played in the campaign fund-raising scandal and whether they are providing full and honest cooperation with the U.S. government."..."

6/14/99 AP "...Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang was arraigned Monday on a conspiracy charge as part of a plea bargain that was reached after he helped the government's campaign finance investigation. He is expected to plead guilty in federal court next Monday. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of a year's probation, 500 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine and a requirement that he continue cooperating with the government. Huang's plea agreement specifies that he has already participated in 21 interviews with prosecutors and agents....."

On December 9, 1995 Chairwoman and co-founder of the Back to Business Committee solicited a donation from Johnny Chien Chuen Chung and afterwards not only arranged a private meeting for him with Ambassador James R. Sasser in China but also arranged a meeting for Chung with a Commerce Department official in Washington. Chung said that Cutler indicated Maggie Williams, the First Lady's chief of staff, suggested she contact him. Chung made a $25,000 donation to Back to Business Committee, a private committee that publicly defended the President and Hillary Clinton against Whitewater attacks. Less than a year earlier, Maggie Williams had accepted a $50,000 donation from Chung in the White House, which he said she solicited. Back to Business arranged for a network of volunteer speakers to counter Clinton critics and disseminate pro-Clinton information through the media between 1994 and the summer of 1996. Ann Lewis was Cutler's Back to Business partner, both are now White House aids. Cutler was vice chairwoman of the DNC from 1981 to 1992. Lewis served as deputy manager of the 1996 Clinton/Gore campaign.

Investigators are looking into Ambassador to China Jim Sasser, a lease agreement between a federal agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and a longtime friend of Vice President Al Gore, Chattanooga developer Franklin Haney. Sasser, former Democratic senator from Tennessee, was Haney's lawyer in 1995 and 1996 after he lost his Senate seat and before he was appointed ambassador to China. Haney is a longtime Gore ally and loyal Democratic supporter, Peter Knight, Haney's attorney, is a former Gore aide who ran the Clinton/Gore campaign in 1996. Haney is part owner of the Portals, a cluster of buildings in southwest Washington. He joined the partnership in 1996. The FCC has resisted moving to the Portals for more than a decade. The empty building has cost the federal government almost $ 14 million. A $1 million payment was made in 1996 from Haney to Knight on the same day the lease was signed. It is not known whether Sasser received a similar payment from Haney. Sasser and Knight met separately with top officials of the FCC and the General Services Administration about the lease. Haney, Sasser and Knight are all refusing to cooperate with the Congressional investigation.

DNC Richard Sullivan's attorney, Robert Bauer, is from the Perkins Coie law firm which also represents the interests of the People's Republic of China in the U.S. Robert Bauer, Judith Corley and Holly Shadler, also of Perkins Coie, helped set up the "Back to Business" committee Robert Bauer, Judith Corley and Holly Shadler helped set up James Carville's Education and Information project devoted to investigating and attacking enemies of the White House.

Government Reform and Oversight Interim Report ". Chung's relationship with Liu Chao- Ying followed a familiar pattern. He wrote a letter of invitation to facilitate the acquisition of a visa. He formed a company with her that never appeared to do any business. He made contributions to open doors. He escorted her to fundraisers and meetings with Federal officials. .It is instructive, but not conclusive, that Chung received a $190,000 wire from Hong Kong three days before the event, and contributed $45,000 to the DNC one week after the event. Until the Committee is able to interview Chung and Liu, it will be unable to determine conclusively if the wire from Hong Kong was intended for political contributions. During the July trip, Chung also arranged for Liu, as part of a larger group of people, to have lunch in New York with the Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York -- Israel Sendrovic. Sendrovic said that Chung introduced Liu as the daughter of "the head of" the People's Liberation Army, but did not recall discussing business matters with her.."I would like to invite you to visit the United States again regarding a couple of issues that we discussed before. First, I've made arrangement with the Federal Stock Exchange Commission and a professional investment broker to discuss the promotion of your company in the U.S. stock exchange. Since your last meeting with Mr. Sendrovic, Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, I had several follow up conversations with him. He had also mentioned that he wished to meet with you again." "Second, I have contacted Boeing and McDonald (sic) Douglas regarding your interest of purchasing aircraft miscellaneous parts. They have agreed to meet with you and as soon as you inform me of your schedule, I will be able to make the appointment. Looking forward to seeing you again." ..Shortly thereafter, Chung and Liu traveled to Washington and met with Senator John Kerry. Senator Kerry had contacted Chung "numerous times that summer because they were nearing the end of a tough campaign." According to press reports, Chung "was interested in learning how to clear the way for Chinese companies to get listed on U.S. stock exchanges." Chung visited Kerry's office in late August and met the Senator with "businessmen and several associates." Chung asked for Kerry's assistance in setting up a meeting at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Chung claims that a letter was faxed to the SEC from Kerry's office while Chung was present. That afternoon, he and his guests met with Brian Lane, Director of the SEC's Corporation Finance Division, and his deputy, Meredith Cross. ..

Capitol Hill Blue 5/24/99 Doug Thompson "...James Sasser, President Bill Clinton's appointed ambassador to China, has a long history of helping enemies of the United States. As a Senator from Tennessee, Sasser voted more than 100 times to approve US aid to Communist Cuba, Marxist Angola, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, China and Russia, an examination of Senate voting records reveals. Shortly after losing an reelection bid in the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, Clinton appointed Sasser as Ambassador to China, even though the Tennessee Senator was considered to be a lightweight in foreign affairs issues..... But, as more and more details emerge about China's overt spying in the US and the Clinton administration's complicity in the growing scandal, intelligence professionals say Sasser's appointment fits into the pattern. "Sasser had a long record of support for China," says intelligence analyst Sander Owen. "As a political appointee, he would support the administration's approval of sensitive technology transfers to China where a career diplomat might question such a policy. It's obvious the administration wanted a 'yes man' in place." ..."

Washington Times 5/7/99 Helle Bering "....In effect, while China was actively engaged in nuclear espionage, Bill Clinton's political sugar daddy was engaging in the unauthorized transfer of the technology to launch from the same missile several of the smaller, improved warheads at different targets. A few months later, the chief of Chinese military intelligence personally directed $300,000 from Beijing to Democratic fat cat Johnny Chung's Hong Kong bank account for the sole purpose of helping to finance Mr. Clinton's 1996 re-election, telling Chung, "We like your president."..."

NBC NEWS Mike Viqueira Robert Windrem "…The biggest issue, says committee sources, is the matter of how much information will be released on the relationship between Democratic fund-raiser John Chung and Liu Chaoying, a lieutenant colonel in the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army. Most of the media attention has been focused on Chung’s $400,000 in contributions to the Democratic National Committee, much of which came from Chinese sources. Sources told NBC News that what Liu was after is using political connections to steal U.S. secrets. But the Cox Committee found a larger issue: Chung’s facilitation of contacts between Liu and U.S. officials. Sources told NBC News that what Liu really was seeking was political connections in order to steal U.S. secrets. One congressional source says that the two committees that investigated the campaign contributions missed the point if they concluded the contributions were an attempt to influence the election. "It wasn’t even a thumb on the scale," the source said….The sources said Liu was working in conjunction with her father, who was then the Chinese equivalent of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a man with enormous influence in China. Sources said the two wanted to set up phony companies and register them in the United States, so they could circumvent the need for some export licenses. This would have allowed stolen technology to be shipped to China with no questions asked….When asked if Hughes and Loral violated the law intentionally, one key congressional source would only refer to Cox’s comments that the companies "have harmed national security." ….While the Chinese were unable to glean sensitive material from the Loral Corp.’s analysis of a Chinese rocket failure, the hotel rooms where the Loral employees stayed were bugged and the Chinese were privy to their conversations, sources told NBC…. He said that Hughes gave the Chinese information that helped the accuracy and reliability of their rockets, while Loral helped with guidance. Hughes also helped with the design and shape of the Chinese rocket nose cone and atmospheric problems, the sources said. They said Hughes gave the Chinese information on how to build a "shroud" to cover satellites during launch, while knowing full well that the shroud is essentially the same thing as a "faring," used to cover nuclear warheads during flight…. "

Investors Business Daily 3/30/99 Paul Sperry "…In auditing former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary's bloated travel budget in June 1996, House Commerce Committee investigators didn't really focus on her China trip any more than her other three overseas ''trade missions.'' ….Fast forward to 1999. Committee investigators now know that: Chinese spies stole the U.S.' latest nuclear missile secrets from Los Alamos and possibly other labs that Energy owns, thanks in part to the security cuts O'Leary made in February 1995 - the same month she went to China….. Beijing bagmen -including John Huang, Charlie Trie and Johnny Chung - beat a path to the White House during the 1996 campaign, raising millions in illegal cash. Chung claims to have bribed O'Leary into meeting with a Chinese petrochemical industry official in October 1995. Former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown allegedly ''sold'' tax-paid seats on his own China trip to big Democratic Party donors like Loral Corp. CEO Bernard Schwartz, who cut a controversial satellite export deal with Beijing officials. All told, Brown's trade junkets raised an estimated $17 million for Democrats. Against that backdrop, O'Leary's China trip takes on new weight, sources say. ''Now we have a clearer picture of all this Chinese chicanery in the 1996 (election) cycle,'' said a House aide familiar with the O'Leary probe. ''And it (O'Leary's China trip) looks like it was just a shakedown operation following the Ron Brown model.''….. The Energy chief led her China mission about six months after Brown's. She took at least 45 ''business delegates,'' while Brown took at least 24. (The agencies still haven't fully disclosed all the participants.) Some showed up on both trips. One, Westinghouse Electric Co., has managed to tag along on yet another tax-backed junket to China - this one led by Commerce Secretary William Daley. He and 18 executives are in China this week. Like Brown's delegation, which boasted 15 major Democratic Party givers, O'Leary's was packed with Democratic donors. An Investor's Business Daily analysis of Federal Election Commission records from 1994 to 1998 shows that, among Energy's China delegation, Democratic donors outnumbered GOP donors by more than 2-to-1. And big Democratic donors dwarfed big GOP donors by 4-to-1. Democratic donors tended to open their wallets wider after the trip. For instance, AES Corp. Chairman Roger Sant gave $30,000 to the Democratic National Committee in 1996 and 1997, but nothing in 1994 or 1995. He also gave his thanks to O'Leary, who now sits on the AES board. The Arlington, Va.-based contractor builds and runs coal-fired power plants and is working on projects in China. Or take Entergy Corp., which owns Arkansas Power & Light. It kicked in $100,000 in soft money to the DNC about four months after the China trip. Entergy President and CEO Terry Ogletree, who rode on the plane, gave $1,000 (the maximum individual gift to candidates) to the Clinton- Gore campaign at the same time, records show. Entergy was also represented on Brown's August-September 1994 trip to China. There, it signed a $1.3 billion deal with Indonesia-based Lippo Group to expand and run a coal- fired power plant in northern China….. Schwartz, for one, joined Brown's key China mission just two months after writing a check to the DNC for $100,000…… In Brown's mission to China, Klayman only recently discovered that fund-raiser Chung tagged along as an ''unofficial'' delegate. While there, Chung met with People's Liberation Army officers. In 1996, Chung funneled at least $100,000 in PLA money to Democratic causes. In auditing O'Leary's trip to China, even the inspector general couldn't make a firm head count…… While there's no direct proof of a pay-to-play scheme at Energy, the department did work closely with Commerce on its trips. For example, O'Leary testified that she and Ron Brown '' convened (with a team from the White House) to conduct trade missions to China.''….. At the same time Energy officials were exchanging information with communist leaders in early 1995, they were dismantling the security system at the nation's top-secret nuclear-weapons research labs. It was also in 1995 that intelligence officers learned that China had stolen from Los Alamos critical data for building miniature nuclear warheads…….. Some experts fear there might be a link between recent Chinese espionage and the administration's trade trips to China. Computer encryption, satellite and energy secrets would be the three most likely things compromised on the trips, they say. Officials with both Commerce and Energy assert that business delegates got ''counterintelligence briefings'' at the airport before takeoff. But according to Layton's report, the China group wasn't briefed until ''the secretary met (them) in Shanghai,'' their first stop, on Feb. 19, 1995. In her statement to Congress, O'Leary said, ''the National Security Council approved our foreign travel in advance.'' That would be the same NSC that gave Chinese espionage at Los Alamos low priority for three years after its discovery. Another troubling aspect to O'Leary's China mission is what happened about eight months later. On Oct. 19, 1995, O'Leary met here with a Chinese petrochemical industry official in what she says was a routine meeting. But Chung claims he arranged the meeting -after giving O'Leary a $25,000 donation. The charge, made on NBC News in August 1997, triggered a review by Attorney General Janet Reno to see if it was probative enough to name an independent counsel to investigate. On Dec. 2, 1997, she announced that it was not…."

Los Angeles Times 4/4/99 William Rempel, Henry Weinstein, Alan Miller "...About a month after press accounts reported his deal with federal investigators, Chung was approached by a San Gabriel Valley businessman, who said he was an associate of Liu. That session was secretly recorded by the FBI and videotaped with a camera hidden in a clock. In a conversation conducted in Chinese, the businessman offered Chung a carrot and a stick. According to sources familiar with the investigation, the businessman advised Chung to keep silent about his contacts with Ji. In return, Chung would receive funds sufficient "to live very comfortably." But the businessman suggested that Chung and his family could have safety concerns if the offer was ignored, the sources said. The threats were veiled but ominous, the sources said, declining to provide details. Furthermore, the businessman advised Chung to go to jail if necessary, assuring Chung that friends in high places would support him. The businessman even suggested that Chung could expect to be pardoned by the president...."

ConservativeNews.org 4/13/99 Ben Anderson "...House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton (R-IL) has written letters to President Bill Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, in another attempt to win their cooperation to determine the extent of Chinese influence in the 1996 elections. Burton's latest attempt is rekindling flames in a campaign finance investigation launched two years ago, but delayed by 121 witnesses fleeing the country or refusing to testify and by White House assertions of executive privilege. Following-up on Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji's commitment last week to "cooperate" with an investigation of illegal campaign contributions, Burton wrote to the Premier asking for the Chinese government's cooperation on two levels: Interviews with would-be witnesses and bank records of wire transfers to Charlie Trie and Johnny Chung, both Democratic National Committee donors. When committee investigators applied for visas in January 1998, to interview witnesses in China, Embassy officials in Washington said they were under orders from the Chinese Foreign Ministry to deny visas pertaining to a congressional investigation. "My staff was further informed that anyone who attempted to travel to China or Hong Kong to conduct interviews in this investigation would be arrested," Burton wrote in his letter to Zhu. According to Burton, the committee has "received little or no cooperation" in obtaining "information about wire transfers from the Bank of China to key figures" in the fundraising investigation....With media reports of Chung's testimony before Federal investigators and Zhu's visit as a backdrop, Burton asked Reno for help in making Chung available to testify before the Committee. Despite reaching a plea agreement with Chung more than one year ago, the Justice Department has failed to bring about one indictment, Burton notes. "Recent media reports have suggested that the Task Force's work has ground to a halt," Burton said, referring to Fox News Channel's report that Reno had essentially approved of keeping the case open simply for political expediency, but allowing the work of the investigation to stall...."

NewsMax 4/7/99 Debra Saunders "... According to Chung, Liu told him that she and Ji were using other people to launder money to Clinton's re-election campaigns. "We like your president," Ji reportedly said. In the last few months, Americans have learned that U.S. national security is weaker and China is stronger because of Clintonia's feckless China policies. Ji should like Clinton. The New York Times reported that the Chinese government stole U.S. nuclear secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, thereby gaining vital intelligence that beefed up its nuclear capabilities. A bipartisan House committee headed by Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., reportedly determined that Hughes Electronics Corp. and Loral Space & Communications Ltd. shared sensitive U.S. technologies with Chinese entities. Cox doesn't believe that Chinese biggies funneled money through Chung because they wanted to assure Clinton's re- election. No matter how much they like him. Cox sees a wilier motive. "General Ji runs the People's Liberation Army's military intelligence department, which is responsible for collecting science and technology info with military applications. Colonel Liu is quite evidently in the same business," Cox said yesterday. "There is reason to conclude that the PLA was more interested in using their U.S. political connections for technology acquisition than they were in influencing the outcome of an election with campaign contributions." Put another way: It's the military secrets, stupid. And stupidly, greedily, Team Clinton got cozy with the bad guys...."

United States House of Representatives 4/29/99 The Honorable Dan Burton (R. In) "....Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, my committee, the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, of which I am chairman over the past 2 1/2 years, has been investigating illegal campaign contributions that came in from a variety of countries around the world...During the past 2 1/2 years we have been trying, day and night, to get to the bottom of this. We have tried to get people to come forward and testify, we tried to get cooperation from the Justice Department, the White House, but we have been very, very unsuccessful because there seems to have been a stone wall erected by the White House and the Justice Department and other agencies to keep us from getting to the bottom of this. We have had 121 people, 121 people take the Fifth Amendment or flee the country. That is unparalleled in American history...Now today I rise on a different subject, but it may be related, and that is why it is so troubling to me. The Chinese communists, through people in their government, the head of their military intelligence and the head of their Chinese aerospace industry gave a man named Johnny Chung $300,000 to give, at least in large part, to the Clinton Reelection Committee, and they were not doing it in my opinion for Mr. Clinton's good looks. They obviously had some kind of an agenda. The head of the Chinese military intelligence and the head of the Chinese aerospace industry giving campaign contributions to a candidate for President in this country would lead almost anyone to say there is something amiss here, there is something wrong, and it should be thoroughly investigated. Mr. Speaker, we just recently found out that at Los Alamos, one of our nuclear research facilities, that they had a man there named Wen Ho Lee who had been there for a long time who is believed to have been involved in espionage. I am very concerned about some of the statements that have come out of the administration with respect to China's thefts of these U.S. nuclear secrets. Again and again we have seen administration officials all the way up to the President make misleading statements about what they knew and when they knew it. Let me provide you with some examples...."

United States House of Representatives 4/29/99 The Honorable Dan Burton (R. In) "....One good example is on March 19, 1999, President Clinton was asked by a reporter, `Can you assure the American people that under your watch, no valuable secrets were lost?' The President responded, `Can I tell you there has been no espionage at the lab since I have been President? I can tell you that no one,'--listen to this--`I can tell you that no one has reported to me that they suspect such a thing has occurred.' So the President was saying he was totally uninformed. He did not know anything about it. Well, Mr. Speaker, the President's response about his knowledge of Chinese spying is not only troubling and disingenuous, it is just hard to believe. The Clinton administration, his administration, knew about the full extent of Chinese spying at Los Alamos and Livermore and other laboratories as far back as 1996, over 3 years ago. Then the National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, head of the NSC, was briefed about the Chinese spying by the Energy Department's chief of intelligence, a Mr. Notra Trulock. Berger was told that China had stolen W-88 nuclear warhead designs and neutron bomb technology. He was told that a spy might still be passing secrets to China at Los Alamos, our nuclear research facility. He was even told that the theft of neutron bomb data occurred in 1995 under the President's administration..."

United States House of Representatives 4/29/99 The Honorable Dan Burton (R. In) "....Mr. Speaker, in August of 1997, Gary Samore, the senior National Security Council official assigned to the China spy case, received a briefing from Mr. Notra Trulock, who is the head of intelligence security over at the Department of Energy, and immediately after the briefing about this spying, he went to the CIA director and asked the CIA director to seek an alternative analysis about how the Chinese had developed these small nuclear warheads. So after he had been told they stole this nuclear technology and that spying was going on, he went to the CIA and said, `Can't you give us a different way they got this technology?' Why would he do that? Why, when presented with such overwhelming evidence of Chinese espionage, did Gary Samore seek to downplay the significance of the information, asking the CIA to come up with another explanation, other than espionage, about China's advances? We had already gotten some of this information from our intelligence sources over in China...."

United States House of Representatives 4/29/99 The Honorable Dan Burton (R. In) "....This has been going on for some time. Norris's colleague, physicist Matthew G. McKenzie said that `unauthorized access to those programs, so-called legacy codes, used to simulate warhead detonation, would represent an unprecedented act of espionage in his scope. Get this. The espionage in the Manhattan Project, that was right after we discovered the nuclear bomb that ended World War II, the espionage in the Manhattan Project would pale, would pale, in comparison.' This is so much more damaging. We are focusing everything right now in the media almost on Kosovo, and our heart goes out to the people who are suffering over there. But this espionage endangers every man, woman and child in this country if we ever go to war with Communist China. And they have made threats in the Taiwan Straits. They have made overt threats about we would not go into Taiwan to protect them because we value Los Angeles more than we do Taiwan, which was an implied threat. So you do not know what might happen. They are a Communist dictatorship. Yet they got all this, and we keep working with them and dealing with them as if nothing happened...."

United States House of Representatives 4/29/99 The Honorable Dan Burton (R. In) "...My committee will continue to investigate the illegal campaign contributions. The Cox report which looked into this espionage should be made public. The White House has blocked, according to the information I have, the White House has continued to block the Cox report from being made public. Much of it has been leaked to the American people through the media, but not all, and that information needs to be made known to every man, woman and child. Because if this administration has been derelict in its responsibilities and endangered every man, woman and child, it is more important than Kosovo. It is more important than anything. And we need to get to the bottom of it and those who let this happen, for whatever reason, campaign contributions or because they like the Chinese or whatever reason. They need to be held accountable and brought to justice...."

Labella on NightLine Freeper kristinn reports 5/26/99 "...Labella says Reno not interested in his memo--her mind already made up. His report was ridiculed as "emotional". He was never debriefed on it by Justice. Says he managed to alienate the power establishment and was run out of town. Points to two phone messages, one right after the other. First is a "call me" message from Rep. Dan Burton. Second one is from a Justice Dept. official, "Don't talk to Burton." LaBella shipped out to San Diego, then passed over for appointment as U.S. Attorney. Questions raised about the motivations of nominator, Sen. Boxer about why she nominated LaBella's underling for the post...."

Roll Call 7/20/98 Amy Keller "The Democratic National Committee is planning to return more than $105,000 in tainted contributions this week in the wake of the recent indictment of Democratic contributor Duangnet Kronenberg, and House Government Reform and Oversight Chairman Dan Burton (R-Ind) is digging to find even more questionable money still sitting in the DNC's coffers. The DNC has already returned more than $3 million in suspected foreign contributions since the last election. With the party still mired in $3.24 million worth of net debt, GOP sources are crowing that the DNC can ill afford to start refunding more money.GOP investigators are also wondering why the DNC has kept at least $100,000 in contributions from Jessica Elnitiarta, the daughter of Indonesian businessman Ted Sioeng, who is believed to have funneled at least $400,000 in donations from Hong Kong-based companies..Last week, committee lawyers were slated to conduct depositions of the two witnesses, but the witnesses hired a new lawyer on the night before the scheduled depositions -- thereby causing another delay. The pair is now being represented by Brian Sun, who represented the Buddhist nuns that testified before Sen. Fred Thompson's (R- Tenn) campaign finance panel last year. A witness related to Sioeng could not be deposed because of problems in obtaining a translator. "Everything is like pulling teeth," the GOP source lamented."

Washington Times 8/10/98 Editorial "At the rate the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is refunding illegal donations that arrived from Indonesia during the 1996 presidential campaign, the International Monetary Fund will soon have to include the DNC among the organizations involved in the international economic bailout of Indonesia. Last year the Democratic Party was forced to refund $450,000 to Arief and Soraya Wiriadinata, whose father was a major investor in the Lippo Group, an Indonesia-based conglomerate controlled by the Riady family. Lippo's initial U.S. base of operations was established in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the Riady clan and their employees befriended Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and later became major contributors to his campaigns. The DNC seems to have more refunds to make. Last week, investigators for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee revealed that another $200,000, which originated in Indonesia in the form of travelers checks issued by a bank formerly controlled by the Riady family, made its way stateside in 1996, where much of the money was laundered into illegal contributions to the DNC or used as payments and "gifts" to party contributors and fund-raisers. Former Little Rock restaurateur Charles Yah Lin Trie, President Clinton's longtime friend who was indicted earlier this year and charged with illegal fund-raising activities, controlled much of the money. Also involved was Mr. Trie's business associate, Antonio Pan, a former Lippo executive, who was also indicted earlier.It should be noted that the matter involving the $25,000 laundered through Mr. Ho came to light only because a committee investigator, not the Justice Department's task force, initiated contact with Mr. Ho last month, though the Justice Department knew of the travelers checks for several months. After interviewing Mr. Ho in New York on July 15, the committee investigator, Tim Griffin, told a Democratic committee staffer on July 21 that the Republicans wanted to publicize the checks. Alerted by the committee's minority staff, the Justice Department dispatched an FBI agent and a lawyer the next day to interview Mr. Ho in New York. Subsequently threatened with a subpoena by Mr. Griffin, Mr. Ho became more forthcoming and implicated Mr. Pan. This is a significant development because for the first time it links Mr. Trie with Indonesian money. Given that Mr. Pan, the former Lippo executive, seems to have been intimately involved, it raises more questions about the extent to which Lippo itself may have sought to subvert the election here.."

Washington Weekly 9/6/98 Wesley Phelan Marvin Lee "Two weeks ago Roger Clinton went on live television to issue warning from his brother, the president, to "politicians who live in glass houses..." Rep. Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee did not heed the warning.. The reaction was swift. A whispering campaign in Washington alleged that Vanity Fair had investigated the sex life of Dan Burton and was set to publish the story. Press reports indicated that Vanity Fair writer Russ Baker had spent six weeks digging through Burton's trash and sexual history..The timing of the Vanity Fair leak makes it unlikely that it was made independent of the White House, whose modus operandi it is to gather dirt on critics by illegally obtaining their FBI file or by having private investigators like Terry Lenzner or Jack Palladino investigate them. In order to launder such illegally obtained information, however, the White House needs the cooperation of a friendly journalist willing to act as a fence and put his name on dirt provided by the White House.Past attacks on Clinton critics have been funded, in part, by the People's Republic of China. Johnny Chung has admitted that he donated $25,000 to the "Back to Business" committee that distributed the White House "Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce" report that laid out the "vast right-wing conspiracy" of Clinton critics. The "Back to Business" committee was incorporated by the Perkins Coie law firm which represents the interests of the People's Republic of China in the United States. Perkins Coie also incorporated James Carville's "Education and Information Project" that has sponsored attacks on Dan Burton in the past. U.S. intelligence has intercepted claims from the Chinese equivalent of the CIA that it had been successful in "thwarting" the Thompson Committee's investigation of Chinagate last year. If these claims are more than mere bravado and exaggeration, Chinese intelligence could only have done so through allied Senators or journalists. Kim Kessler of Vanity Fair denied that Russ Baker had received any funding from Chinese sources or that the investigation of Dan Burton was an attempt to derail the Burton Committee's investigation into the Chinagate matter. Russ Baker was not available for comment."

Charles Smith WorldNetDaily 9/15/98 "According to Chinese General Sun Tzu "All war is based on deception." Tzu wrote those words over 2,000 years ago and his first rule of war still applies today. For example, a hidden November 1994 letter written by Democratic National Committee donor Sanford Robertson to President Clinton that clearly details the sale of Commerce trade trips for campaign donations. Robertson was so bold as to include a telling "P.S." where he notes for Clinton that "Bob Rubin" turned out the "Silicon Valley" at a Robertson sponsored fund-raiser that took in "$100,000" for California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Of course, neither Robertson nor current Treasury Secretary Rubin expected that letter to be revealed. In November 1995, Vice President Al Gore called Sanford Robertson from the White House and asked for a $100,000 donation. In January 1996 Robertson obliged and kicked in $80,000 soft and $20,000 in so-called "hard" donations to the Clinton/Gore campaign. The fact that Gore made the call from inside the White House is the least of his legal problems. In 1993 Clinton named Gore to head U.S. export policy for encryption technology in a TOP SECRET order written by National Security advisor Anthony Lake. A 1996 secret memo on a secret meeting of DCIA Deutch, FBI Director Freeh and Attorney General Janet Reno states: "The Vice President chairs the senior group that set the Administration's encryption policy; since February 1994 it has been supported by a working group co-chaired by NSC, and OMB, composed of NSA, CIA, FBI, State, Commerce (BXA, NIST), and Justice." ."

An analysis by Freeper Stillman 9/14/98 "On March 12, 1997, The New York Post published an article entitled "Bill's Big Switch on China $yndrome," by Deborah Orin, Washington Bureau Chief. That article contains the following lead: The White House yesterday conceded two National Security Council staffers could have briefed President Clinton on charges China was meddling in U.S. elections -- but didn't. That acknowledgment came a day after Clinton complained "the president should know" and suggested the FBI briefed two NSC staffers but told them not to tell anyone else. The FBI believes China was trying to funnel illegal campaign funds into the United States. In Monica Lewinsky's testimony before the Starr Grand Jury, she stated the President Bill Clinton ended their sexual relationship on March 29, 1997, because he had found out that a "foreign embassy" had monitored their phone sex calls. All of those calls took place over unsecure telephone lines..It is possible those briefings concerned the fact that President Clinton's phone sex was being monitored by a foreign embassy. This would have led to Clinton's breaking off his relationship with Lewinsky at their next tryst. The NY Post article goes on to say: The FBI also briefed several lawmakers, mostly Democrats, about Chinagate.... Also briefed were Sens. Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). So, members of the President's own National Security Council were briefed, as were an odd assortment of liberal Democrats in Congress. But this information was not passed on to the President of the United States. Moreover, the FBI took specific steps to ensure that the President would not be notified.."

Freeper Garland F 5/17/99 observed "...I pressured Henry Hyde to go forward with the China evidence from the Burton and Thompson committees at a fund raiser for Bob Barr last week. He claimed that the Burton and Thompson committees must develop the evidence further. I told him that it was already developed and documented by the Congressional investigators in the Year of the Rat and got basically no reply. Even without the Cox report we already know that Clinton / Gore campaigns and the DNC had seven sources of revenue tracable through 11 streams to organizations and individuals directly connected to the Communist Chinese government. We also know that Bill Clinton is the only president in history to give sophisticated American military use technology to a Communist government over the objections of his own government agencies. He did it four times on four separate transfers over the objections of the DOD, NSA, State & Justice. This evidence is two years old and should have been included in the Articles of Impeachment. This is treason and bribery and it is hard to believe, but Newt and Henry Hyde were instrumental in keeping that evidence out of the Articles of Impeachment...."

5/25/99 Chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) today issued a subpoena to Democrat National Committee (DNC) fundraiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, to appear before the Government Reform Committee in June.... "Charlie Trie is one of the most important witnesses in the campaign finance scandal and we have many questions to ask him," Chairman Burton said. "We want to know about his contacts with the Chinese government and about the origins of the large amounts of foreign money that he funneled to the DNC. "I hope that the Justice Department and Mr. Trie will now cooperate with the Committee and that Mr. Trie will come in and resolve all of these unanswered questions. The American people have waited a long time for answers and they have a right to know the truth." More than 20 people associated with Trie have either fled the country or invoked their Fifth Amendment rights to avoid testifying. Antonio Pan, who was indicted with Trie for violating federal election laws, has fled the country. Macao developer Ng Lap Seng, Chinese executive Wang Jun, and most of Trie s foreign benefactors have refused to cooperate with Committee investigators. The Clinton Administration has provided no assistance in obtaining the cooperation of foreign governments...."

Softwar.com 5/25/99 "...Feinstein's financial ties to the communist Chinese and COSCO include her husband, Richard Blum. Blum is reported to be heavily tied to the PRC through his far east investment firm, Newbridge Capitol Corp. Blum's partner at Newbridge, Peter Kwok, also served as a consultant to COSCO, and COSCO Hong Kong Holdings, a company owned by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-Shing. In 1989, Kwok helped CITIC and Li Ka-Shing raise $120 million to buy a HUGHES built communications satellite for a company also part owned by Chinese Generals. Senator Feinstein is far closer to red China than a few business ties to her husband. The Los Angles Times reported in 1997 that Blum and Feinstein have visited with communist Chinese officials three times. Blum reportedly accompanied the Senator at his own expense and met with President Jiang Zemin and other top communist party officials. In January 1996, Feinstein and Blum were honored as the first foreigners to stay at Mao Tse-tung's former residence. One Feinstein document that screams out for further investigation is a letter dated Nov. 1, 1994, from a million dollar Democratic donor to President Clinton. Investment banker and Democratic fund-raiser Sanford R. Robertson wrote a "thank you" note to Clinton for a Ron Brown trade mission to China. Robertson complimented Brown's "diplomatic skills" in a meeting with Chinese dictator Li Peng. Robertson wrote that Secretary Brown "deftly navigated the human-rights issues by obtaining an agreement on further talks and then moved directly into the economic issues at hand: helping Chrysler, Sprint and others with their 'joint ventures.'" The Robertson letter closes with a smoking-gun postscript: "(Treasury Secretary) Bob Rubin came to our home on Thursday for a Dianne Feinstein dinner, which raised over $100,000 for her campaign. Bob, of course, turned out the financial community and Silicon Valley." The honorable Senator Feinstein was never asked by her colleagues on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee investigating the China connection about Robertson, her husband or the returned $12,000. There has never been any investigation of COSCO or Poly Tech. Bill Clinton has never answered detailed questions on Ron Brown, Wang Jun, Charlie Trie and John Huang. ..."

FoxNews 4/8/99 "...China's military intelligence official most likely to be interested in stealing U.S. secrets, sources say, also turns out to be the mastermind behind China's alleged plot to get the Clinton/Gore team re-elected in 1996 with illegal contributions. At the beginning of a complicated money trail is the head of Chinese military intelligence, General Ji. He pulls the strings at a massive Chinese conglomerate called China Resources Company. U.S. intelligence say some China Resources divisions in Hong Kong and worldwide are known fronts for China's Peoples Liberation Army and espionage. China Resources has joint ventures with an Indonesian-based international firm called the Lippo Group. Lippo is run by the ethnic Chinese Riady family. James Riady has visited the White House; his family has long supported the Clintons. The Riady family's chief advisor on U.S. political donations: John Huang. Huang left Lippo for a Commerce department job, then became a fundraiser, where mostly through connections to the Riadys, he collected nearly $2 million in illegal foreign contributions for the Democratic Party. Thus completes what investigators say was the Chinese military's circuitous route to funnel money to the president's re-election effort. Some checks to the Democratic Party were written from Hong Kong, drawn from accounts in the Lippo Bank, which is jointly owned by China Resources, Beijing's alleged front for spying. Johnny Chung, who has pleaded guilty to raising illegal foreign contributions, has told a grand jury that some of the money he contributed came from General Ji, the Chinese military intelligence chief. Chung has also said that Ji was coordinating efforts by John Huang and Charlie Trie, the president's old friend and fundraiser from Little Rock. Between the three of them, they raised over $3 million in illegal donations that have been linked back to China and its military...."

FoxNews 4/8/99 "... Vice President Al Gore, stung for attending a fundraiser at a Buddhist Temple where foreign contributions were laundered, has been connected, too. On September 23, 1993, Huang and Riady came to the White House to meet Gore, and introduce Zhen Zhur En (ph), head of Beijing's alleged espionage front, China Resources Company. Four days later Gore attended the California fundraiser with all of them, where over $100,000 in illegal contributions out of China were received. The vice president has denied doing or knowing about anything illegal. Evidence of Chinese spying and illegal campaign contributions have plagued president Clinton for the last three years. In addition to being a major foreign policy and national security problem right now, it's shaping up to be a campaign problem for Al Gore in 2000. On Capitol Hill, Carl Cameron, Fox News...."

USA Today 5/19/99 James Freeman "...What did the Chinese get for their money? The thugs who run the world's last communist empire aren't stupid. They didn't send a river of cash flowing toward Clinton/Gore without any expectations. So what was the return on their investment? We don't know yet. But China, currently the only country in the world with missiles targeted at the United States, apparently has acquired our most valuable nuclear technology. Rep. Christopher Cox, Chairman of the House Select Committee on China, says in an e-mail: "The compromise of our nuclear codes is exceptionally damaging, not only to U.S. national security but to the peace of the world for decades to come." ...."Something like this would have been a red flag. These were not low-level warnings," says Dov Zakheim, President of defense contractor SPC International. "If these reports are true, the Chinese now have our most modern capabilities," he says. Former top officials in the Clinton and Reagan Administrations, speaking on background, say they can't understand why the White House did not react aggressively to the threat of Chinese nuclear theft. U.S. secrets have been stolen before. What's new about this case is that once the government learned of the problem, U.S. officials did not act quickly to minimize the damage.... It's important to remember who these people are who run China's government. According to a 1997 report by the Department of Defense, their key objectives include "eventual recovery of claimed territories, and most important, preservation of the current communist political system." The report notes that China has sold nuclear and missile technology to Iran and Pakistan, among others, and there's more reassuring news: "China's current inventory of chemical agents includes the full range of traditional agents, and China is conducting research into more advanced agents." The report also reminds us that "China is the only country other than Russia whose land-based strategic missiles can strike the United States." That raises an interesting question. What are they going to do with the data they just stole from our labs? .....Now we have to count on Beijing's good sense and good will. When you see how this regime treats its own people, you might start to get nervous. ..."

USA Today 5/19/99 "...To date, there is no direct evidence linking Chinese money to changes in American defense policy. But if there's a reasonable explanation for the following list of coincidences, it's about time we heard it from the President. - Early in the Clinton Administration, China received America's "hot-section" technology, the key to building state-of-the-art fighter planes. The U.S. used this technology during the Cold War to gain a critical edge in creating metals used in jet engines. - "During the '80s, Soviet engines had a mean time between failures of 200 hours," says Steve Bryen, a former DOD official who directed the Pentagon's Defense Technology Security Agency during the 1980s. "For U.S. engines, the figure was about 10,000 hours. This was a huge advantage. China's engines were even less reliable than the Russian ones."..."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "....In 1994, U.S. Commerce officials knew there was a crime in progress -- a crime that involved millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars being used to pay off corrupt foreign politicians. Did the Commerce Department attempt to stop this crime? No. As a matter of fact, the federal agency appears to have done its best to help the criminals succeed. On Nov. 16, 1994, Bill Clinton and the late Ron Brown traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia, for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference, at which Clinton signed deals to supply Indonesia with electric power using U.S. taxpayer loans. The deals were worth billions to U.S. corporations such as Cal Energy, Mission Energy and General Electric....."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...In September 1994, long before Clinton signed the power deal, the Commerce Department documented that Indonesian dictator Suharto had cut himself in for a bribe. According to a 1994 Commerce document, 0.75 percent ownership of a $2 billion U.S.-backed power project was given -- at no cost -- to dictator Suharto's second daughter, Siti Hediati Prabowo. Prabowo's 0.75 percent ownership is equal to a free gift of $15 million from the U.S. taxpayers. The $15 million is part of a $50 million bribe split between Prabowo and other Suharto relatives. In return, the Indonesian dictator selected companies owned by major Clinton donors to build the Paiton power plant in east Java.....The Paiton power project consisted of two 600-million watt, coal-fired plants to provide electricity for east Java. The partners in the U.S.-led consortium included Mission Energy, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Japan, General Electric Capital Corporation of the U.S., and P.T. Batu Hitam Perkasa, an Indonesian firm formed in 1989 to participate in the development of the country's private power industry. The leader of the U.S. project in the Paiton power plant, Mission Energy, is also a partner of Indonesia's Lippo Group, a consortium partly owned by Indonesian billionaire Mochtar Riady and the Chinese Army's CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) bank...."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...According to Federal Election Commission records, Mission Energy CEO, John Bryson, donated money to Clinton's campaigns and donated money to Clinton's legal defense fund. Riady, Bryson's partner in the Paiton project, is also accused of illegally donating money to Bill Clinton's political campaigns....On Sept. 30 1994, The Commerce Department, State Department, Mission Energy and several consultants met to review the Paiton project. According to hand written notes, "ADB is still considering this, b/c of very minimal involvement of Indo ruling family in the Mission project. ... ADB's delay revolves around concern for projects in Indonesia involving the first family. .75% ownership of the Mission project by daughter of Indo pres." ..."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...In another document dated, Nov. 1, 1994, only days before the Jakarta signing by Clinton, the Commerce Department noted, "Ambassador Barry stated that the project is facing two problems." Those two were "(i) the ADB financing may cave in and (ii) EXIM financing. Regarding ADB, technical questions have been satisfied, but ADB is skittish about involvement of Indonesia's first family (a minority shareholder is married to Pres. Suharto's daughter)." The Commerce Department documented that Indonesian dictator Suharto had cut his son-in-law into a kickback scheme. The documents show that Commerce was not only aware of Suharto's corrupt activities but quietly cooperated by seeking U.S.-backed financial aid for the project...."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...The Commerce documentation shows that U.S. Ambassador Barry worked directly with Linda Yang, executive director of the Asian Development Bank, to obtain financial support despite the concerns over kickbacks to Suharto.... However, after the signing by Clinton, in 1995, the ADB decided to not finance the Paiton deal due to their concerns. According to notes taken by Commerce Department officials at a Paiton meeting, "Mission Energy expecting default by March [1995] ... first project to go on bond market $180 M and will default also." In April 1995, Ron Brown came to the rescue and provided the U.S. Export-Import bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to substitute for the Asian Development Bank. Over $1.8 billion in limited recourse project debt was provided to Paiton by The Export-Import Bank of Japan, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation of the United States, and eight commercial banks...."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "....Commerce documents show that Lippo business partner Mission Energy (now named Edison Mission Energy) received strong Clinton administration support for the Paiton project. In March 1995, Mission Energy CEO John Bryson wrote Commerce Secretary Brown: "Dear Ron -- Thank you once again for being so ready to support a successful completion of the Paiton Power Project. ... The U.S. Government, from the President on down, has put a high priority on the Paiton Project." Furthermore, the Paiton power plant was designed to burn "low-sulfur Indonesian coal." In 1996 President Clinton created the 1.7 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, placing off-limits the world's largest deposit of low-sulfur coal. In the process, Clinton also greatly enriched Suharto. The coal for the Paiton plant is provided under a no bid contract from the global monopoly of "soft" environmental coal. Prabowo's brother-in-law, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, owns the Indonesian reserves of soft coal and is also another partner in the Mission Energy-General Electric partner at Paiton. Furthermore, Hashim is not only an old friend of Suharto, but Hashim's brother is Suharto's son-in-law and a general in the Indonesian army...."

Worldnetdaily 6/15/99 Charles Smith "...The Commerce Department has done its best to conceal evidence and hide the facts. On June 7, 1999, Commerce refused to release all the information on the Indonesian Paiton power plant, citing "commercial" privacy. Many of the documents released by the Commerce Department contained whole sections blacked out for "privacy" reasons...."

Washington Times National Weekly Edition 6/28-7/4/99 Jerry Seper "...The Democratic National Committee, which denies knowing the source of campaign contributions from Johnny Chung, actively targeted the California businessman for hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations shortly after his return from a 1994 trip to China. Just-obtained documents show the relationship between the DNC and Chung was far more significant than previously known and -- after a Republican victory in the 1994 general elections -- became even more intense over the next two years as the 1996 presidential election closed in. DNC records show that the organization made specific donation demands on Chung in exchange for giving him and several Chinese nationals, including members of China's military intelligence, access to President Clinton. Chung's ability to raise money became such an integral part of the DNC's fund-raising effort that the organization's finance director, Richard Sullivan, was formally assigned as his "contact."..."

Washington Times National Weekly Edition 6/28-7/4/99 Jerry Seper "...The records show that DNC officials did little to screen Chung's donations or to attempt to discover the identities of several Chinese officials and others Chung escorted to private meetings with the president. They portray a fund-raising effort bent solely on gathering hundreds of thousands of dollars for the 1996 race in exchange for access to the president. In October 1996, for example, the DNC insisted that Chung come up with a $25,000 donation so he could introduce Mr. Clinton to the wife and son of Gen. Ji Shengde, the chief military intelligence officer for the People's Liberation Army, during a political fund-raiser at Universal Studios in Los Angeles...."

Washington Times National Weekly Edition 6/28-7/4/99 Jerry Seper "...The DNC also solicited a $40,000 donation from Chung during a December 1994 fund-raiser in Los Angeles attended by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. That donation also helped Chung to attend a DNC leadership fund-raiser at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington for Vice President Al Gore and to the White House Christmas party, where he and two Chinese businessmen associated with the Haomen Beer Co. posed for pictures with the president and the first lady...."

Washington Weekly 6/20/99 ROBERT STOWE ENGLAND "...There are a few dots trailing between the transfer of missile technology by Hughes and Loral to China and President Clinton, his 1996 re-election campaign, and the Democratic Party. However, no one has ever successfully connected all these dots. Loral's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Schwartz, for example, has given over $1.5 million to various Democratic Party funds in recent election cycles, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. He has become the single largest donor to the Democratic Party. Schwartz has also given $16,050 to the Republican Party..."

Washington Weekly 6/20/99 ROBERT STOWE ENGLAND "... Former Hughes Chairman C. Michael Armstrong, on the other hand, has given only a few $1,000 donations to both Democratic and Republican candidates. He's now the chairman of AT&T. Campaign contributions linked to Chinese military officials were also funneled into the Democratic Party -- many of which were returned -- and Republicans have suggested that the Clinton Administration relaxed controls on technology transfer to China to reward its campaign donors. Some of the money tied to Chinese military sources was funneled through Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, a Little Rock, Arkansas, restauranteur and long-time friend of President Clinton. Trie raised $1.5 million from foreign sources during the 1996 election, but only donated $220,000 to the Democratic National Committee. Among the donations received by Trie was a May 1996 transfer of $100,00 from CP Group, shareholders in the Chinese-government controlled Asia Pacific Telecommunications Satellite Company in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Tel Sat was Hughes's satellite client on the 1995 rocket launch that failed to launch its Apstar 2 satellite. No one has successfully connected the dots from the CP Group contribution through Trie to the Commerce Department waiver a year earlier that granted Hughes permission to provide data to improve the very rocket that failed to launch Apstar 2...."

Washington Weekly 6/20/99 ROBERT STOWE ENGLAND "...The Cox Report's only allusion to campaign finance involves Hughes, not the big-time campaign donor Loral. Hughes's name surfaced in notes written in Mandarin on stationery from the Hong Kong International Hotel. The notes were found when Justice Department investigators searched Trie's Little Rock office. The handwriting on the Mandarin notes has not been analyzed to identify its author. Among 16 separate items in the notes are these three cryptic lines: Hughes U.S. Government Export Control Licenses Bribery Problem -- Government Official Cox committee investigators attempted to contact Trie through his attorney, the Cox Report states, but Trie refused to provide any information or testimony as he was facing trial on conspiracy charges to obtain benefits by circumventing election laws. ..."

The New Australian 6/99 Phyllis Schlafly "...The nuclear secrets stolen by Communist China are not inconsequential; they give the PRC "design information on thermonuclear weapons on a par with our own." The Cox Committee states that the PRC will surely "exploit this design information in its next generation of weapons." The hallmarks of the PRC's espionage strategy are the blurred lines between military and commercial technology. The Central Military Commission adopted Deng Xiaoping's "16-Character Policy," his command to combine the military and civil, combine peace and war, give priority to military products, and let the civil support the military. The Cox Report unravels the many ingenious Chinese techniques used to acquire U.S. military technologies. The Chinese constantly pressure U.S. commercial companies to transfer technology in joint ventures, and they extensively exploit dual-use products and services for military advantages. Nepotism is the name of the game in China's socio-political structure. The elite of the post-Deng ruling clique are the "princelings," the sons and daughters of Party officials who are credentialed with exalted business, military and political titles. Their status, as well as the cash bulging in their pockets,gave them extraordinary access to the Clinton White House. Among these specially anointed emissaries from China were Wang Jung, son of the late PRC President, and Liu Chaoying, daughter of the former most powerful PRC military boss. ..."

The New Australian 6/99 Phyllis Schlafly "...Wang, who attended one of the notorious Clinton coffees in the White House, was connected to $600,000 in illegal campaign contributions made by Charlie Trie to the Democratic National Committee, and also to the 1996 Chinese attempt to smuggle AK-47 assault rifles to Los Angeles street gangs.Liu, who was ostentatiously garbed with the titles Colonel in the People's Liberation Army as well as Vice President of a major missile and space corporation, attended a Clinton fundraiser in California. She gave $300,000 to Johnny Chung to use for Clinton's reelection in order "to better position her in the United States to acquire computer, missile, and satellite technologies." ..."

Nation 6/12/99 Christopher Hitchens "....It's always suspicious when Washingtonians start breaking into bad Latin. There may be a quid, you hear them say, and there seems to be a quo. But--aha--there's no smoking pro to connect the two. This pseudo-talk combines my least favorite styles: that of the overpaid attorney and that of the overpaid political obfuscator. Thus, it is not denied that Chinese military-industrial sources managed to transfer an awful lot of money to the Democratic National Committee. Nor is it denied that many tranches of valuable information made their way from American nuclear laboratories into the computer systems of the People's Republic of China. Nor is it denied that large American corporations were eager to share missile and satellite technology with the PRC, and that they, too, were generous to the DNC. All that is denied is that these things have anything to do with one another..."

Nation 6/12/99 Christopher Hitchens "....Here is Jeffrey Garten, formerly Clinton's Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade (and a onetime Nixon and Kissinger underling), recalling his work for Ron Brown in an incautious Newsweek essay in March 1997: John Huang, the suspicious DNC official, was a Commerce official first. You can't understand the 1996 money mess without grasping the environment in which commercial diplomacy was born. It is, after all, the major thrust of the President's foreign policy.... In our single-minded drive to help American companies, we dramatically expanded our commercial involvement in big emerging markets like China, India and Brazil. This push attracted a lot of foreigners who wanted to play in the new game.... There were people, like the Riadys or Charlie Trie or Johnny Chung, who may have thought they could gear this process to their own enrichment by buying special influence. If you open a wild bazaar, as we did, you have to expect the occasional pickpocket..... Here is another series of admissions in the guise of excuses. (The term "commercial diplomacy" is worth having, you must admit.) A former senior official affirms that there was a revolving door between the Commerce Department and a bunch of shady businessmen, all of whom are friends and backers of the President. And you notice (see my last "Minority Report") that all the "pickpockets" identified as polluting this otherwise noble enterprise have Asian names. How this squares with Clinton's indignation about "Asian-bashing" is more than I can say...."

Salon 6/21/99 David Horowitz "...The book [Year of the Rat] begins with the authors' observation that the No. 1 funder of the Clinton-Gore 1992 campaign was an Arkansas resident and Chinese banker named James Riady, who has been a friend of Clinton's for 20 years. Riady is the scion of a multibillion-dollar financial empire that is a working economic and political partnership with China's military and intelligence establishment. The Riadys gave $450,000 to Clinton's presidential campaign and another $600,000 to the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties. But the importance of the Riadys to Clinton's ascent is far greater than even these contributions suggest, and not merely because the Chinese network, in which the Riadys are only one important factor, extends through thousands of companies and individuals whose contributions no one has as yet attempted to track. Without the Riadys, Clinton would not have won the Democratic nomination in the first place, and would not have been in a position to benefit from their later largesse. In the presidential primaries of 1992, in fact, the Riadys were the absolutely crucial factor that stood between Clinton and defeat. After losing the New Hampshire primary, the candidate faced a crucial test in New York. But he had also run out of money. At this critical juncture, James Riady stepped in to arrange a $3.5 million loan to the Clinton campaign. New York proved to be the last real competition that Clinton faced on his path to victory. When the Arkansas governor stepped onto the national scene, Clinton and Riady were not new acquaintances. They had met in 1978, when Clinton was attorney general, and had not yet become governor of the state. They were introduced by Clinton's chief political backer, Jackson Stephens, the head of Stephens Inc., one of the largest private investment firms outside of Wall Street. "Thus began a friendship," in the words of Timperlake and Triplett, "that has lasted 20 years, and has spread a web of intrigue, financial corruption and foreign influence into American government." Riady had begun his American banking career earlier in the '70s as an intern at Stephens. Later, they became partners in the Worthen Bank of Little Rock, the very same institution that subsequently experienced a mysterious fire that destroyed records being sought by Kenneth Starr and other Whitewater investigators in their inquiries into Hillary Rodham Clinton's Rose law firm activities. It was through the Worthen bank that Riady arranged the $3.5 million credit to Clinton's failing primary campaign...."

Salon 6/21/99 David Horowitz "...The Riady relationship extended beyond the Clintons themselves to their friends and to Hillary's associates at Rose, including its head, Joe Giroir, and a White House aide named Mark Middleton, who later invoked the Fifth Amendment when he was called before a congressional committee. It was the Riadys who provided a $100,000 "job" for the indicted Web Hubbell, at the moment when he had indicated to the Starr prosecutors that he might be ready to talk. After the payment from Riady and others, Hubbell changed his mind and chose jail instead.

Salon 6/21/99 David Horowitz "...A central figure in the economic track of Chinese activities was the vice president and Far-East area manager for the Worthen Bank, a Chinese-born American named John Huang, who was a friend of Bill from Little Rock days. Triplett and Timperlake make a strong case that it was through the personal intervention of Hillary Clinton that in 1994 Huang was made a top official in the Commerce Department, where he had access to all the information an agent would need to strip America of the supercomputer technologies vital to the development of advanced weapons systems. Huang also inexplicably retained his top security clearance in the Commerce Department when he left the government. The decision to leave the government for a position at the Democratic National Committee was made for Huang at a meeting in the Oval Office attended by the president, Huang, Riady, Riady partner and former Rose law firm head Giroir and presidential aide Bruce Lindsey. This meeting took place three days after the president had decided on a strategy to rescue his failing political fortunes, which had reached a nadir following the Democrats' historic defeat in the congressional elections of 1994 and Newt Gingrich's ascension to the speakership of the House. It was the first Republican majority in the House in 48 years. Designed by the president's new political advisor, Dick Morris, the strategy involved a massive television dvertising campaign, directed against Gingrich and the Republican House. The campaign has been directly credited with turning the political tide and ensuring the reelection in 1996 of the Clinton team. The chief fund-raiser for this campaign was John Huang. It should be evident from these facts (and they could easily be amplified with many more) that the alliance Clinton has made with the Riadys and their China network is the pivot of his political career, and the absolute key to his survival. It has had consequences for American politics and security so vast that no brief summary can begin to describe them...."

AP Michael J Sniffen 8/3/98 "Democratic fund-raiser Gene K.H. Lum, who already has pleaded guilty to illegal contributions to 1994 congressional campaigns, was charged Monday with falsely claiming more than $7.1 million in deductions on tax returns for him and his wife."

Freeper Brian D. reports that "Freeh says president and core group of individuals may be involved in federal criminal activity" regarding the House Oversight Hearing 8/4/98

Drudge 8/4/98 ".New evidence surfaced on Tuesday of apparent of illegal foreign contributions to the Democratic Party in 1996. Congressional investigators provide details of $200,000 in travelers checks that were purchased from a bank in Indonesia, BANK CENTRAL ASIA in Jakarta, and later cashed or deposited in the United States by associates of Charlie Trie and Antonio Pan.One well-placed congressional source tells the DRUDGE REPORT that at least $50,000 of this laundered money was contributed to the Democratic National Committee! One stray travelers check, purchased in Indonesia, was cashed at the White House Federal Credit Union!."

AP Linda Deutsch 8/3/98 "Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia pleaded innocent to federal income tax charges today and her lawyer said they would seek to delay her trial until after a separate prosecution for allegedly disguising contributions to President Clinton's re-election.."

AP 12/22/98 Anne Gearan "…A longtime friend of President Clinton's tried to get a Taiwanese passport and may have planned to flee overseas to avoid charges related to his donations to Democrats, a prosecutor said today. Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie applied for the passport two weeks ago -- a day after he was last in court for a hearing on federal conspiracy, obstruction of justice and witness tampering charges related to his work for the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign… ."

NY Times 12/23/98 Steven Holmes ".A U.S. judge on Tuesday placed tighter restrictions on the movements of Yah Lin Trie, an Arkansas restaurateur who has been indicted on campaign fund-raising charges, after it was learned that Trie had applied for a Taiwanese passport. Judge Paul Friedman of U.S. District Court ordered that Trie, also known as Charlie, report twice a week in person to a court officer in Norfolk, Va., and that until his trial date he be subject to a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. The curfew will be enforced by random calls to the home in Virginia Beach, Va., where he is living with his sister.."

Washington Post 1/26/99 Bill Miller "…Saying he feared that former Democratic fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie was scheming to leave the country, a federal judge yesterday ordered Trie placed in a halfway house "24 hours a day," pending his trials on charges stemming from the Justice Department's campaign finance probe. U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman acted at the request of prosecutors, who accused Trie of an elaborate ruse to get a new Taiwanese passport to replace one seized by the court. The FBI learned that Trie applied for the passport last month, even though he was barred from leaving the country as a condition of his pretrial release on personal recognizance.."

Boston Herald 7/3/99 "...Huang, who raised millions so illegally that most of it had to be returned, obviously can give answers to some very serious questions, such as: What was he telling Riady and what was he hearing from the CIA? Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) wants to bring him back before his investigating committee, after his sentencing next month, under a grant of immunity from further prosecution. Incredibly, Janet Reno objects because there's a ``continuing investigation'' still under way, and the Democrats on Thompson's committee will use that lame excuse to block immunity. We haven't seen the end of Reno's stonewalling, which saw the resignation of her special adviser on the fund-raising scandal and her rejection of the advice of the head of the FBI to seek an independent counsel. As we've said before, there are ample grounds for impeaching her and removing her from office. No Cabinet officer has ever been impeached, but the Constitution permits the impeachment of ``all civil officers of the United States,'' and she is one. What would be the grounds? Obstruction of justice for a start. No one in the House of Representatives has the stomach for another impeachment, so she skates. But honesty demands clarity about what she deserves....."

LA Times 7/3/99 Henry Chu, Jim Mann "...The chief of Chinese military intelligence has been reassigned in a move that government officials here insisted was unrelated to his role in the U.S. campaign donations scandal. Gen. Ji Shengde's apparent demotion--from directing intelligence for the vast People's Liberation Army (PLA) to running a department at a military research institute--was characterized as a lateral transfer by a spokesman for the National Defense Ministry. Ji's new assignment, effective in June, came two months after The Times disclosed secret grand jury testimony by Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung alleging that Ji gave him $300,000 in the summer of 1996 to help support President Clinton's reelection campaign. Chung's subsequent high-profile testimony before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee in May was particularly embarrassing for Ji. Chung testified that Ji told him in mid-1996: "We really like your president. We hope he will get reelected. . . . I will give you 300,000 U.S. dollars. You can give it to . . . your president and Democrat Party."....Jonathan Pollack, a longtime specialist on Chinese military affairs at the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, said Ji's transfer was in no way routine. "It's a face-saving way to do this," Pollack said. "I don't see this as a normal rotation at all. "For someone who's been career military intelligence, it doesn't compute," he added, "They don't work that way. In [Chinese] military intelligence, they grow their own and they keep their own."...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Jerry Seper 7/8/99 "…The phone conversations began May 6, 1998, after news of the inquiry first surfaced. Mr. Luu told Chung that Cmdr. Li Yuan, an intelligence officer for the People's Liberation Army, was concerned about Chung's plight and wanted to meet with him. But he said the plan was scrubbed because of Chung's high visibility and legal problems. Five days later, Mr. Luu and Chung met at the Hilton Hotel in Torrance, Calif., where Chung was handed the secret code to arrange future meetings and was reassured that his "friends" in China were concerned about his problems. At a May 13, 1998, meeting at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Mr. Luu introduced Chung to lawyer David Brockway, saying he could help with his case, although he privately told Chung in Chinese not to tell the lawyer about the Beijing connection. "Don't let him know about the Beijing matter. Don't discuss it with him," Mr. Luu said. "We don't want him to know too much. OK?" …"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Jerry Seper 7/8/99 "…During that same meeting [6/24/98], Mr. Luu told Chung to gather all the "pictures, documents or letters" he had of Chinese officials so they could be returned to China. He said "the old gentleman" in Beijing --identifying the PLA's chief military intelligence officer, Gen. Ji Shengde -- "would like you to give these to him through me" before his court appearance. "Keep the documents sealed in an envelope. Even I am not to open it, understand?" Mr. Luu said….. Chung, who gave $366,000 to the Democratic Party between 1994 and 1996, told the House Government Reform Committee in May that Mr. Luu said he was in contact with "some people from Beijing." He said Mr. Luu told him he had received money from Chinese officials "to take care" of Chung's legal expenses……"

Judicial Watch 7/16/99 "…Johnny Chung, a Clinton fundraiser who admitted to funneling money from the China's military to the Democratic National Committee to help Bill Clinton, testified to Judicial Watch last week that the Reno Justice Department didn't want to hear all the information and evidence he had on Clinton Administration illegal fundraising and that he was abandoned by the Reno Justice Department despite repeated threats to his life from Chinese operatives. The complete text of Chung's testimony is now available on the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org. Mr. Chung also implicated an unnamed top official of the Justice Department, head of the Civil Division, in an effort to keep him quiet by fixing the case against him on campaign fundraising. In fact, Mr. Chung received no jail time. But Judicial Watch believes that the Eric Holder, the number two at the Justice Department, is the likely culprit here.
Another star witness in this case, Nolanda Hill, implicated Holder in similar activity -- accusing him of wanting to keep her quiet about what she knows about the illegal fundraising of her former confidante Ron Brown, the Clintons, and Al Gore. Chung also implicated President Clinton directly in a scheme to keep Chung quiet. Chung testified that he was told by a Chinese operative that President Clinton had a deal with the Chinese that Chung would be pardoned as long as he kept quiet. Chung also gave testimony indicating that Clinton and the Chinese President had agreed together on a cover story to explain away the Chinagate scandal….Chung also testified about threats to his life from at least two squads of Chinese operatives sent to the United States to harm him and his family. Despite these and other threats, Chung was recently told by the U.S. Attorney (appointed by Reno) overseeing his case that he should "call 911" if any future threats occurred… His latest testimony puts him at significant personal risk and is an act of patriotism. The fact that Reno, with Chung's testimony and other evidence, hasn't indicted one high-level official is absolute proof of a massive cover-up, one that Judicial Watch is committed to unraveling…"

Judicial Watch 7/16/99 "…Hillary Clinton, former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary, the Commerce Department, and other government officials were also tied to illegal fundraising, bribery, and other crimes in Chung's sworn testimony. Chung's testimony came in Judicial Watch's Chinagate lawsuit against the Commerce Department over its sale of taxpayer-financed trade mission seats in exchange for campaign contributions and related issues…."

New York Times 7/16/99 William Safire "… The most dramatic clash between the F.B.I. and the heavily politicized Reno Department of Justice took place in February 1997. Stimulated by press reports of "the Asian connection" to the Clinton-Gore campaign, the Bureau teletyped all field offices for reports on foreign attempts to influence U.S. political campaigns. On Washington's Birthday the F.B.I.'s counterintelligence chief, John Lewis, delivered a packet of those top-secret reports to Janet Reno. "The Attorney General gave the packet of teletypes to then Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick," reports Michael Bromwich, the in-house Inspector General. At the same time, White House Counsel Charles Ruff made two calls to Justice seeking to find out what embarrassment was in store. Never told by Ms. Reno of F.B.I. restrictions on the documents, Ms. Gorelick bucked them to the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review. They then blithely passed them on to Laura Ingersoll's Justice "task force," selected for its ineptitude. Nothing doing, said the F.B.I., which "retrieved the packet shortly after the Task Force received it," according to Bromwich. When I asked the F.B.I. Director, Louis Freeh, yesterday if he had been aware of the confrontation -- an unprecedented dispatch of agents to snatch back evidence from Main Justice -- he replied, "I knew about it and certainly approved of it." …Justice was passing the surveillance of messages to Ted Sieong and Maria Hsia -- both in direct contact with Al Gore in his fund-raising -- all over the building. And so the F.B.I. acted to prevent contacts with the White House officials under investigation, to avoid the sort of improper "heads up" given them in Whitewater….The name-no-names whitewash by Ms. Reno's I.G. admits that Congress was not given two pieces of espionage information it should have had until September 1997 -- after the Senate investigators had all but closed shop and Democrats happily declared the Asian penetration unproven…."

New York Times 7/16/99 William Safire "… Bromwich's 569-page report dumping on the F.B.I. and claiming innocent ineptitude on high is stamped "top secret" because it might jeopardize an ongoing failure at Justice. The two of its deep, dark secrets … are covered in Elizabeth Drew's new book that has a chapter about the successful obstruction of the Thompson committee investigation, "The Corruption of American Politics." One is the Hong Kong source of the $400,000 contribution of Indonesia's Sieong, most of it routed to the Democratic National Committee through his resident alien daughter…. Another secret was sent the committee only after its hearings were over. It alleged that Ms. Hsia had recruited someone in California's state government to be "an agent" for China. In the Bromwich sandwich, eight more bits of intelligence information concealed from Congressional oversight are deliciously embedded, but not for the public to see until after the next election…."

AP 7/14/99 "…Bromwich called on Justice and FBI officials to resolve a dispute over how much to tell the White House's National Security Council about this intelligence. The FBI and some Justice officials believed providing China intelligence to the White House ``was akin to briefing the subject of an investigation about that investigation.'' Other Justice officials believed the White House needed to receive national security information from the probe. As a result, the FBI has not attended NSC briefings on the Chinese intelligence or campaign finance investigations, Bromwich said. Finally, until Reno stepped in, FBI counterspies insisted on giving campaign finance investigators paraphrases of their data rather than direct access to the intelligence….."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...New evidence shows conclusively for the first time that the Chinese government's effort to buy political influence in the United States led to concrete decisions by the Clinton administration that have harmed our national security. Uncovered by U.S. government investigators and aired publicly by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Penn.), the evidence includes bank transfer documents making it possible to trace specific campaign contributions back to Chinese military intelligence; corporate documents for Chinese front companies; and transcripts of secret conversations between a Chinese intelligence operative and campaign donor Johnny Chung, which detail a cover- up scheme allegedly agreed upon by President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin. "This is the first time in U.S. history that an American president has been compromised by a foreign intelligence service," one U.S. government official involved in the investigation told TAS..... Unveiled at a press conference on May 27 that was ignored by the mainstream press, Weldon's charges were buttressed with new documents establishing key linkages between the Chinese companies used to funnel campaign contributions to the Clinton-Gore campaign and China's Central Military Commission, the highest military authority in the PRC...."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...The Chinese government became so concerned that its campaign contribution scheme would be exposed that it dispatched an undercover operative to Los Angeles last year to threaten Johnny Chung and his family with physical harm if Chung cooperated with federal prosecutors. The FBI wired Chung for the meetings with the Chinese agent, and eventually struck a deal with Chung allowing him to testify publicly this May before the House Committee on Government Reform.... The Chinese agent, Robert Luu, specifically told Chung never to reveal to U.S. investigators that two U.S. companies selling China critical technology--Hughes Electronics and Loral Space Systems--were tied to Liu Chaoying, who was Chung's link back to Chinese military intelligence. In one taped session, aired on the Fox News Network on May 24, the two discussed a cover-up scheme. "So blame it on the Princelings," Chung said, referring to the sons and daughters of top Chinese Communist Party officials. Replied Luu: "Yes. Chairman Jiang agreed to handle it like this. The president over here also agreed." ..."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...Senate investigators have also begun looking into a 76-page confidential report, prepared by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which documents how the Chinese government transferred $92 million to front companies in California through the Far East National Bank in Los Angeles from 1994 to 1996. Government investigators told TAS that the money was used to buy political influence; to finance intelligence gathering and high-tech procurement operations; and more mundanely, to establish overseas investments for various Princelings. ..."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "..."This was not some fluke or rogue operation," one U.S. government investigator told TAS. "This leads directly back to Jiang Zemin." Weldon says he had been helped in his investigation by individuals he calls "patriots," who continue to work inside the U.S. government bureaucracy despite attempts by the administration to destroy their careers. (Five such individuals testified before the House Armed Services Committee on June 24.) These officials have provided unclassified documents tying the campaign contributions to the high-technology giveaway, and provided insight as to how the technology transfers to Communist China have been organized...."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...What Chung didn't know, however, was where General Ji got the $300,000. Documents obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice in late 1997, which were only turned over to Burton's committee the day that Chung testified in May, show that Chung received a transfer of HKD 2,318,850 ($300,000) from Liu Chaoying's Citibank account in Hong Kong on August 14, 1996. According to one of the U.S. government officials who helped Weldon compile his charts, that money and other contributions to the DNC sent by General Ji to other conduit donors were siphoned off from the Hong Kong accounts of J&A Securities (Hong Kong) Ltd., a subsidiary of the largest securities trading company in Communist China. J&A Securities, based in Shenzhen, was set up in 1992 by the PLA, corporate records examined by TAS show. Its original name, Jun An Securities, conflates the Mandarin characters for "Military" (Jun) and " Security" (An). If these investigators are right, then it is the PLA's secret money tree.

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...Justice Department investigators quizzed Chung on June 12, 1998, about his ties to General Ji and to J&A Securities, whose involvement in the money transfers Chung appears to have ignored. Unbeknownst to Chung, the Justice Department had been contacted by the Chinese government through Interpol, the international police liaison agency in France, in connection with the alleged embezzlement of COSTIND funds by J&A Securities Chairman Zhang Guoqing, a U.S. official said. Zhang was arrested in July 1998 in Hong Kong and taken to Beijing for questioning, according to press reports in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...As part of his plea bargain with the Justice Department, Chung agreed to wear a body wire in meetings with an emissary sent by General Ji, who went by the name of Robert Luu. Chung first met Luu in China in 1996. Luu resurfaced two years later in California, and warned Chung not to tell U.S. prosecutors about the involvement of General Ji or China Aerospace in the campaign donation scheme.."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...In a conversation with Luu on June 11, Chung tried to draw him out on the subject of Zhang Guoqing. "Who is Mr. Zhang--mysterious person Mr. Zhang! I never met Mr. Zhang. I don't know who he is. I was well aware of whom I had meals with"--a reference to General Ji. "I'm very clear about where the facts are. Ji Shengde is Mr. Zhang," Chung said ...In fact, what Chung meant is that Ji Shengde's money came from Zhang, the elusive head of J&A Securities in Hong Kong. The same Zhang had recently been arrested by Chinese authorities in Hong Kong, because he knew too much. He disappeared last summer and has not been seen since. Indeed, in one account in a Hong Kong daily, Zhang reportedly told the Ministry of State Security officers who had come to arrest him that they had better consult Beijing before mistreating him. "I have a laser disk in the United States, and the disk data will affect the national image," he reportedly said..."

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...J&A Securities grew from a single brokerage house in Shenzhen in 1992, to more than 3,000 branches throughout China by 1998. It began as a classic PLA operation, with nominees sent to Hong Kong to buy up a shell company with a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange--Massique Limited--then infusing it with mainland Chinese assets to attract foreign investment. J&A Securities took off with the booming Pacific Rim economy, floating bonds in Chinese state companies and making instruments available for foreign investors to gain a foothold in Chinese state industries. But by July 1995 another, more unusual plan for J&A Securities began to emerge when the Shenzhen parent company, which owned the majority share, transferred its stock to a new front company set up in the tiny South Pacific Island nation of West Samoa. The new company was called J&A Holdings, Ltd. ...West Samoa, which borders the America Pacific territory of Samoa, is the closest non-Western state to the United States, lying some 2,400 miles south of Hawaii..'"

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...The money trail shows there were two driving forces behind the Chinese government's campaign contributions in the United States: the PLA's Military Intelligence Department (Er Bu), and COSTIND, the State Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense. Er Bu reports directly to the General Staff Department, which is controlled by the Central Military Commission, chaired by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. COSTIND reports to the State Council, which is chaired by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. COSTIND sets the technology requirements for the Chinese military; Er Bu collectors acquire those technologies from foreign sources. The two may be rivals in some ways, but they also work hand-in-hand.

The American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth R. Timmerman "...The key role played by Liu Chaoying shows how this works. Liu's father, General Liu Huaqing, was vice chairman of the Central Military Commission before his retirement in October 1997. This gave Ms. Liu the Er Bu connection she so forcefully demonstrated to Johnny Chung by introducing him to Er Bu Director General Ji. But Ms. Liu also worked for CASIL, which was a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Corporation, which is controlled by COSTIND. Another China Aerospace Corporation with which Ms. Liu was associated, China Great Wall Industries Group, manufactures China's liquid fuel strategic rockets and space-launch vehicles. They have also become the main partner for U.S. aerospace firms seeking to launch satellites in China.

Drudge 7/26/99 "…The DRUDGE REPORT has learned that the NEW YORK TIMES is holding back a new blockbuster report that details how a New York City bank has been slow to cooperate with various federal investigations looking into money transfers from China to individuals suspected of passing cash to the Democratic National Committee…. One congressional committee investigating the cash transfers from China is now threatening to subpoena individuals from CITIBANK to explain the lack of cooperation. China's alleged money laundering scheme has been on Gerth's radar for months. "[Gerth] filed a solid story, that was very well sourced," one TIMES insider said of the Pulitzer Prize winner. "No one really knows why it hasn't run." Or if it will ever run? …"

New York Times 7/27/99 Jeff Gerth "...The investigations, led by lawmakers who rarely find common cause, are examining how Citibank -- and a handful of other institutions -- handle the private accounts of foreign officials and their relatives... More recently there was Liu Chaoying, the daughter of China's former top military official and the reported paymaster for $300,000 in Chinese military money intended for the Democratic Party in 1996, according to testimony from a participant in the payment.... Last week Burton, chairman of the House committee on government reform, complained in a letter to Citibank about "undue delays" and a "seeming lack of compliance" with a committee subpoena for records on the $300,000 wired to a Democratic fund-raiser. Bank records list the sender as Ms. Liu, a Chinese military officer and aerospace executive whose father was then China's senior military official..... In his letter last week, Burton also questioned the lack of authorized signatures for Citibank accounts held by the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank. Last year federal bank regulators had similar questions about these accounts as they tried to trace tens of millions of dollars from the central bank to an account at Citibank Private Bank that was controlled by the daughter of one of the Communist Party's old guard, government documents show. The woman is the sister-in-law of Ms. Liu and a former official at a small California bank that served the Chinese business community.... Money from the People's Bank of China flowed through a number of American financial institutions, but the comptroller pushed for more information about the Citibank accounts because that bank handled a significant part of the total. But Citibank gave the same explanation offered by Lahiff: Chinese law prohibited disclosure of much information.... By now, the China trail is cold or incomplete. But Burton continues to press the matter beyond where federal investigators have gone. He is trying to trace the $300,000 that Ms. Liu wired to Chung, a small fraction of which wound up with the Democratic National Committee. A select House committee concluded the payment was an attempt by Ms. Liu to "better her position in the United States to acquire computer, missile and satellite technologies." Burton's next stop will be Ms. Liu's account at Citibank Private Bank in Hong Kong...."

7/21/99 Letter to Citibank from Dan Burton "...July 21, 1999 Via Facsimile Thomas M. Lahiff, Jr. Vice President Citibank, N.A..... To date, your cooperation has been accompanied by what appears to be undue delays. In your conversation, you confirmed that you are pursuing the answers to the Committee's recent inquiries regarding the records of Liu Chao Ying. First, several numbers were listed on Citibank documentation of the August 14, 1996, wire transfer from Liu Chao Ying to Johnny Chung. These numbers include: XXXXX-XXX-XX-XX, XXX-XXX-XX-XXXXX or XXX-XXX-XX. You are determining whether any of those numbers identifies an account held at Citibank, N.A., Hong Kong or any other Citibank related entity. Second, you are attempting to locate the documentation that should have been generated as a result of Liu Chao Ying's exchange of USD 300,000 for HKD 2,318,850 on or about August 14, 1996. In your conversation, you also represented that you are having difficulty acquiring answers to the Committee's inquiries due to two main obstacles: (1) the "twelve hour time differen[tial]" between New York, New York and Hong Kong which has forced you to call Hong Kong at 1:30 a.m.; and (2) the "language barrier." which has made communications difficult.

I am confident that as a Vice President of an international bank with locations spanning the globe you and your company have developed efficient and effective ways of communicating across time zones. In the event that Citibank is not as sophisticated as I have been led to believe, e-mail would seem to be an available form of communication for a multi-national corporation. Furthermore, with regard to the "language barrier," I have a simple suggestion. Call the Citibank, N.A., Hong Kong, legal department. Mr. Griffin has spoken with individuals there. As I'm sure you are aware, they are fluent speakers of the English language. Whatever method you choose, it is evident to me that a number of employees in the Hong Kong office--from teller to counsel--should be able to determine the existence of the account in question....."

July 21, 1999 Via Facsimile Thomas M. Lahiff, Jr. Vice President Citibank, N.A..... In our initial conversations with Citibank employees, we provided a Citibank reference number obtained by the Committee from the Hong Kong Overseas Trust Bank, Ltd to assist in the identification and tracking of the wire transfer information. That same reference number was later included in the June 22, 1999, subpoena to Citibank. Repeatedly, Citibank personnel indicated that they were uncertain whether the reference number was a Citibank number and to what the number referred. On July 15, 1999, you produced part of the subpoenaed documentation of the Liu Chao Ying wire transfer. The reference number provided on the Citibank documentation identically matched the reference number provided to the Committee by the Hong Kong Overseas Trust Bank, Ltd. and subsequently to Citibank by the Committee. In light of this match, I am unclear as to the search capabilities of Citibank's record keeping system. Does Citibank have the capability to search for data on a wire transfer using a "TRN" reference number? If so, why was this documentation not provided sooner? ...."

July 21, 1999 Via Facsimile Thomas M. Lahiff, Jr. Vice President Citibank, N.A..... On July 13, 1999, you produced Customer Account Information Forms for several accounts held by the People's Bank of China: 36081826, 36981797, 36081818, 360802968, and 36081834. These forms appear to be incomplete. They do not include authorized signatures of signatories or contact and address information of the specificity one would expect. Is there additional contact information for these accounts that has yet to be located or is soon to be produced to the Committee? I am also interested in whether the United States Justice Department pursued the same information regarding Liu Chao Ying. Did the Justice Department and/or any other department or agency of the United States request or subpoena information regarding the wire transfer to Johnny Chung? If so, when was the request made or the subpoena served? When and how did you respond to that request or subpoena? ...Dan Burton Chairman ..."

Washington Times 7/26/99 Paul Craig Roberts "...The Clinton administration cannot stand up to Beijing, because Beijing used illegal campaign contributions to compromise the Clinton administration. The most striking feature of President Clinton's foreign policy is its lack of consistency. A different view would be that his policy is consistent only in its perversity. Compare Mr. Clinton's China policy with his Serbia policy. Mr. Clinton and his minions - for that is what they are - are hot and bothered because Taiwan referred to itself as an independent state. Mr. Clinton has cancelled or delayed various U.S.-Taiwan exchanges, and The Washington Times reports that Pentagon officials are "considering a cutoff of U.S. military assistance to show displeasure over Taipei's pro-independence comments." Taiwan has been an independent state for a half century. But Mr. Clinton cannot allow Taiwan to speak for itself as a state, because it makes China mad. We have a "one-China' policy, says the State Department. We do "not support Taiwan independence." China, whose human rights record is worse than Serbia's, has the Clinton administration by the short hairs. All the communist government in Beijing has to do is acknowledge that it made campaign contributions to Mr. Clinton and provide the evidence. That would blow Attorney General Janet Reno's cover-up of the illegal affair and send some Democrats off to prision...."

FOXNews.com 7/27/99 Carl Cameron "...A Justice Department task force investigating alleged illegal foreign contributions to the Democratic Party has possessed potentially incriminating documents since the fall of 1997, Fox News has learned. The documents - bank records from Citibank, which has branches in New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong - indicate that big-time Democratic donor Johnny Chung received $300,000 from Chinese government officials. Sources say Chung in 1997 turned over the records, which show he received a wire transfer from Citibank's Hong Kong branch from Liu Chaoying, a vice president at China Aerospace, a firm that helps loft satellites into orbit on Chinese rockets. China Aerospace has worked numerous times with U.S. satellite makers Hughes Electronics and Loral Space & Communications, whose chief executive, Bernard L. Schwartz, was the top donor to President Clinton's re-election campaign, contributing almost $1 million.... Sources say the Justice Dept. never bothered to pursue the bank records, a simple piece of evidence that would have revealed that the origin of Chung's cash was one of China's top spies. A senior DOJ task force source said investigators chose to concentrate on other leads ....Sources say Johnny Chung, too, is telling friends he offered the Justice Dept. new details of White House and DNC knowledge of foreign fund-raising impropriety, but investigators "did not want to hear it." One senior Justice Dept. prosecutor expressed his frustration to Fox News, saying there is "fertile ground" to till and that he is being pressed to ignore it. ...."

FOXNews.com 7/27/99 Carl Cameron "...There is also a battle raging within the Department of Justice campaign finance task force over how to proceed with the plea-bargained sentencing of long-time Clinton friend and fund-raiser Yah-Lin Charlie Trie, who has pleaded guilty to fund-raising violations. Sources familiar with Trie's DOJ cooperation say some FBI investigators want to hold off on Trie's sentencing in order to pursue his allegations that top Democratic National Committee and White House officials were aware of - and on at least two occasions encouraged - illegally funneled foreign contributions to the Democratic Party during the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. Sources close to Trie say he has been trying to tell investigators about several alleged illegal contributions from a mysterious Macao businessman named Ng Lap Seng. Also known as Mr. Wu, Seng, who has ties to Asian organized crime, allegedly funneled several hundred thousand dollars to the DNC through various illegal means. Sources with knowledge of Trie's testimony say, however, that top-level Justice Dept. political appointees have expressed little interest in Trie's revelations and want the case wrapped up...."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...After outlining on Tuesday night how the Justice Department thwarted probes or failed to pursue leads involving Johnny Chung, John Huang and Charlie Trie, FNC's Carl Cameron returned Wednesday night with a look at how two others with names not uttered much recently will also escape charges. In a piece which led the July 28 Special Report with Brit Hume, but unlike the previous story did not also appear an hour later on the Fox Report, Cameron began: "Indonesian businessman Ted Sioeng funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal Chinese contributions to the Democratic Party in 1996. He dined with the President at one glitzy fundraiser and accompanied the Vice President to another at a Buddhist temple. And though FBI and congressional investigators say they have conclusive evidence that Sioeng worked for Chinese intelligence, Fox News has learned no charges of any kind will be brought against him. "Sioeng fled a year ago to the Central American nation of Belize, refusing to cooperate with U.S. investigators. Despite owning a Chinese-language newspaper and several import-export firms in California, investigators have no plans to freeze or leverage Sioeng's U.S. assets to bring him back."..."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...Cameron then moved to Sioeng's partner.... Hsia currently faces only minor tax and election fraud charges, although she was identified by Congress as a Chinese agent." Reporter in crowd outside courthouse: "Are you an agent for the Chinese government, Ms. Hsia?" Nancy Luque, Maria Hsia's attorney: "She's certainly not an agent of the Chinese government." Cameron countered: "But even before her lawyer's denials, the Justice Department had what sources tell Fox News was conclusive evidence that, indeed, Hsia was working for China. But like similar intelligence information in the Sioeng case, investigators mishandled it and both suspects are now about to slip through the net."..."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...But that's all part of a pattern, Cameron noted in again citing a report ignored by the other networks: "According to an inspector general's report, key facts in the Justice Department's China cash investigation and specific intelligence data on Maria Hsia and Ted Sioeng's China connections was, quote, 'supplied in a fashion that belied their significance' because it was, quote, 'serendipitously included in memoranda on other subjects, or buried amid documents.' That so downplayed the evidence that, quote, 'Some officials were unaware that they had received these pieces of information.' Cameron honed in on Reno and how the FBI was afraid to share information because they knew the White House would get it: "Some Justice Department investigators suspect their bosses deliberately dropped the ball to protect the President, though the inspector general concluded it was poor judgment and not intentional. But congressional critics think Attorney General Janet Reno and her closest advisers were playing pure politics. And according to the report, when Reno's top troops wanted to share evidence with the White House, the FBI protested, even boycotted meetings, to prevent the handing over of such information, saying it was, quote, 'akin to briefing the subject of an investigation about that investigation.' ..."

Media Research Center 7/30/99 Brent Baker "...Giving a clue about who is providing him with his information, Cameron observed: "Line-level investigators and prosecutors, disgruntled with the way Department of Justice management have handled, and some say botched, this entire case, almost daily now are disclosing more information. Last night Fox reported on how the initial investigation into the Buddhist temple fundraising event was thwarted by the attorney general's office. In fact, one specific individual, the head of the Office of Public Integrity, Lee Radick (sp?), has essentially been fingered as trying to close down that investigation. And as a result, Congress plans to subpoena Mr. Radick's documents to find out whether or not he tried in some way to close things down in order to protect the President." ..."

Fox News Channel 7/30/99 Freeper Cincinatus' wife reports "...Fox News had a long report today on Burton's investigation of the China campaign money connection. Carl Cameron's still on this story. Tony Snow's Sunday show will be doing an in depth story on Janet Reno's obstruction of this investigation. Carl Cameron reported about FBI investigators being pulled back from issuing a search warrant in Little Rock for Charlie Trie even as they were on the way to serve it. This order to desist, came from Reno's Justice Department even though investigators had told Justice that document shredding was going on. Cameron reported that investigators were told by someone in Washington (I didn't get his name), that the investigation should stop because Justice was going to have an independent council look into this and while at the same time, this same person was arguing against an independent council back in Washington. A woman who is on Dan Burton's committee looking into this, said Justice has blocked and given heads up to people who then had time to skip the country and shred evidence. She also said that the Buddhist monks were given time, by the Justice Dept., to shred documentation . This was quite a report and Tony Snow's Sunday Fox News program should be a block buster...."

Judicial Watch 8/2/99 Larry Klayman "... Republican leaders admitted on the weekend talk shows that, as far as the Republican-controlled Congress is concerned, Chinagate is, for now, a lesser-issue and must await a new Administration before any real action is contemplated. Congressman Chris Cox, when asked what he will now do about allegations of corruption at the Clinton Justice Department, admitted, AThis will have to await a new Justice Department and a new President....Most in Washington, D.C. know the Reno Justice Department is in full cover-up mode, yet Republicans sit on their hands. Whether it is Reno and other Justice officials looking the other way as Chinagate evidence was shredded, or Renos refusal to authorize a wiretap for a suspected Chinese spy, there is ample evidence that the Clinton Justice Department cant be trusted and is corrupt at the highest levels. Johnny Chung, one of the few Chinagate figures to testify truthfully and who was therefore targeted to be killed by Chinese agents, testified to Judicial Watch that he was recently told by the Reno Justice Department to call 911" if he and his family were threatened again...."

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 8/20/98 Robert Novak "...As it downsizes and gets ready to go out of business, the Justice Department's task force on campaign finance is acting strangely. It lists as "ongoing" long-dormant cases that could embarrass President Clinton. It has classified as "inactive" the probe of an inquiry into a major fixer of illegal Chinese campaign contributions. And it still lists as "active" an inquiry that appeared to surely be dead: targeting former Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour. This is the kind of information that closed-mouth Attorney General Janet Reno would not reveal to Congress, much less to the public, even under excruciating torture. The status of the task force's investigation is disclosed in a three-page memo dated June 4, which was not leaked by the zippered-up Justice Department but was inadvertently released. In the intervening two months, Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder has been desperately trying to retrieve all copies. No wonder. The cryptic document tends to confirm suspected politicization at Justice. That is the interpretation of Reno's most severe congressional critic: Rep. Dan Burton, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee. Shown a copy of the task force document, Burton told me: "The attorney general was blocking for the president, to keep us from holding hearings."

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 8/20/98 Robert Novak "...Surprise No. 1: Listed among the "ongoing investigations" are former Democratic National Chairman Don Fowler and businessman Roger Tamraz....Surprise No. 2: Also in the "ongoing" category is the Lippo Group, the Asian conglomerate that poured big money into Clinton's 1996 campaign. The Burton committee last year cited $1.2 million in illegal contributions from Lippo, but here, too, it has been forestalled by a Justice proceeding that shows no progress. Surprise No. 3: Former Clinton White House aide Mark Middleton, accused of engineering campaign loans, was stricken off the task force's list of investigations "likely to be [closed] shortly" and added to the "ongoing" list with this notation: "reinvigorated in light of Trie debriefing." Just what the Justice Department learned from Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie, who has made a plea bargain, is a mystery. Surprise No. 4: Liu Chao Ying, the daughter of a highly influential Chinese general, is on the list of "pending inactive investigations"--a real eyebrow-raiser.... Surprise No. 5: After two years of facing gossamer charges involving 1996 Republican soft-money contributions from abroad, GOP insider Barbour--now a member of George W. Bush's "exploratory" committee--is still on the "ongoing" list.... Surprise No. 6: Nearly two years since Burton was accused of trying to shake down a lobbyist, Reno's archenemy is now listed in the "shortly-to-be-closed" category with this notation: "closing memo sent to Public Integrity section of Justice Department." Was this fruitless investigation kept open for so long, with no announcement of the "shortly" designation and without notifying Burton, in order to give the attorney general a club? ..."

Roll Call 8/2/99 Morton Kondracke "... It smells. Despite abundant evidence that Democratic fundraisers channeled Chinese government money into the U.S. election campaign in 1996, no one is going to jail. One by one, Attorney General Janet Reno's Justice Department has cut generous plea bargains with the money launderers and hasn't come near prosecuting any Democratic Party or White House officials. And if there is any connection between Chinese money and cozy Clinton policy toward China, it's unlikely to be discovered as Justice lets the fundraisers off and removes their incentive to talk. Today, one of the major figures in Chinagate, John Huang, is scheduled to be sentenced to a fine and community service after pleading guilty to minor charges having nothing to do with the $1.6 million he raised that the Democratic Party was forced to return. Instead, the Justice Department charged him with making two illegal donations worth $7,500 in two California campaigns in 1993 and 1994....In spite of all the tantalizing investigative leads Huang represents -- and in spite of his utter refusal to cooperate in Congressional Chinagate investigations -- Justice is closing out its probe of Huang with a slap on the wrist and a promise to bring no further charges against him. ...Later this month, Justice is scheduled to close the books, too, on President Clinton's friend, Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, who raised more than $1.3 million -- mainly from Asia -- that had to be returned. He, too, has refused to cooperate with Congress, yet was permitted to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison and fines of $350,000, but prosecutors recommended that Trie get a penalty of three years' probation. ..."

Roll Call 8/2/99 Morton Kondracke "... Cameron reported that Mansfield, who successfully prosecuted former Rep. Jay Kim (R-Calif.), was ordered to desist in a letter from Lee Radek, head of the public integrity section of the Justice Department, on grounds that it was a matter for an independent counsel to investigate. However, no independent counsel was ever appointed -- with Radek reportedly one of those most vociferously urging Reno not to take that step....Burton also has been chasing down evidence, also reported by Cameron, that in 1997 the Justice Department ordered the immediate return to Washington of an FBI agent and prosecutor sent to Little Rock, Ark., to stop documents from being shredded by Trie's secretary. And Burton charges that, for two years, the Justice Department failed to follow up on information it had about the wire transfer of $300,000 to Chung through a Citibank account of Liu Chaoying, a Chinese military officer, aerospace executive and daughter of China's former military chief. Burton has appealed to Reno and to federal judges in Little Rock and California to hold off the sentencing of Trie and Huang to give them an incentive to testify before his Government Reform Committee.

Chances are, the fundraisers will get off. The former chief counsel in Thompson's 1997 campaign finance probe, Michael Madigan, said the plea bargains have "all the earmarks of something being swept under the rug." Indeed, they do..."

Arizona Republic 7/29/99 Jeff Barker "...A House committee today will unveil evidence of new favors provided to a former visa official at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing by a Chinese government-owned conglomerate, including a free stay at a luxury Scottsdale suite. Charles M. Parish Jr., the embassy's former visa section chief, accepted a number of previously undisclosed gifts from Elizabeth Mann, operator of a Phoenix real estate company called BNU Corp., which is owned by the conglomerate, according to House Government Reform Committee investigators.

The committee is holding a hearing today with Parish expected to be the lead witness. The Arizona Republic reported in March that Parish, in violation of State Department rules, accepted free lodging at corporate apartments in Las Vegas and Norwalk, Calif., in 1995 and 1996 from China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp. The committee says Parish, who has denied any quid pro quo relationship, was providing visa assistance at the request of Mann and others so that officials of the conglomerate, known as COFCO, could travel frequently to Phoenix and other U.S. destinations. State Department rules forbid embassy officials from accepting gifts from anyone seeking visas or other official action..... The Republic has learned that the new information includes: Mann gave Parish "a number of gifts," a former COFCO vice president, Jay Ding, has told the committee staff. Ding has told the panel's investigators that he saw Mann pass several wrapped boxes and an envelope to Parish while he was dining with COFCO and BNU officials in Beijing and Phoenix. Ding told the committee he didn't know what the gifts were. He said Mann mentioned a gold Rolex watch and $2,000 in casino chips in connection with Parish, but Ding is not sure she gave either to Parish. The committee said Parish stayed free of charge at a COFCO luxury suite in Scottsdale. The address could not be obtained from either the committee or Mann's office. Several e-mails in Parish's office suggest that Parish, at Mann's request, helped Fuli Lin, vice chairman of BNU, obtain a visa, according to the committee..... "The U.S. Embassy in Beijing is one of our most sensitive diplomatic posts in the world," Burton said in a prepared statement. "It is unfathomable that these kinds of activities could go on right under the noses of top embassy officials for a year and a half."..."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... I first met Liu Chao Ying in a restaurant in Hong Kong in June 1996 at a dinner I attended with one of my business associates.. She explained that she was thinking of putting a company on the New York Stock Exchange. She said she would give me $300,000 that I was supposed to use to help her set up her business, which was supposed to be in telecommunications and commercial fishing in Southern China. I then set up Marswell Investments in late July/early August 1996 for this purpose. At the time, I used my own money to set up the company but I expected that these costs would ultimately come out of the $300,000 Liu Chao Ying had promised me. During the Washington, D.C. event with Liu and Mr. Yao, I introduced Liu to Don Fowler as the daughter of a powerful General. Fowler joked that he had a low rank in World War II. Also during that trip, I had a discussion with Liu Chao Ying at the Willard Hotel. Liu Chao Ying asked me if I had a Hong Kong bank account. I said yes and gave her my bank account number in Hong Kong by writing void across a blank check and giving the check to her....."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "...When General Ji arrived, he came through the kitchen and introduced himself as "Mr. Xu" - the Chinese equivalent of Mr. Smith. The general said, "You can call me Mr. Xu" and it was clear from the way he said this that this was a bogus name. I and Liu Chao Ying spoke with Ji about her recent trip - talking up the past times I was able to get meetings with politicians and dignitaries. Liu Chao Ying was very deferential to Ji in a way that it made me think he was her boss or superior. The key information relayed to me at this dinner from Ji was the following: -"We really like your President" -"We hope he will be re-elected" or ["We would like him to be re-elected"] -"I will give you $300,000 U.S. dollars" -"You can give it to [or use it for] your President and Democrat Party" ...Ji then left through the kitchen and then we left the way they came in. No one paid the bill..."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... On August 13, 1996, I met again with Liu Chao Ying and General Ji back in Hong Kong. We met at a hotel lobby in the bar. The hotel is next to the Shangri La Hotel. I first was with Liu and then General Ji came in to join us. Ji said to me - "Now you know who I am." He told me that his name was so sensitive that he still wanted me to call him by an alias - Mr. Xu (equivalent of "Mr. Smith") Ji spoke in Chinese to Liu saying "I will wire $300,000 to your account and you wire it to him." Ji said he needed a "receipt" or "report" to give "to the organization"...."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... In what I perceived as an effort to persuade me that it was okay to do it this way, she told me that Mark Middleton also "got half a million" from a Sinapore group from someone named Hwang, Huang or Wong and the purpose of the money was "to do good things for China," or to benefit China. She also mentioned a "Boeing Representative in Hong Kong," whom she said they gave a lot of business to. In conjunction with the "Boeing representative," the name Young was mentioned. She also said that "we gave him the business in order for him to do good things for China." I did not have a first name of this Mr. Young. My sense was that I was told this so I wouldn't be worried about taking this money from Ji and Liu Chao Ying. My impression of these other examples was that they were involved in developing relationships and access to help China...."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... I next saw General Ji's wife when she came back to the United States with her son. I set up their attendance at a Presidential fundraiser - the "Back to the Future" event - at a California movie studio on October 17, 1996. I took my driver and secretary as well as the General's wife and Alex to meet the President. There was a mix-up with the DNC and my driver and secretary were given a private audience with the President while me and the General's wife and son were not included. While my driver and secretary were very appreciative, I was very upset. When the President came into the main event, I moved my way to the front and got in contact with the President and introduced the General's wife and son. The President spoke with Alex and asked him what he was majoring in at college. A picture was then taken by the General's wife or Alex, but I do not know what happened to it. ..."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... In early 1995, Mr. He, the president of Haomen Beer, asked me to obtain a visa because his was expired. I had previously met Mr. He when I took he and a delegation around Washington, DC in December 1994 in order for them to promote their beer in the United States. I took Mr. He to the United States embassy where I was introduced to Charles Parish. I felt at that time that Mr. Parish and I sort of "hit it off" and was going to be friends. It was not until later that I became aware that Parish and Mr. He of Haomen Beer had developed a separate relationship. Charles Parish helped me get visas for dozens of people who asked me to provide them with invitations to the United States. I also socialized and did many favors for Mr. Parish. I took him as my guest to the September 1995 DNC fund raiser at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, to which he also brought his sister and his girlfriend. At the event I took Parish to a private VIP reception with President Bill Clinton. Mr. Parish insisted that Mr. He and Mr. He's girlfriend have the opportunity to have their picture taken with the president. This was a request that prompted the DNC to ask me for an additional $70,000 contribution. After the Century Plaza event, I arranged a private tour of First Lady Hillary Clinton's office for Mr. Parish when both he and I were in Washington D.C.... At Mr. Parish's request I gave invitations to the United States to at least two women who were girlfriends of his. In Beijing, Parish would occasionally stop by my office. On one of these visits he asked me to hire a computer tutor to train his secretary at the embassy. I spent $500 of my own money accommodating this request. He also asked me to pay the tuition for seven students who he knew, that wanted to be educated in the United States. Although I did not know these students, I spent between $7-8,000 of my own money doing this for Mr. Parish, including sending school supplies like computer programs and books directly to Beijing at his request. Charles Parish did help me out on many occasions. As I stated previously, he approved visa applications for business associates that I brought to him. However, by the end of 1995, I decided I did not want to continue my relationship with Parish. Part of the reason why I no longer wanted to deal with Parish was because he and Mr. He had entered into a relationship that I was not comfortable with. On at least one occasion, I was asked by Mr. He to give a shopping bag of money and visas to Parish. Several months later Mr. Parish asked me to have Mr. He call him. Parish said that he wanted to be sure that the people he provided visas for actually came back to China. Later, Parish told me that indeed, they did return to China. I became unhappy with the way I was being treated by my business associates in Beijing so I decided to close my office. Too many people were asking me for visas, rather than doing business with me...."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... I was introduced to the people and one of the people in the room was Mr. Robert Luu who was a Chinese-American/U.S. citizen who was in Beijing and had not gone back to the States because of some legal problem. He asked me how to handle his case and I told him he should go back to the U.S. to work it out. I next met Luu in mid-1996. Luu came to the AISI office in Los Angeles, where I met him for approximately ten minutes. Luu discussed a business proposal. The next time I heard from Luu was before my plea. In February 1998, I received a call at my business office from Mr. Luu. A message was left that I had received a call from a Mr. Luu from Beijing. I didn't remember who Luu was and I did not call him back. I pled guilty in March 1998 and began being debriefed by the FBI. Luu called me again. At that time I had been told by the FBI to keep a recording device to record any suspicious conversations, so I did so with this man. In late April/early May 1998, Luu called me and asked how I was doing. He also spoke sympathetically about me being in a difficult situation. Luu asked to meet with me and I obtained specific instructions from the FBI about how to deal with Luu. Again, I was instructed to record all of their conversations. In their first meeting Luu started talking about a Commander Lee, who wanted to take care of me. The message was as follows: if you keep your mouth shut, you and your family will be safe. The Chinese are more polite and indirect than this so the words do not precisely translate. The Chinese communication was much subtler. Nevertheless, this was how I interpreted the meaning of the words. Essentially the message that I believed I was given was that me and my family would be safe if I didn't talk and if I did talk, I could not be certain what would happen. At a minimum, I believed I was being threatened. The FBI told me that they suspected Luu might have criminal connections. Luu also suggested he was in contact with some people from Beijing. Luu said they would give me money to take care of my legal expenses and my family and I could retire. Luu also asked if we could meet again and gave me an address. I was also given a code to use. This was in early May. Throughout this process, the FBI was monitoring communications. The FBI identified Luu as a San Gabriel businessman...."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... When I met with the attorney and Mr. Luu, there were FBI agents throughout the building. I was told the attorney was connected and knew the number three person at DOJ and that he was familiar with the Judge that was presiding over my case. Luu and the attorney were pitching me to replace my lawyer, Mr. Sun. The lawyer gave me an example of someone who did not cooperate and how everyone around him was taken care of. He said that this client was sentenced to a country club jail...."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "... One of the things that the FBI encouraged me to ask Mr. Luu was - who's behind you? When I asked him, Luu responded by giving me the nickname that I given previously to Liu Chao Ying. The nickname was "gunyang" which means country girl. Luu said "gunyang" was happy that I was protecting her. Luu also mentioned General Ji. Luu also suggested they could plant newspaper stories and that I might be able to get a presidential pardon. Separately, Mr. Luu implied that they could ensure that the Judge would give me a light sentence. The attorney also said he had experience with Watergate. I asked him how he could help me. I was coached by the FBI to be skeptical and press for answers. In this meeting Mr. Luu said that they could take care of my attorneys fee. I was very nervous during this meeting and afterwards the FBI concluded that I had to be moved to a safer place. At that time they moved me to a hotel for 21 days with my family. My daughter who was graduating in this timeframe had to go to graduation with an FBI escort. I also had many phone calls and faxes with Mr. Luu both before and after these meetings. This was a period of great stress for me and my family...."

Johnny Chung's website, testimony to Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 5/11/99 "...By July, Mr. Luu started making self-serving statements on the tapes and tried to distance himself from previous statements. I was instructed by the FBI to tell Mr. Luu that I was going to be subpoenaed by the grand jury and that I had to tell the truth. Mr. Luu at that point had talked about how he thought he was being followed or taped and he told me to tell the truth. By the end of the summer, I told Mr. Luu that I was going to be subpoenaed and asked what I should do. By this time, Luu suspected something was going on - either he was under surveillance or he was being taped - and he began making self-serving statements and exculpatory statements. Luu said if he was ever caught he "would deny" everything and that he does not "know Liu Chao Ying; doesn't know anybody" Luu told me at this point that I should tell the truth. Luu also said at this point that he just wanted to get my case for the other lawyer. I also asked Luu if I should blame this on General Ji and Mr. Luu said sure - the "gunyang" would like that. My last question to Luu was "What should I tell them about you?" This question made Luu very uncomfortable and Luu said, "I know nobody, I'm nobody..." I told him I couldn't lie to the grand jury. I worked with the FBI throughout this entire effort and was coached on what to say to Luu...."

fox.com 8/2/99 Carl Cameron "...Just a few hours before former Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang was to plea bargain to minor fund-raising violations and be sentenced to probation and a fine, a federal judge in California ordered a last-minute delay Monday to determine whether Huang should be forced to testify before Congress before his case is closed. At the same time, Clinton friend and fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie's scheduled plea bargain two weeks from now in Little Rock was postponed by top Justice Department officials. Attorney General Janet Reno's aides were persuaded by the FBI's Campaign Finance Task Force to further investigate what sources say is Trie's assertion that some White House and Democratic National Committee officials knew he was soliciting and receiving illegal foreign contributions...."

fox.com 8/2/99 Carl Cameron "...The chair of the House investigation into illegal foreign campaign contributions, Dan Burton, R-Ind., has for weeks been asking Justice to postpone Huang's and Trie's sentencing so he could question them. Justice declined. Under the plea deals Huang and Trie will not be charged for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal foreign donations - much of that from Chinese citizens and corporations - to help President Clinton get re-elected, but instead must cooperate with investigators. Burton complained that Huang and Trie are not being forced to testify against bigger fish and are being let off easy. "For them to not be prosecuted fully or get a plea bargain without then turning on some people higher up - it's just criminal," he said...."

NY Times 8/3/99 AP "...A hearing for John Huang was postponed when a Republican congressman demanded that the former Democratic Party fund-raiser testify before Congress before making a courtroom plea bargain. Huang, the Democrats' chief fund-raiser for the Asian-American community in 1996, brought in $1.6 million in questionable donations that later were returned. He has been cooperating with Justice Department investigators in their campaign finance probe......Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles, said Paez delayed the hearing until Aug. 12 and ordered attorneys in the case to begin submitting legal briefs on whether Huang's case should be postponed indefinitely...."

Press Release - House Committee on Government Reform Rep Dan Burton 8/3/99 "...Chairman Dan Burton today said that he hoped a federal judge's decision to postpone the sentencing of DNC fundraiser John Huang improved the chances that the Government Reform Committee and the American people would finally hear Huang's testimony. On July 15, Burton wrote to Judge Richard A. Paez, the Federal Judge presiding over the Huang case, to request that Huang's sentencing be postponed until he agreed to cooperate with Congress. Judge Paez referenced Burton's letter as the basis for his decision to postpone sentencing. Burton also wrote to the federal judge presiding over Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie's case and made the same request. Trie's sentencing has also been postponed. "Congress and the American people have waited for over two and a half years to hear from John Huang and Charlie Trie," Burton said. "I hope the judge's decision is a step in the right direction." ...."The one and only time that we got any cooperation from the Justice Department we were finally able to hear from Johnny Chung. His testimony laid to rest any doubts about whether the Communist Chinese Government tried to interfere with our elections," Burton said. "If John Huang and Charlie Trie are allowed to plead guilty without ever talking to anyone other than the Justice Department, there will always be doubts as to whether they got a sweetheart deal. I hope Judge Paez and Judge Howard will agree that John Huang and Charlie Trie should be required to cooperate with legitimate Congressional investigations." ..."

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 8/3/99 Linda Satter "...If a House committee looking into possible campaign fundraising allegations wants to talk to Charlie Trie, it can stop trying to take advantage of a plea agreement he made in Little Rock and instead grant him immunity, Trie's lawyer asserted Monday.....The plea agreement he made with the Justice Department "plainly does not cover statements made my Mr. Trie in any other forum, such as a Congressional hearing," noted the brief filed by Washington defense attorney Reid Weingarten. It's not as if Trie hasn't alread cooperated and thus hasn't earned a sentence reduction, Weingarten argued. He noted that since the plea, which ended Trie's Little Rock trial that had been under way for a week, Trie has been "debriefed by the government" 14 times for a total of 75-100 hours...."

American Spectator 8/99 Kenneth Timmerman "...Senate investigators have also begun looking into a 76-page confidential report, prepared by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which documents how the Chinese government transferred $92 million to front companies in California through the Far East National Bank in Los Angeles from 1994 to 1996. Government investigators told TAS that the money was used to buy political influence; to finance intelligence gathering and high-tech procurement operations; and more mundanely, to establish overseas investments for various Princelings. The OCC report was sent to the Senate Banking Committee on May 9 by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.). In his letter of referral, Shelby said the money was wired to the California bank "either directly or through front companies, by the People's Bank of China," and wound up in accounts "created for the front companies by bank officers." Shelby noted he was "very concerned that some of the individuals and entities involved are reported to be, or believed to be associated with PRC intelligence activities in some manner."

Roll Call, www.rollcall.com 8/2/99 Morton Kondracke "...It smells. Despite abundant evidence that Democratic fundraisers channeled Chinese government money into the U.S. election campaign in 1996, no one is going to jail. One by one, Attorney General Janet Reno's Justice Department has cut generous plea bargains with the money launderers and hasn't come near prosecuting any Democratic Party or White House officials. And if there is any connection between Chinese money and cozy Clinton policy toward China, it's unlikely to be discovered as Justice lets the fundraisers off and removes their incentive to talk. Today, one of the major figures in Chinagate, John Huang, is scheduled to be sentenced to a fine and community service after pleading guilty to minor charges having nothing to do with the $1.6 million he raised that the Democratic Party was forced to return. Instead, the Justice Department charged him with making two illegal donations worth $7,500 in two California campaigns in 1993 and 1994..... In spite of all the tantalizing investigative leads Huang represents -- and in spite of his utter refusal to cooperate in Congressional Chinagate investigations -- Justice is closing out its probe of Huang with a slap on the wrist and a promise to bring no further charges against him. Later this month, Justice is scheduled to close the books, too, on President Clinton's friend, Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, who raised more than $1.3 million -- mainly from Asia -- that had to be returned. He, too, has refused to cooperate with Congress, yet was permitted to plead guilty to one felony count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to six years in prison and fines of $350,000, but prosecutors recommended that Trie get a penalty of three years' probation. The third major Chinagate fundraiser, Johnny Chung, was sentenced in December 1998 to probation and community service. But at least Chung did cooperate with Congress...What's disturbing is that Thompson and other Republican leaders haven't kept energetically digging into the finance scandal, leaving the work to a few journalists, right-wing activists and Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), who's easily dismissed for hyper-partisanship..... Burton is pursuing some interesting avenues, such as a report by Carl Cameron of Fox News that a former crack federal prosecutor in California, Steven Mansfield, was ordered to halt a probe he started in 1996 into Vice President Al Gore's infamous fundraiser at a Buddhist temple. Cameron reported that Mansfield, who successfully prosecuted former Rep. Jay Kim (R-Calif.), was ordered to desist in a letter from Lee Radek, head of the public integrity section of the Justice Department, on grounds that it was a matter for an independent counsel to investigate. However, no independent counsel was ever appointed -- with Radek reportedly one of those most vociferously urging Reno not to take that step. Burton also has been chasing down evidence, also reported by Cameron, that in 1997 the Justice Department ordered the immediate return to Washington of an FBI agent and prosecutor sent to Little Rock, Ark., to stop documents from being shredded by Trie's secretary. ....The former chief counsel in Thompson's 1997 campaign finance probe, Michael Madigan, said the plea bargains have "all the earmarks of something being swept under the rug." Indeed, they do...."

The O'Reilly Factor 8/4/99 Freeper truthkeeper "...Bill O'Reilly said at the end of his show tonight that a MAJOR story was "just breaking:" Dan Burton's House Oversight & Reform Committee had issued a subpoena to Janet Reno regarding campaign finance. No details in yet, but I noticed there's a thread saying they'll be getting Mark Middleton's testimony, too...."

AP 8/5/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno today denied that the Justice Department has kept open campaign finance investigations involving Democrats to block Republicans in Congress from conducting their own. A House committee investigating alleged fund-raising abuses in the 1996 presidential election is barred from questioning anyone who is a target of an active Justice Department investigation...."

Washington Times 8/5/99 Jerry Seper "...The House committee is expected to ask Mr. Middleton about $275,000 he received from the Riadys through the Arkansas International Development Corp.; whether he had any role in finding Huang at job in 1995 at the Democratic National Committee; his connections to Chinese financier Ng Lap Seng, who wired $1 million into Trie's bank account; and about meetings he arranged for the president and the first lady with would-be contributors, some of whom have since been indicted...."

Washington Times 8/5/99 Jerry Seper "...Mark Middleton, former confidant of Charles Yah Lin Trie, John Huang and Johnny Chung, all of whom confessed to making illegal donations during the 1996 presidential election, is the highest ranking administration official to refuse to cooperate in the campaign-finance probe. Mr. Middleton, a longtime Clinton confidant who raised more than $4 million during the 1992 election, was called to appear before the House Government Reform Committee, which will ask him about his ties to Trie, Huang and Chung and his financial connections with the Lippo Group, a $6 billion Indonesian real estate and banking conglomerate controlled by the Riady family -- also Clinton supporters...."

Washington Times 8/5/99 Jerry Seper "...Chung testified before the committee that Liu Chao-ying, a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army and a China Aerospace Co. executive with whom Chung had a business relationship, told him that Mr. Middleton received $50,000 in PLA funds to do "good things" for Mr. Clinton. Mr. Middleton has denied the accusation.

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...According to a [Presidential Legal Expense Fund] defense fund trustee, Harold Ickes and Hillary Clinton had knowledge of the corrupt money and did nothing to stop the flow of it until newspaper columns and stories triggered Ickes' tip-off to the DNC that maybe Trie's fundraising would be linked to John Huang and James Riady and, yes, Mr. McDougal...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...A Justice Department investigation into improper political fundraising activities has uncovered evidence that representatives of the People's Republic of China sought direct contributions from foreign sources to the DNC, the Democratic National Committee, before the 1996 Presidential election. Mr. Speaker, our intelligence--the FBI and CIA--warned Janet Reno directly that China was attempting to influence the White House in policy decisions through campaign finance reports, much like they did in the port that we just talked about, by giving cash donations. The Justice Department task force has discovered that in early 1995, Chinese representatives developed a plan to spend nearly $2 million to buy influence in Congress, this body, and the Clinton administration, and investigators are apparently trying to determine if any of that money was received by John Huang, Charlie Trie, among others. So the FBI has given us warning and the CIA that the Chinese are trying to influence our Government to make decisions in their favor. And then the Clinton administration gives them a $50 million coal burning plant, gives them a $127 to $137 million loan to build Chinese Communist ships. Then they give them access to Long Beach Naval Shipyard and complete control of it. We think that there is a direct problem...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...In 1992, Candidate Clinton described as unconscionable Indonesia's treatment of the East Timorese, 200,000 of whom had perished since Indonesia had annexed East Timor 20 years ago. The administration even supported the United Nations resolution criticizing Indonesia's East Timor policy. Around the same time, Mark Grobymer, an Arkansas lawyer who golfs with Mr. Clinton, joined Mr. Huang and Mr. Riady on a trip to East Timor. In April the three men visited Mr. Clinton, and, guess what? The President reversed his position. Human rights activists claimed the administration's concern for Timor would be looked into. John Huang helped raise $425,000 from an Indonesian couple whose primary bread earner was as a landscaper. When it was looked into, and that checks were made concurrently by the same source and it was brought up to the press, the DNC returned the money...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...Mr. Huang's message slips from the Commerce Department also showed calls from one Chinese Embassy official in February 1995 and three calls from the Embassy's commercial minister in June and August of that year. Mr. Huang's desk calendar entries had three meetings scheduled with Chinese Government officials. He attended policy breakfasts at the Chinese Embassy in October 1995 and visited the Indonesian Embassy on October 11, 1995. In March, President Clinton, after this meeting in Indonesia by Mr. Huang, in March 1996, President Clinton reversed a key administrative policy on immigration following a $1.1 million Asian fund-raising dinner, the most successful Asian-American political fund-raiser in United States history. Held the previous month and organized by, who else? John Huang, a former employee of Lippo...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...President Clinton had previously opposed the practice of allowing foreign-born siblings of naturalized U.S. citizens to come to the United States, based on recommendations of a commission he appointed himself, and affirmed his desire to halt immigration in an early 1996 letter to the Speaker of the House. But in March 1996, President Clinton made a last-minute about-face, after the Indonesian meeting with Mr. Huang and after the fund-raising of $1.1 million, and reversed his position and put top priority recommendations made in a strongly worded John Huang memorandum to Bill Clinton. And then, and now former, Senator Alan Simpson said: I never in 18 years in Congress, and I quote, saw an issue that shifted so fast and so hard...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...After receiving $1.1 million from Indonesia, Mr. Huang began aggressively arguing for U.S. trade policy toward Vietnam only 1 day after joining the Commerce Department, and again with no security clearances whatsoever or background check, in July 1994, and pushed the idea for the next 17 months when Lippo Group sought to expand its investment empire into Vietnam itself. He also attended interagency meetings of an Indonesian working group. The next month, a United States trade mission to China resulted in a $1 billion power plant that Lippo would finance and benefit from. This is at the same time when the President agreed to give Communist China $50 million for a Chinese coal-burning plant...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...I feel it is very important that we bring up another subject. That is the subjugation of the United States by a Communist-owned company, and control of. What I would like to do tonight is talk on the facts. Those facts are based on when I served in the U.S. Navy, I served on 7th Fleet staff and was responsible for all Southeast Asia countries, the defense of, not only in the training exercises, but in the real world threat.... Cosco is a Communist-owned, Communist Chinese-owned company. Its purpose is ship containers in and out of major ports all over the world..... What I plan to show tonight is a direct link between the White House fundraising with China and assets that have gone in favor of Communist China that could pose as a national security threat to the United States. I have intelligence reports that state so. I have facts that also state so, and I would like to make that case this evening....."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...Last year, it was Cosco that delivered to the State of California 2,000 AK-47's. The company that builds the AK-47's, the company that negotiates the trade of AK-47's around the world, the company Cosco, all set up by the PRC, the People's Republic of China, owns. They do not report to department heads. Their CEO is Communist China, all owned and coordinated and controlled by Communist China. Yet, they delivered over 2,000 AK-47's into our country, with the intent of selling these arms to our inner cities to disrupt, to disrupt our inner cities, and disrupt our political environment within the United States of America. At the same time, the Clinton White House accepted both Cosco and the gunrunners themselves in a White House coffee..."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...Long Beach Naval Shipyard, the marines lost a bid for the site to a China Cosco firm, and I quote from the Washington Times: Several officers in the Marine Corps have raised questions about why the Clinton administration favored turning over a military base in Long Beach, CA to the Chinese ocean shipping company, Cosco, over the protest of marine reserve battalion made homeless by the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Briefings on the firm fail to convince many of its members. The CIA, the Office of Naval Intelligence, and the Coast Guard reinforced the view that Cosco's strong link with the Chinese Government is a fatal flaw in its proposal to deliver the base to a company.... "

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...Johnny Chung, a Chinese American businessman from California, gave $366,000 to the Democrats, the DNC, that was later returned on suspicion it illegally came from foreign sources. Chung brought 6 Chinese officials to the White House last year to watch President Clinton make his weekly radio address. One of the 6 was the advisor from COSCO who was later given by the President access to Long Beach shipyard and also the actual gun runners that were there in the White House gave money to the DNC. The chairman of one of these two Chinese arms companies implicated in the scheme to smuggle the 2,000 illegal Chinese-made weapons into Oakland aboard COSCO's ship had coffee in the White House in an affair associated with D.C. fundraising. Officials of the weapons company were indicted for shipping those arms...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...On the campaign trail last year and in a White House meeting in 1995, President Clinton endorsed the proposal to transfer land of the Long Beach Naval shipyard to COSCO, but it was this March, 1995, the White House radio address that had critics talking. A COSCO advisor was among the Chinese businessmen invited to hear the President in the oval office just two days after a California businessman, Johnny Chung, made a $50,000 donation to the DNC and hand-delivered it to Mrs. Clinton's chief of staff Margaret Williams, CBS Evening News, March 11, 1997...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...Shortly after the Long Beach Naval shipyard land transfer was arranged, the Clinton administration helped arrange, listen to this, Mr. Speaker, in the President's budget that he submitted, he gave free, no strings, gave to Communist China $50 million to burn a coal burning plant, after these meetings and after these DNC fund-raisers from the Chinese. He can cut impact aid for education, but he can also give $50 million to Communist China in the name of trade and just give it. That is not fair trade...."

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...He also gave a multimillion dollar loan to build 5 Communist Chinese ships, COSCO ships, in a nonrecourse loan. What that means, Mr. Speaker, this is a loan of some $137 million, which may not be much to many Members around this body, but you ask the American people, $137 million of their taxpayers' dollars back up a nonrecourse loan to Communist China, a state-controlled company by Communist China, and if they forfeit, who is left holding the bag? The United States taxpayers. Our own ship builders do not have access to this type of loan, Mr. Speaker. Incredible. But yet the administration gives Communist China.... "

House of Representatives 4/15/97 Rep Cunningham "...COSCO was fined for paying kickbacks to shippers instead of abiding by tariffs. This is, again, a Chinese-operated company that was cited for giving kickbacks, payoffs for access.... Mr. Speaker, President Clinton took a personal role in promoting the interests of COSCO. At the same time he was cutting over 100 warships from the U.S. fleet, drawn up by the Bush administration, a 23 percent cut. The symbolism could not be anymore stark. ...."

Washington Weekly 8/9/99 Marvin Lee "...Burton asked Middleton about a statement attributed to Liu Chao-Ying, an agent of the Chinese intelligence, that Mark Middleton got a half-million dollars through a group in Singapore to "do good things for China." "We've received testimony that you were doing something clandestine with agents of the Chinese military -- the daughter of the PLA's most senior general. It was very cryptic. But since you haven't spoken to us, it's all we have to go on," Burton said. What is known is that Middleton was instrumental in buying the silence of Whitewater witness Webster Hubbell with money from China. James Riady and John Huang met repeatedly with Middleton in the White House before wiring $100,000 from a Hong Kong bank partly owned by Chinese intelligence to Webster Hubbell. And when Chinese Triad Mobster Ng Lap-seng entered the U.S. with a suitcase containing $175,000 in cash, he went to see Mark Middleton at the White House. Ng Lap-seng is a friend of Clinton crony Charlie Trie and has been suspected of carrying cash between the Chinese government and the White House. The White House has never accounted for the source of or the spending of these suitcases full of cash, and neither Ng Lap-seng nor Middleton are willing to talk...."

FoxNews O’Reilly Factor 8/16/99 Freeper go star go reports "…

FoxNews 8/17/99 "…In an exclusive interview with Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor Monday night, Johnny Chung, a key figure in the 1996 campaign finance scandal, said he had visited the White House 57 times. Chung also stated that he was on a first-name basis with President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton…. He also stated that the Democratic National Committee never asked him if he received money from foreign nationals — it is against the law for foreign nationals to contribute funds to candidates or political parties, so-called "hard" and "soft" money, respectively. Chung stated that he viewed the contributions from Chinese businessmen as his own money. Perhaps his most explosive comment during the interview was that executives of the Democratic National Committee threatened him in the aftermath of a fund-raiser in Los Angeles. Chung said that he donated $25,000 for a table at a Clinton-Gore fund raiser, which entitled his party to two photos with the president. Chung said he wanted four photos with the president and was told he would have to donate an additional $70,000 to secure the extra photos. He said that DNC executives noted that he had promised the additional $70,000 and that bad things would happen to him if he didn't pay. Chung went on to say that he never donated the additional $70,000. Chung also contradicted the claim of Maggie Williams, Mrs. Clinton's former chief of staff, that she did not know that an envelope he handed her in the White House contained a check for $50,000. Chung said that Williams looked in the envelope, which contained the check for the Democratic National Committee, and a note to Mrs. Clinton. Williams has said that she did not look in the envelope. Chung said he donated the money to help Mrs. Clinton pay off a debt to the DNC incurred in a Christmas party….. "At the very beginning of 1997, the Democrat side of the Government Reform Committee sent a package to my office, to my attorney's office," Chung said in the interview, adding that the package, "Tried to teach me how to plead — take the fifth." Chung testified before the congressional panel in a five-hour closed session in November 1997 and again in May 1999 after claims that his account differed from press reports of what he told federal investigators….."

NewsMax.com 8/16/99 "…In his exclusive interview with FOX News Channel (FNC) anchor Bill O'Reilly, host of FNC's highest rated show, Johnny Chung, the central figure in the campaign finance scandal, revealed he received a package on "how to plead the Fifth" from the chief counsel for the Democrats on The Government Reform and Oversight Committee….. CHUNG: Mr. O'Reilly, at the very beginning of 1997, the Democrat side of the Government Reform Committee sent a package to my office, to my attorney's office. O'REILLY: The Democratic side? CHUNG: The Democrat side. O'REILLY: Of the -- what committee? CHUNG: The Government Reform and Oversight…….CHUNG: I don't receive personal, but my attorney's office received the package. It say how you can plea -- how you can take a Fifth in the United States Congress. O'REILLY: Who sent you that package? CHUNG: Government Reform Committee, Democrat side…."

NewsMax.com 8/16/99 "…Chung also clarified for Bill O'Reilly that he had not been to the White House 49 times as has been widely reported, but had actually been there 57 times.: O'REILLY: So the DNC knew that you were giving them money and they made the calls to the right people in the White House to get you in to meet the president, the first lady, the vice president, and on and on. Fine. The president of the United States, Mr. Clinton, did he ever wonder why Johnny Chung was always in the White House, 49 times? CHUNG: First of all, I want to correct you. It's not 49 times, this is official. Fifty-seven times…."

NewsMax.com 8/16/99 "… O'Reilly asked Chung if the DNC knew the money being donated was from Chinese Nationals: CHUNG: DNC know I've been cultivated the business with those Chinese people all along. O'REILLY: They knew you were involved with the Chinese nationals. CHUNG: Even the documentation, we'll show it to you. They invite those people to come to certain event. O'REILLY: OK. But they never asked you point blank, "Johnny Chung, are they giving you money that you're handing us?" Did DNC ever ask you that Fowler… any of those guys ever ask you that? CHUNG: Don't ask, don't tell. Chung also explained how the DNC tried to get around scrutiny by having Chung cut 23 separate checks for $1000, instead of one large check: CHUNG: I used my employee -- after they told me that they cannot take that $25,000, I instruct my general manager to collect a 23 check, and I reimbursed him. O'REILLY: And you reimbursed him, OK. CHUNG: And that was... O'REILLY: There's one more loose end I want to tie up on this DNC fund-raiser in L.A. CHUNG: But I do want to point it out here is, they did know, on that two table there are Chinese national, they come to greet them. O'REILLY: Sure. CHUNG: And then, how come they don't take my $25,000 for DNC, and they insist to ask me to give them another 23 individual check, each one is $1,000…"

Washington Times 8/18/99 Jerry Seper "…Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee sought for two years to delay and obstruct the panel's campaign-finance investigation, even telling a top White House aide to make himself unavailable for a deposition to which he had been subpoenaed, according to congressional records. The documents, reviewed in the wake of accusations this week by former Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung that he was coached on how to plead the Fifth Amendment before a 1997 appearance before the committee, outline a suspected plan by Democrats to block the committee's ongoing probe. Republicans have begun an investigation to determine what role Democrats played in trying to protect the White House against accusations of campaign-finance abuses….."The Democratic minority counsel has acted as defense attorneys for a whole list of would-be witnesses, trying to scare them into not testifying," said the committee's spokesman, Mark Corallo. "They didn't have to come right out and blatantly tell the witnesses not to testify, but they certainly set a tone of fear and intimidation. "They made no effort to find out the truth of whether campaign-finance abuses during the 1996 election compromised our national-security system," he said…..But Republicans said yesterday that committee records, including depositions of key witnesses and numerous letters written concerning the panel's inquiry, document GOP concerns that committee Democrats and their attorneys sought to delay the depositions, intimidate would-be witnesses and obstruct the investigation. They said the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California, wrote in an April 3, 1998, letter to committee Chairman Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, that he was "disappointed" the deposition of White House Deputy Counsel Bruce Lindsey -- a key figure in the campaign-finance probe -- had been scheduled during the spring recess. Mr. Waxman told the chairman that he had advised Mr. Lindsey to "not be available for this deposition" -- a suggestion roundly criticized by Republicans as an example of what they said were delaying tactics utilized by Democrats throughout the probe….."

Washington Times 8/18/99 Jerry Seper "…The committee records, copies of which were obtained by The Washington Times, show that: … - During the deposition of one White House official, minority counsel raised objections on 49 occasions, and that during another deposition, the Democrats sought to prevent a witness from answering questions by the majority counsel despite the witnesses' willingness to do so. -At some depositions, objections were raised directly by Mr. Waxman and Rep. Tom Lantos, California Democrat, both of whom challenged with some regularity the validity of questions asked by the majority counsel. During the deposition of one White House aide, Republicans said Mr. Waxman tried to prevent questions concerning former Justice Department official Webster L. Hubbell, a longtime friend of President and Mrs. Clinton. -Democrats sought to block committee efforts to subpoena records from state Democratic Party organizations, through which suspected illegal campaign funds had been funneled. Mr. Waxman argued there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Investigators later discovered that illegal donations had been routed to the state organizations….."

Judicial Watch 8/18/99 Larry Klayman "…Today, Judicial Watch will file a complaint before the House Ethics Committee, alleging, based on information disclosed by Johnny Chung, and expanded upon by The Washington Times, that Democrats, led by Congressman Henry Waxman of California, have obstructed Congressional investigations into Chinagate. Based on recent reports, Congressman Waxman also may be linked to a scheme to use the Internal Revenue Service to audit, harass and harm critics of the Clinton Adminisration. Judicial Watch will also ask the House Ethics Committee to look into this as well. Judicial Watch takes a particular interest in Congressman Waxman because of its California office in San Marino. If Judicial Watch is to represent the interests of Californians and Westerners, as well as all Americans, it cannot turn a blind eye to the conduct of Congressman Waxman and his friends…."

Judicial Watch 8/18/99 Tom Fitton Letter to Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, US House of Representatives "… Re: Complaint Against Congressman Henry Waxman and Involved Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee. Dear Committee: On behalf of the American people and in the public interest, we hereby file a complaint against Congressman Henry Waxman of the 29th District of California. Judicial Watch is a public interest group dedicated to fighting government corruption.

In recent days there have been press reports on the Fox News Channel and in the Washington Times that Congressman Waxman and Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee have attempted to impede the free flow of testimony of a material witness, Johnny Chung, in the campaign finance/Chinagate scandals. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1, and incorporated by reference are the transcripts, a video clip, and press reports of these allegations.

Furthermore, recent press reports have suggested that Congressman Waxman may be one of the individuals, including, but not limited to, officials of the Democratic Party and the Clinton Administration, who have engaged in a scheme to use the Internal Revenue Service to audit, harass and harm critics of the Clinton Administration. Attached hereto as Exhibit 2, and incorporated by reference are press reports of these allegations.

If true, these reports on the campaign finance/Chinagate and IRS scandals would mean that Congressman Waxman has violated laws and rules that include, but are not limited to: 18 U.S.C.§§ 1505, 1502; House Rule XXIV, Code of Official Conduct, no.1; and The Code of Ethics for Government Employment, nos. 1, 2, 9 & 10. We therefore demand a full investigation on behalf of the American people.

In light of the fact that Chairman Dan Burton of the Government Reform Committee has continuously complained about Democrat obstruction of his investigation into the campaign finance/Chinagate scandals, and given his remarks yesterday evening on The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News (enclosed as part of Exhibit 1), it is clear that he should certify that he believes this information is submitted in good faith and warrants the review and consideration of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Judicial Watch, Inc., certifies that it has provided an exact copy of this complaint and all attachments to Congressman Waxman and Chairman Burton.

Sincerely, JUDICIAL WATCH, INC. Larry Klayman…"

Investors Business Daily 8/19/99 "…The Washington Times is reporting that Democrats stalled a congressional investigation into White House fund- raising practices. We're not surprised. That's what happens when politicians forget principle and focus on holding on to power. Once the Democratic Party was a bastion of idealism. It was guided by principle. Its members held tight to deep convictions. Now, with Republicans in control of Congress, Democratic leaders have all but forgotten their party's ideological foundation. They will do whatever's necessary to stay in the White House, the only tie to power they still have. Their desperation caused them to ignore campaign finance laws to re-elect President Clinton. As one lie begets another, they later found they needed to block probes into the alleged violations if they were to keep the presidency and have any hope of regaining Congress. Wednesday's Washington Times reveals that Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee delayed - even obstructed - the panel's Chinagate probe to protect the White House. Congressional documents report that the Democrats went so far as to tell a White House aide to skip a deposition he had been subpoenaed for….. Congressional Democrats aren't alone in their zeal to foil probes into the campaign practices of their party and president. The Justice Department under Attorney General Janet Reno has been a graveyard for potential investigations. Despite pressure from Congress and the FBI, Reno refused to appoint an independent counsel to look into charges the Chinese military had funneled money into the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton- Gore 1996 re-election campaign. She said she saw no evidence that required an independent-counsel probe. Yet her hand-picked investigator, who called for a special prosecutor, said Reno misinterpreted the independent- counsel law in a way that protected Clinton and Vice President Al Gore…..The same mind-set was at work in the Senate, where Democrat John Glenn of Ohio blocked Republican Fred Thompson's investigation of influence-buying by China. Principle demanded that Glenn cooperate with the probe to root out corruption. But Glenn and the Democrats put party interest above national interest. …..Attaining power for the sake of power, and doing whatever's necessary to cling to it, leads to ignoring the law and, more importantly, what's right…."

NewsMax.com 8/16/99 "…Chung also revealed that the FBI and DOJ had him tape conversations with a Chinese National nicknamed "Fish Powder" who was an important contact person between the Chinese Government and Chung: O'REILLY: So what you're saying is that after you were caught and after all the heat came down on Johnny Chung, you were honest, you told the investigators -- Chuck LaBella, the FBI agents -- just as you're telling me today, what happened, here's what happened. But in Washington Janet Reno's staff sat on it and didn't do anything with it. Is that accurate? CHUNG: That's very accurate. I can say that in my part I told them everything I know in this ongoing investigation, and I didn't see any of them is really come out to the light yet. For example, I have the agreement with the Department of Justice, I'm not going to mention the name, but we gave him a nickname, we call Fish Powder. O'REILLY: Fish Powder? CHUNG: Yes. We gave a nickname. And this gentlemen of Fish Powders, he is very important witness and my prosecutors put him on watch list of the immigration office. Any time he comes to the United States, they want to question him. O'REILLY: Is he a Chinese national? CHUNG: That's correct. O'REILLY: And what happened is this guy call me out of the blue. And my prosecutor doesn't know that. The FBI who protect me doesn't know that. And then I was instructed by the FBI to record all of the conversation. I was instructed by my prosecutor to record all of the conversations. And I've been recording a lot under their instruction, the Department of Justice and FBI. And this guy comes in and out to our country freely, and nobody talked to him. And he's a very important witness. …"

Original Sources 8/18/99 Mary Mostert "…. If the Democrats on the Committee that was trying to investigate the irregularities of the 1996 Campaign finance contributions to the Clinton-Gore campaign were blatantly blocking the investigation and trying to lead and/or block testimony of a key witness, that is, as O’Reilly bluntly pointed it, not merely a Campaign Finance problem - it’s major government corruption. Bill O’Reilly did an excellent job of trying to get to the bottom of this bombshell of a revelation in both his questions to Johnny Chung and in questions to Philip M. Schiliro, staff director for the Democrats on the Committee. In framing the questions to Schiliro, O’Reilly said: "The Democrats deny trying to impede Chung’s testimony and say that Chung’s attorney, Brian Sun, ASKED for the information about taking the Fifth and so it was sent. Counselor Sun’s office said that was ‘ludicrous.’" He then allowed Schiliro time to reply to "Johnny Chung’s accusation that the Democrats tried to convince him to take the 5th Amendment." …O'Reilly: To continue now with counselor Philip Schiliro, of the Democratic side- 122 people have either fled or pled (the 5th Amendment) in this Chinese Campaign Finance thing. That’s why it looks so bad, Counselor and I have to tell you as a journalist I’m trying to be fair here. I understand what you are saying and I not calling you a liar, and I’m not saying you are not telling the truth - I don’t know who is telling the truth. But, I do know that when 122 people either leave the country or refuse to testify, ANY APPEARANCE that the Democrats are helping people not testify is disturbing. Schiliro: There is absolutely no evidence at all other than Mr. Chung’s statement which is factually incorrect, that Democrats have done that. We haven’t done that. It’s been in our interest to get people to testify to resolve this matter as quickly as possible and we’ve done that. The other point that you should know is that in this investigation Democrats have virtually no influence or power. All the unilateral decisions get to be made by Chairman Burton.

Editor’s Note: No evidence? Schiliro ADMITTED they sent the materials - that makes it the testimony of TWO witnesses that the until now unknown incident of the Democrats having unilateral association with the witnesses they were voting immunity against took place. Schiliro is saying, "So what?" He is not denying it happened.

O'Reilly: Let’s go now to Chairman Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Reform and Oversight Committee. How do you react to Counselor Schiliro? You didn’t know anything about this, right? About the Chung - that the Democrats sent him the stuff about the 5th Amendment. What’s your feeling on it?

Chairman Dan Burton:My feeling is that Mr. Chung had adequate counsel. Mr. Sun is a very fine attorney out on the West Coast and he understands very clearly what Mr. Chung’s 5th Amendment rights were. And for the Minority of my Committee to be sending information, apparently unsolicited, to Mr. Chung and his attorney telling them how to take the 5th Amendment appears to me to be obstructing our investigation. I think that’s totally improper.

O'Reilly: Who do you believe in this? Do you believe the Democrats would be foolish enough to send Chung information about the 5th Amendment without telling you - unsolicited? That seems to be a bad political move.

Chairman Dan Burton:Well, Mr. Chung was doing a lot of contributing to the Democratic National Committee and the President’s Re-election Committee. And, I think they saw him as a Democrat ally, but this Justice Department and Janet Reno I believe has been working in concert with Mr. Waxman to try to keep us from getting witnesses before the Committee. We have to have a two-thirds majority vote to give immunity to a witness to be able to have them testify. We have not been able to get Henry Waxman and the Democrats to work with us except on one occasion and that was after we made some very strong concessions to them.

The fact of the matter is they have worked with the Justice Department to block us every step of the way and I think Johnny Chung is verifying that on your program.

O'Reilly:Do you believe Chung?

Chairman Dan Burton:I do believe him.

O'Reilly:Do you believe what he told us?

Chairman Dan Burton:I do believe him, because this is not the first time that we have had this kind of problem. I was having Louis Freeh, Chuck LaBella and the Chief FBI agent before my Committee. One hour before I was going to have them testify before my Committee, Janet Reno called me and said SHE wanted to testify. I said, "We’re not prepared, Madame Attorney General, to have you testify. If you’d let us know a little earlier, we might have worked that out." When the Committee Meeting started less than an hour later Henry Waxman had a letter from her that was addressed to ME! That I had not even received! And, he read it saying she was really upset because I wouldn’t let her testify. She had to have written that letter in 45 minutes and get it to him, and it was addressed to me.

So, once again, the Justice Department and the Attorney General were working in concert with Mr. Waxman to block our investigation. And that is the modus operandi that has been going on.

O'Reilly:So, basically what you are saying is: Mr. Chung’s statements are correct that federal laws were broken by the President, the Vice-President, the First Lady, and Hazel O’Leary. That there’s a massive cover-up going on and its a situation that is totally out of control right now.

Chairman Dan Burton:Oh, I think it IS out of control. I’ve said for three years now that Janet Reno has been blocking for the President. She was supposed to appoint an independent counsel to investigate Campaign Finance. Chuck LaBella said she should. Louis Freeh, the head of the FBI said she should. The head of the FBI investigative team said she should. And, she didn’t DO it! She’s been blocking for the President.

She has not allowed us to talk to witnesses because she hides behind what she says is Grand Jury or 6E material. And, Johnny Chung is right. She sits on information and keeps the cases open because once the cases are closed I can bring those people before my committee. And I know for a fact that she has kept case after case open so I can’t get to the witnesses.

O'Reilly:Unbelievable! ….Perhaps the most blatant thing that Chung told us last night was that he handed Maggie Williams, Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff $50,000 IN THE WHITE HOUSE! She took it, looked in the envelope, and called up the White House mess, made a reservation so Chung and his party could go down and eat, and then the money went to the DNC (Democratic National Committee.)

Now, that’s CLEARLY against the law! You can’t DO that! But I haven’t heard anything about that other than a cursory thing here!

Chairman Dan Burton:Bill, we’ve talked about all these things over the past three YEARS! This is not an isolated case. The President was going to fund-raisers where very few people even spoke English and he knew that they were fund-raisers. And, a lot of those people were not Chinese-Americans. They were Chinese nationals. And, he knew that. He also tried to circumvent the campaign laws by talking about how to get soft money into the campaign when the candidates are not supposed to be involved in that in any way…."

***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** 8/24/99 Vol Four No 147 "…3) Catching up with another item from early August which has not been picked up by other media outlets so far as I and the MRC news analysts have seen, the August 4 Investor's Business Daily explored the close ties between Vanessa Weaver, nominated by Clinton for a seat on the board of the Export-Import Bank, and John Huang. In addition to her own numerous phones calls to Huang, her father, the paper noted, heads the Stephens Company, whose offices Huang used to send faxes shortly after receiving classified briefings. (The Wall Street Journal picked up on the IBD article for an August 5 editorial.) Here's an excerpt from the illuminating piece by Paul Sperry: Ex-Im Bank Nod Tied To John Huang Weaver's Contacts With Fundraiser Questioned President Clinton's appointee to a critical seat on the board of the Export-Import Bank has close ties to a crooked fundraiser linked to China. China is Ex-Im Bank's second-largest customer. During the Clinton years, the bank has given more than $5.5 billion in loans to China to help it buy U.S. technology and equipment for power plants and other projects. The loans were OK'd despite proof that China sold nuclear-related equipment to Pakistan and other countries that worry U.S. security experts.

The White House hopes the Senate will quickly confirm D. Vanessa Weaver to fill one of three vacant seats on Ex-Im's five-member board. The lack of quorum is holding up $2.3 billion in loans. As a Clinton aide, Weaver often was in touch with Democratic Party fundraiser Jian-Nan "John" Huang when he worked at the Commerce Department……Weaver and Huang exchanged at least 26 phone calls over a 17-month period in 1994 and 1995, records show. Weaver also reached out to Huang in October 1996 when he hid from U.S. marshals for a week to avoid testifying in a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch Inc. The public-interest law firm claims that Huang was involved in an illegal scheme at Commerce to sell seats on trade trips for Democratic donations. "She (Weaver) called my wife in California," Huang testified after authorities finally caught up with him. "As a courtesy, I returned her call to her home." Huang explained that Weaver and he are just "good friends." Asked about her again in another Judicial Watch deposition in April, Huang took the Fifth…..As often as three times a week, Huang would leave his Commerce office carrying a folder or briefcase and walk across the street to the Willard Hotel. There he'd visit the Washington office of Stephens Inc., an Arkansas-based brokerage. Weaver's father, Vernon Weaver, headed the branch. A fellow Arkansan, he and Clinton go back more than 20 years. The elder Weaver let Huang use an empty Stephens office to pick up overnight packages, make phone calls and fax documents. His secretary, Paula Greene, testified before the Senate in 1997 that Weaver gave her strict orders to hide the setup. For instance, she says Weaver told her not to leave detailed phone messages for Huang when she called to alert him to a package or fax. Phone records show Vernon Weaver made at least 27 calls to Huang from July 1994 to November 1995. Over that same period, Vanessa Weaver made at least 23 calls to Huang -- two on the same day as her father. The congressional investigator, who wished to go unnamed, suspects Vanessa Weaver was a White House "go-between" for her father and Huang. Her White House office is just across 15th St. from the Willard Hotel and the Commerce building. ….Several months before Huang joined Commerce, China Resources Holding Co., a front for Chinese military intelligence, bought a large stake in a Lippo unit called Hongkong Chinese Bank. That made Lippo equal partners with Beijing's communist regime. "Huang himself may possibly have had a direct financial relationship with the (Chinese) government," said the final report of the so-called Thompson committee, headed by Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., which probed foreign fundraising in the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign…."

WorldNetDaily.com 8/31/99 Charles Smith "…And what benefit does the Chinese Army get from doing business with Clinton? According to the Rand Corp. report, "For those who oppose any subsidization of the PLA, there is thus ample evidence that profits from PLA-affiliated enterprises directly benefit the main-line forces of the Chinese military." …..One hard-core benefit for China from U.S. technology and finance is the DF-31 missile. The new Dong Feng (EAST WIND) 31 missile performed flawlessly during its first test flight. The DF-31 can reach any city in America and is armed with three nuclear warheads. The DF-31 has Clinton-supplied guidance, nuclear warhead, nose cone and solid rocket engine technologies. The DF-31 is equipped with many technologies stolen or bought from America during Clinton's term. The DF-31 success was so spectacular that the PLA Second Artillery will deploy 20 missiles by the end of 2000. According to intelligence sources in the Pentagon, China will deploy over 1,000 nuclear-tipped missiles in the next decade. …. Of course, no one has ever fought a nuclear war, and few of the pundits have studied such weapons in combat. The pundits are playing dangerous games with our lives. The DF-31 is better than the U.S. MX and Minuteman missiles. The DF-31 represents a decade of successful espionage against America. Nuclear weapons do not require large numbers to be effective. The Chinese army recently threatened to use neutron bombs on any U.S. Navy carrier that should stray too close to Taiwan. Chinese officials have already threatened to destroy Los Angeles if we help Taiwan resist an invasion. One new DF-31 missile could flatten L.A., San Francisco and San Diego….."

Washington Post 12/20/96 Michael Weissokopf Lena Sun "…A Democratic fund-raiser with business dealings in China used his influence with party officials last February to bring the head of a weapons trading company owned by the Chinese military to a White House coffee hosted by President Clinton…… Trie's success in obtaining the White House invitation for Wang Jun, who heads not only the weapons company but a huge investment conglomerate owned by the Chinese Communist government, shows the extraordinary pull of Democratic fund-raisers at a White House eager to meet high campaign costs. There is no sign that Wang conversed with the president at the coffee klatch, but his personal contact with Clinton at a time of heightened tensions in U.S.-China relations would have been of interest to policymakers in Beijing. And Trie's ability to give Wang entree to the president would almost certainly improve his chances of doing business with Wang and other Chinese officials…..A week before the coffee, the Navy had confirmed that Beijing sold ship-to-ship cruise missiles to Iran. About the same time, U.S. intelligence officers concluded that China had sold nuclear weapons-related equipment to Pakistan….."

TEXAN 1995 Clayton Vernon "…http://net.cs.utexas.edu/users/boyer/fp/texan-970317.html ….According to The New York Times, former UT System Regents Chairman Bernard Rapoport hired Webster Hubbell for a joint venture with the Riady family in Indonesia during the brief time before Hubbell's federal imprisonment. This shocker should end naive beliefs that the cozy and profitable relationships between the individuals who ran this system and Indonesian interests was above-board. Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr is investigating these and other enormous payments, totaling $400,000, to determine if they were "hush money" related in any way to Hubbell's decision to not cooperate with federal investigators. Appearances of impropriety include frequent visits to Hubbell in prison by the Clintons' close personal friends, to remind him the Clintons still "cared." The Lippo Group, an Indonesian conglomerate run by the Riadys, helped introduce since-disgraced fund-raiser John Huang to the Clinton administration, which later endorsed Rapoport's $2 billion Chinese real-estate project. Rapoport's public service to Texas served his private interests well. Clinton has claimed ignorance of these "indefensible" payments from his good friends and his best friend. We can no longer deny the coinciding of Rapoport's sudden interest in hiring Hubbell as his lawyer, and the large consulting compensation paid to UT System Chancellor William Cunningham by Jim Bob Moffett and Freeport-McMoRan -- a large and controversial corporate presence in Indonesia….."

Human Events 9/3/99 Scott Park "…Conversations captured by FBI wiretaps suggest that forces in the Peoples' Republic of China may have attempted to direct a witness in the Justice Department's campaign finance investigation to mislead federal investigators. Transcripts of FBI wiretaps of communications between Robert Luu and Democratic fundraiser Johnny Chung raise new questions about Atty. Gen. Janet Reno's much-criticized decision not to call for an independent counsel to be named to investigate foreign influence in the 1996 presidential election. This case may also cause House Republicans to resurrect the contempt of Congress citation against Reno that the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee approved last year, but which then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.) never brought up for a vote on the House floor. The committee approved the citation when Reno flatly refused to comply with a subpoena demanding that she turn over to Congress a memo, written by then-campaign finance investigation tastk force director Charles LaBella, that detailed the reasons both LaBella and FBI Director Louis Freeh believed that the law required Reno to call for an independent counsel to investigate President Clinton and Vice President Gore. "There's no doubt why they didn't go forward with the investigation," Rep. Curt Weldon (R.-Pa.) told HUMAN EVENTS. "Janet Reno know it would be devestating to Clinton and she's covering for him. "She knew this could be the silver bullet," said Weldon, who was a member of the Cox committee that investigated Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons facilities. "They backed down last time, but I've spoken with Burton and the leadership, and before the end of this Congress, there will be a strong effort to release the contempt citation for a vote." …."

Human Events 9/3/99 Scott Park "…In an FBI interrogation, according to the transcript, Luu claims that he was simply fabricating the whole thing. "When Mr. Clinton came back from China," said an FBI agent, "all of a sudden you're telling Mr. Chung...Don't hold back...just protect her and the two companies, you can tell about everybody else because they're all Taizidang [princelings], blame it on them." "It's all make up story by me," said Luu. In one transcript, Luu told Chung he was leery of meeting in a hotel, and suggested they rendevouz at the Los Angeles Athletic Club-a place, he said, "even the CIA can't get in." Luu also told Chung he would get help with his finances, and that Chung should open an account with a bank in Asia, where the records would be beyond the reach of the FBI. "It would be best if it was a Bank of China account," Luu said. "But it wouldn't be good to use the one over here. It would be best to use the one in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia or Singapore." "They want to push me," Chung told Luu of the FBI's quest for information from him. "What is fact and fiction, is not the concern of anyone," said Luu. "How many people are murdered in the world is also not important. What's important is how the game is played. No matter how much pressure was put on him, Clinton still had to go to China." Luu used President Clinton to illustrate how investigators can be frustrated by suspects who doggedly stick to their stories, however improbable….."

Human Events 9/3/99 Scott Park "… In the transcripts, the FBI discusses with Luu three Chinese who allegedly tried to enter the United States on the false pretext of doing business with Home Depot but who were actually coming to "help" Chung. "You told us intitially," said one FBI agent, "that you never told Johnny that there was anybody coming over to help him...Yet, you tell Johnny that there's three people coming over, under some Home Depot theory, that are here to help him but they got intercepted. Okay, so we go over there [Los Angeles International Airport] and three people...come into the United States that prior weekend with fictitious Home Depot letters. And they were sent back."

Human Events 9/3/99 Scott Park "…Weldon said that what people don't yet know about Chinese activities is far worse than what has already become public. "As a member of the Cox Committee," he said, "I was briefed by the CIA and FBI. Louis Freeh said only 1% of the material in the LaBella memo to Janet Reno has been made public, and I really believe that. Only a small part has gotten out." "I told Reno, if the administration has nothing to hide, release the memo and dispel all the accusations, but, of course, she won't do it," Weldon said. "The American people need to know why LaBella was so emphatic."

Investors Business Daily 9/7/99 John Berlau "…A separate House task force concluded that ''Cosco is actually an arm of the Chinese military establishment. Customs officials caught a Cosco ship smuggling 2,000 automatic weapons into the ports of Oakland.'' Calpers said it is an ''important fact'' the ''gun purchase was created by an FBI sting and that those who were responsible were not from mainland China and have been prosecuted.'' But William Triplett, a former GOP chief counsel for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it was ''preposterous'' to imply that the guns would not have been shipped if there hadn't been a sting, which was organized by the Customs Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Triplett said it was also ''flat wrong'' that no one from mainland China was involved, noting that midlevel munitions officers have been jailed in China. Triplett said, ''the really hot stuff'' about Cosco is probably still classified. The Cox report stated, ''the Clinton administration has determined that additional information concerning Cosco . . . cannot be made public.''…."

Investors Business Daily 9/7/99 John Berlau "…Another claim of Calpers that doesn't square with China observers is that ''Citic Pacific is not a subsidiary of Citic'' and is a respected investment house in Hong Kong ''independent of the Beijing government.'' Citic is chaired by Wang Jun, chairman of Poly Group, a company affiliated with the Chinese military. Poly was listed as a subsidiary of Citic in the 1980s. They continue to work together on some projects. Wang, who attended a White House coffee in 1996, can't come back to the U.S., Triplett says, because of his suspected involvement in the 1996 arms-smuggling ring aboard the Cosco ship. The ''Red Chips'' book calls Citic Pacific ''Citic's publicly listed arm'' and notes that Citic and its wholly owned subsidiary Citic Hong Kong have a ''controlling interest'' in Citic Pacific. ''Red Chips'' notes that Citic Pacific has occasionally ''appeared to bow to political pressure form Beijing'' in its business practices. ''Red Chips'' also notes the Citic Ka Wah Bank, which Calpers also owns shares in, ''has remained directly in the hands of Citic in Beijing.''…"

Asia Pulse 9/15/99 "....Lippo Bank, which has acknowledged giving a substantial amount in contributions to U.S. president Bill Clinton in his last presidential election, had denied doing the same to Indonesia Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P), the front runner in the country's recent parliamentary election. House Commission VIII in charge of economy, finance and banking asked the bank in a hearing Tuesday about a report that the bank had donated Rp500 billion (US$57 million) to PDI-P which is headed by Megawati Sukarnoputri, popular as pro-democracy leader under the past regime of President Suharto. "We have heard and read in the mass media about this, but after undertaking an internal investigation it turned out to be a hoax," Lippo Bank president Eddy Sindoro said in a working session with the Commission here yesterday.....Another member stated, suspicion of Lippo contributing generously to PDI-P was quite logical, because the same case was also done by the Lippo Group to Bill Clinton. "If such is possible in the United States, why it is not possible in Indonesia," he added. ..."

Insight Magazine 5/26/97 Timothy W. Maier "....The FBI learned of a major Chinese espionage plot to influence the elections last year and launched an investigation. The ex-Russian agent says China's political leaders initiated the operation after meeting to discuss how best to penetrate the U.S. government. "It was a poligical group decision," the source observes. What's surprising, says a former NSC staffer, is the reaction in the administration when the FBI reported the Chinese plot to influence the elections. "We have the smoking guns that the Chinese are trying to direct covert actions against the U.S., and nothing is done," the former staffer says. "Any other time it would have meant the expulsion of the Chinese ambassador." The ex-Russian intelligence agent's allegation of Chinese penetration has been confirmed by Randolph Quon, a former Hong Kong investment banker for two decades. Quon is close to several of the Chinese princelings--the sons and nephews of China's ruling leaders who head the major Red Chinese trading companies. He says China had a "guan-zi," or connection to get access, for its U.S. political operation. "Li Peng was told the Lippo Group had a back channel to the White House, to Bill Clinton," Quon says, through "deal-maker" John Huang, the former Commerce official and ex-vice president of the Indonesia-based Lippo Group, which had estensive joint ventures with Chinese power companies. All utility companies in China are operated by the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, say defense-intelligence specialists. Quon claims 20 members of the Communist Party undertook a "strategic-information warfare campaign in the U.S." Part of that plan, he says, was taking control of Lippo--a company that worked to form a strong relationship with China for economic and military opportunities. Four days after Clinton's 1992 victory the Lippo Group sold 15 percent, and then later 50 percent, of its interest in the Hong Kong Chinese Bank to China Resources [Holdings] Co., a Chinese military front company for spy operations, according to U.S. defense intelligence agents. ...."

Insight Magazine 5/26/97 Timothy W. Maier "....Senior U.S. intelligence officials say the Chinese waited patiently for an opportunity to strike and found vulnerability in a White House that seemed more concerned with filling a depleted Democratic National Committee war chest than with national security. Clinton denies security has suffered under his tenure, and Vice President Al Gore says he did nothing wrong in granting access to big-buck donors, but claims he won't "do it again." Sven Kramer, who long served the NSC at the White House under Republican and Democratic presidents, says he is disgusted with the cavalier actions of an administration that critics say put a dialing-for-dollars campaign ahead of national security. Kramer asserts he finds it difficult to believe that the United States would surrender key ports in Long Beach and at either end of the Panama Canal to a PLA-led shipping company called COSCO. He cites the "foolishness of the intelligence community" for not blowing the whistle on these operations.

He is not alone. Bipartisan former intelligence officials, who asked not to be identified, trace this national-security breakdown to Clinton's out-of-control fund-raising campaign. They cite the selling of White House access to drug dealers and heads of Chinese gun-smuggling companies, as well as presidential one-on-ones with sons and daughters of the highest commanders in the PLA. They note that security clearances were overlooked and access to the president and high administration policy wonks was granted without so much as a FBI background check even for White House coffee-klatsch guests. ...."

Insight Magazine 5/26/97 Timothy W. Maier "....Senate investigators characterize Huang as a "human vacuum cleaner" who sifted through an enormous amount of classified information dealing with China as if he knew his opportunity to do so would be short-lived. During his 18 months at the Commerce Department, Huang was privy to at least 109 intelligence briefings--70 in 1994 and 39 in 1995, according to recently released records from Commerce. the numbers are a far cry from the 37 classified briefings initially admitted by Commerce, and this has Senate investigators extremely upset. "We could have been plugging up holes" and controlling the damage, says an angry investigator. "The FBI is now doing a damage assessment." Other former senior intelligence officers in both NSC and the National Security Agency, or NSA, say it would have been extremely unusual for Huang, who served in the Taiwan air force, to have been cleared for such access with a background check. "That's only done with congressmen," says a former senior NSA official. Senate investigators say they are concerned about Huang meeting with a Chinese Embassy official inside his Commerce office 30 minutes after being briefed by John Dickerson, head of the CIA's office of intelligence liaison at Commerce. Records also show Huang placed at least six telephone calls to Lippo shortly after intelligence briefings. Alarmed intelligence sources say Huang's top-secret clearance would have allowed him to see hundreds of classified documents in addition to attending briefings....."

Insight Magazine 5/26/97 Timothy W. Maier "...."What this says is that Huang's security clearance was waived," former NSC staffer Kramer says. "That's is rare and far too generous of the president. The president can waive security if it is considered urgent in order to go on a trip or be involved rapidly in a project."....."

Senate Governmental Affairs Committee 9/21/99 Press Release "....Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) today announced the witness list for the full Committee's oversight hearing on the Justice Department's handling of the Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie case on Wednesday, September 22, 1999 at 10:00am in 628 Dirksen Office Building. Witness Panel I Special Agent Roberta Parker, FBI Special Agent Kevin Sheridan, FBI Special Agent Daniel Wehr, FBI Mr. Ivian C. Smith, Former Special Agent In Charge, FBI Witness Panel II Ms. Laura Ingersoll, Department of Justice Mr. Lee Radek, Department of Justice During the 1996 presidential campaign, Charlie Trie contributed $220,000 to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and $789,000 to the Presidential Legal Expense Trust. Most of this money was not Trie's; much of it was from sources in Macau, Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China. In March 1997, at the start of its campaign finance investigation, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee issued a subpoena to Charlie Trie for documents important to the Committee's investigation. In June, just before the Committee's hearings began, the FBI learned that Trie's assistant was destroying documents that agents believed should have been produced under that subpoena. DOJ attorneys, however, rejected the FBI's request to conduct a search of Trie's office for the purpose of stopping this destruction of evidence. The FBI was not permitted to conduct its requested search until October 23, 1997, by which point the Committee's hearings were about to end. "The Committee wants to know whether Justice officials stood by while Charlie Trie destroyed documents we subpoenaed," said Chairman Thompson. Throughout 1997, Attorney General Reno promised that her campaign finance investigation would "get to the bottom of the allegations" of campaign finance abuses. She stated publicly that she was "personally monitoring it closely and regularly." And she assured the American people "that the career professionals in the Department will investigate this matter in a fashion that will satisfy the American people that justice has been done." Wednesday's hearing will examine whether this was the case...."

Washington Times 9/24/99 Freeper SVTCobra "….The warrant said the documents included check records for Trie's company, Daihatsu International Trading Co.; a statement from the Bank of China in Macao; travel records for Chinese financier Ng Lap Seng, who had wired $1 million into Trie's bank account; bank deposit slips and wire-transfer documents; and an unexplained Federal Express package showing that 2 pounds of documents had been sent by the White House to Trie on May 5, 1997…."

Wall Street Journal/ Asiaweek 9/24/99 "….The APEC Business Advisory Council is an annual, sometimes interesting, closed-to-the-press sidebar event at APEC summits. ABAC meetings bring together three businessmen from each of the member economies and the top-level leadership of each countries' delegation -- usually the president or prime minister. The annual "dialogue" -- it is really a tightly scripted encounter -- does offer some interesting insights into what is on leaders' minds…… Canada's Jean Chretien came out strongly for the abolition of food subsidies, while U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke of the importance of keeping the information superhighway free of tariffs to allow e-commerce to flourish. Perhaps the most intriguing comment came from Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Cheehwa. His topic: the Y2K computer bug…..After the meeting, Clinton was spotted briefly with one of Indonesia's ABAC members -- James Riady, an old friend from the days when Clinton was a state governor. A former employee of the Riady Family's Lippo Group -- John Huang -- was embroiled in the illegal campaign donations scandal that tainted Clinton's 1996 reelection bid. There were allegations that money was paid to influence U.S. policy toward Indonesia and China. In the Carlton's ballroom, Riady appeared to be briefing Clinton on the situation in Indonesia. …."

The New Zealand Herald Online 9/21/99 Yoke Har Lee "….Political cronyism in Indonesia won't disappear overnight but a lot of pressure is being placed on the system to ensure Indonesia does not repeat its history of corruption, according to James Riady, one of the country's business leaders…… Indonesian investors are mainly interested in New Zealand's forestry, fisheries and agricultural sectors but Mr Riady said he had at the moment no plans for new investments here. Mr Riady's father, Mochtar Riady, an Indonesian of Chinese descent, fought alongside the nationalist guerrillas against the Dutch colonialists. The elder Riady was expelled but later returned to build Lippo into an Asian empire. Lippo's multibillion dollar assets include businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. The group also once owned a bank in Little Rock, Arkansas, from where the Riadys came to befriend President Bill Clinton and later donate funds to the Democratic party. The ensuing scandal that erupted has caught world media attention in what is now known as Donorgate. The Lippo group, according to financial analysts, escaped the worst of the Asian financial collapse thanks to raising money to repay its US dollar debts just prior to the collapse. ….."

The New Zealand Herald Online 9/21/99 Yoke Har Lee "….Mr Riady said the Lippo group went into the crisis with only US$200 million in debts which have since been reduced to zero. He also dismissed links with the Suharto era saying that the Lippo went into business with a focus on market. "We don't do government business, we have no joint ventures with the government. We are in retailing and in retailing, you don't sell to the government," he said in a wide ranging interview. ….."

Investor's Business Daily 9/28/99 Paul Sperry ".....In what's turning into an internecine feud between the White House and the FBI, President Clinton charged that the FBI is trying to turn the spotlight away from its new Waco troubles by raising doubts about the probe into White House fund-raising. Four career FBI agents told the Senate Wednesday that the Justice Department has thwarted their investigation of illegal foreign funds to the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election effort. ''The FBI wants you to write about that rather than write about Waco,'' a visibly angry Clinton told Investor's Business Daily Friday night at the White House....... The president's statement, called ''extraordinary'' by Hill leaders, marked the first time he's criticized his own bureau in public....... Some compare the discord between Clinton and his chief law enforcement agency to the one that developed between President Nixon and Justice as the Watergate probe crept closer to the Oval Office. ...... Referring to Clinton, Brookings Institution presidential scholar Stephen Hess said: ''The idea that the president is acting as if the FBI is trying to do him in is pretty fascinating.'' .....Clinton also lashed out at Republicans in responding to several IBD questions about the fund-raising probe, which has turned up at least $300,000 intended for Clinton from the Chinese military: ''The GOP wants that to be the story rather than guns'' and other issues that ''people care about,'' he said, adding that ''not one person has brought up'' the Chinagate scandal on his stops around the country. ''You want to know the only person who has been linked to money from China?'' Clinton said. ''Haley Barbour and the RNC (Republican National Committee), that's who.'' ''Bob Dole had more FEC (Federal Election Commission) fines than I did,'' he said..... ''He always likes to attack others more than defend his own positions,'' said a senior Republican White House official. ''He has trouble with the facts and the truth,'' said House Government Reform Committee spokesman Mark Corallo. ''So it wouldn't surprise me, in this case, for the president to be ignoring the facts that his party and his re-election committee and his legal defense fund were the recipients of millions of dollars in illegal money from foreign sources -much of it coming from Communist China.'' The Democratic National Committee has had to return over $3 million in illegal or improper donations from the 1996 campaign. The RNC returned $102,400 in illegal donations from the Florida unit of a Hong Kong-based real- estate company. The 1991-93 RNC donations are apparently the ones Clinton cited. Barbour was RNC chairman at the time, though Hong Kong was still part of Britain, not China, back then. Barbour, now head of a Washington lobbying firm, is a target of Reno's campaign-finance task force. IBD was unable to reach Barbour for comment......The impromptu interview with Clinton, conducted on the South Lawn not far from the Oval Office during a dinner for the press, lasted about 10 minutes and started with a single and simple question: ''When's your next formal press conference, Mr. President?'' Clinton was testy throughout. Observers say his face turned red when questioned about the Chinagate probe. The questions came only after Clinton asked why he should hold another formal news conference. ''He was pretty exercised, and I was surprised he'd get so exercised about the campaign finance stuff,'' said Washington-based Seattle Times reporter James Grimaldi, who overheard the exchange and filed a story Sunday. ''He actually blew up.'' Staffers for CNN and the Associated Press also witnessed the exchange. The president's comments came just two days after three active FBI agents -Roberta Parker, Kevin Sheridan and Daniel Wehr - and one retired - 25- year veteran Ivian Smith - told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee that Laura Ingersoll, the former head of Reno's task force, blocked attempts in 1997 to question Clinton fund-raisers and seize documents....."

The Dave Bossie Investigative Report-Special Report 10/4/99 Freeper jedediah smith ".... [There was a] highly illegal effort by the Communist Government of China to swing the U.S. elections to Bill Clinton and the Democrats...not just in 1996, as most people suppose, but as early as 1992. Virtually unknown, even now, is the fact that China tried to influence the 1992 elections on behalf of Clinton. Indeed, by then, it had been "cultivating" the then unknown Arkansas Governor for years. As far back as 1985, the Asian network rescued Clinton's career when his investment of state funds suffered a disastrous loss. During the 1992 campaign, his high-rolling friends came up with the cash to keep him in the primaries, then saved the national campaign with a last minute, unsecured multimillion-dollar loan. From the Chinese view, these efforts to influence the American elections of 1992 and 1996 must be considered an astounding success......"

The Dave Bossie Investigative Report-Special Report 10/4/99 Freeper jedediah smith "....FBI agents went back over tapes of bugged conversations that took place in the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Ambassador's residence in Washington. The result was a series of conversations between [John] Huang and Chinese Diplomats, including the Ambassador, about how China could use money and propaganda to ensure another Clinton victory in the Presidential election........ Today, China has us in the sights of a new generation of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. These missiles were developed courtesy of American businesses and the Clinton Administration. China did not have the capacity to either build or arm these missiles. Now they do, and they target at least twenty U.S. cities, perhaps twenty-six. And the threat can only grow. This is the price we paid for Bill Clinton's obsession with winning elections by raising the money at all cost.... Clinton is a master of raking in money by selling government privileges behind the scenes. That was his job for the "Dixie Mafia" in Arkansas and he knows every dirty trick in the book. In a sense, his election to the Presidency was simply a promotion to a higher level of crime. Now his clients are the "good ole boys" of the world. If the "good ole boys" of Arkansas want to be partners with the "good ole boys" of China in some questionable but lucrative scheme, Bill Clinton can arrange it... "

BQ's View...With Radio America's Blanquita Cullum 8/26/99 Freeper Stand Watch Listen "....The Clinton Administration traded highly-sensitive U.S. technology to the Communist Chinese for money, lots of it, and the U.S. public still doesn't know the whole story ... Even those aware of this dubious arrangement will be surprised by the amount of money involved ... We originally heard a figure in the vicinity of $300,000, but reporter Ken Timmerman asserts that China's illicit transfers to the U.S. during the Clinton era have topped $90 million ...... Chinese nationals have been coming to the U.S., making donations to Clinton and the Democrats, and then going back ... Dan Burton (R-Ind.) has been trying to depose the State Department's Charles Parish, a senior officer at the U.S. consulate in Beijing, who apparently has given visas to these people in exchange for cash and prostitutes ... Clinton has refused to give the names of the front companies that are operating in the U.S. on behalf of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) ... ... The influence of these front companies is spreading to Wall Street, where they're floating stock and bond issues ... They're going to get into your retirement portfolio without you knowing it ... This is an item of major concern ... The Arkansas Teachers and California Retirement System have them ... ... Some of these front companies might look good from a distance, but the problem is that all of them are controlled by Chinese Military Intelligence, which will manipulate the companies, manipulate the stock prices, clear a big profit and then let the companies fail ... We've seen this happen time and time again with so-called blue chips in Hong Kong, and that could happen in U.S. markets ... A key player in this strategy is an Internet company, China.com ... ... The $92 million was transferred between 1994 and 1996 to the Far East National Bank in Los Angeles ... "

BQ's View...With Radio America's Blanquita Cullum 8/26/99 Freeper Stand Watch Listen "....What we have here is just an awful lot more money coming into the U.S. economy and political pockets than we thought before ... The Treasury Department was blocked by Clinton, and the report has been classified ... Timmerman has not been able to gain access through the Freedom of Information Act, and the White House won't deliver it to Congress ... That's disgraceful ... It's amazing to me the total disregard for the rule of law by the Clinton Administration ..... $92 million is a lot, but we don't know how much actually made it into the coffers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ... And whose pockets it went into ... .. Timmerman has identified links to what is known as the China Plan, attempts to buy political influence in the U.S. ... The FBI and Justice Department knew about it, and they've advised Congress, but what has been revealed to us is only the tip of the iceberg ... ... The truth also is being uncovered and reported from within the U.S. government, despite White House bullying, by people who believe that they have sworn an oath of allegiance to the nation and not to a particular political party or administration ... They have seen things being done wrong ... They've seen lies ... They've seen investigations quashed ... And they have tried to provide information at great risk to themselves and their careers ... This is good news that these kinds of people are still in government ..."

BQ's View...With Radio America's Blanquita Cullum 8/26/99 Freeper Stand Watch Listen "....An effort of this type has led to a witch hunt orchestrated by the White House at the Defense Technology Security Administration ... Clinton has attempted to end the careers of persons who have come forth with information ... One of those under attack said his political superiors had tried to delete files that would have prohibited the approval of high technology exports to China ... The person filed reports saying the U.S. should not approve the export of a super computer that is going to damage our security ... And his superiors deleted the files ... That's terrible ... ... The web in intrigue seems endless ... Chung said he did not know where the general was getting the money ... As it turns out, Chinese Intelligence controls the largest so-called private security firm in China, JNA Securities ... It is the company that, in the end, transferred the money to Chung ... Timmerman said he investigated this web of front money set up by Chinese Military Intelligence and JNA Securities ... They used Citibank in Hong Kong and a variety of banks on the U.S. West Coast ... They funneled lots and lots of money into the U.S. ... And we've only touched the surface of this investigation ... "

Freeper excerpts of Johnny Chung transcript "....
JC: You were telling me that LIU Guniang's (Ms. LIU's) friend is here?
RL: You ... you're not to ask these things. It's sufficient that you are aware ... that you're aware that they're working on your case. They are making contacts with these two major companies. They are working, helping you. They don't want to have any conflicts with that other side. How can they expect to do business with the other side if there's conflicts between them? They are talking long-term business relations. These two companies are the 2nd ... other than MACDONALD DOUGLASS ... MACDONALD DOUGLASS handles 80% of businesses of the country.
JC: Which one does?
RL: MACDONALD DOUGLASS. The other two are INDEPENDENT (companies), not really looked after by China. They won't want to make the Communists angry, if they do, they'll ruin their changes for working with the Communist Party. Therefore, no matter what, they've got to find the way to iron out things. It's difficult to see it this time ... it's a stage of swaying back and forth. The future is not forseeable at this moment. I strongly believe that these two companies can work together hand-in-hand and I don't believe they can't accomplish great tasks.
[...]
RL: The rest is not important. (UI) The Communist Party ... Generally speaking, one hopes that technology in China gets better, with better equipment. They ... their future ... ,Well, they dislike MACDONALD DOUGLASS, that's for sure.
JC: They dislike what?
RL: The two of them, dislike MACDONALD DOUGLASS immensely.
JC: Okay.
RL: Because they ... because MACDONALD DOUGLASS received the DEAL directly....
JC: Whom did you mean when you said, "they"?
RL: That's HUGHES and LORAL.

Washington Times 10/19/99 Jerry Seper "...The Democratic National Committee invited a Chinese arms dealer to a White House coffee with President Clinton at the insistence of Washington investment counselor Ernest G. Green, a longtime presidential pal whom the Justice Department's campaign finance task force is now investigating. Richard Sullivan, a former DNC finance chairman, told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee at a July 1997 deposition that an invitation to arms dealer Wang Jun for the February 1996 coffee was "obviously a mistake" but it had been issued as a favor to Mr. Green. Mr. Sullivan, who coordinated DNC efforts to target big-dollar donors, including Democratic fund-raiser Charles Yah Lin Trie, told committee lawyers that DNC officials advised him the Wang invitation was "important for Ernie and Charlie" -- a reference to Mr. Green and Trie. "It was a mistake, . . . obviously a mistake," Mr. Sullivan testified. "It was something, as I understood it, that was important that Ernie had this guy in town doing business. Ernie had been a longtime supporter, and it was purely as a favor to Ernie." ...."

Associated Press 10/21/99 Pete Yost "....A Justice Department official said Thursday night that the way soon may be clear for John Huang, a central figure in the campaign fund-raising investigation, to testify before a congressional committee. The FBI has been conducting an espionage investigation of Huang. While not saying that the espionage investigation is completed, the department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Justice Department no longer will oppose granting limited immunity from prosecution to Huang....."

Washington Post 10/28/99 Lorraine Adams David Vise "….During more than 23 days of interrogation earlier this year, Huang told FBI agents that after being solicited by Ickes, he contributed $1,000 to Jackson's campaign and raised several thousand dollars more, according to sources close to the investigation. Last week, the Justice Department provided reports of Huang's debriefing to the House Government Reform Committee, which is expected to vote today on granting Huang immunity for testimony he might give to the panel. Federal law bars government officials from requesting campaign donations from subordinates…. Justice officials said yesterday that bringing a case against Ickes would be problematic because of questions about whether Huang could be considered a subordinate of Ickes under the law……"

WorldNetDaily.com 10/25/99 "….Former Democratic Party fund-raiser Johnny Chung is publicly accusing high-ranking Clinton administration and Democratic National Committee officials of accepting cash payments for political access -- including access by Chinese military and intelligence officials. Chung repeated charges he has made to the FBI, to Justice Department investigators and congressional staffers Saturday night at Judicial Watch's 5th anniversary celebration in Pasadena and expressed amazement and frustration that "nothing has been done" to punish others…… "The same day I begin to cooperate, my business dropped 90 percent,'' he said. ``All of the government offices dropped me. I had 260 accounts and I now have 24.'' He said he has no choice but to close the doors of his Automated Intelligent Systems Inc. Oct. 31. ……"

NewsMax.com 10/25/99 Carl Limbacher "….During the reception, Chung was asked by NewsMax.com if he thought Bill Clinton was an agent of the Chinese. He responded, "I believe our president is in the back pocket of the communist Chinese." …..The event, hosted by Judicial Watch chairman drew nearly 400 people. Attendees included Paul Rodriguez of Insight magazine, Reed Irvine of Accuracy in Media, LA radio legend Ray Briem (who broadcasted live during the dinner), Hollywood conservative Peter Ford, national talk host Mike Siegal, Arkansas State Trooper Larry Patterson, San Diego radio host Mark Larsen -- to name a few….."

Los Angeles Times 10/30/99 Robert Jackson "…..Former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang has told the FBI that he helped raise $700,000 for President Clinton's first campaign for the White House through an illegal conduit scheme involving foreign-tainted money, a House committee chairman disclosed Thursday. Huang told FBI agents that the illegal scheme was approved by Indonesian businessman James T. Riady, a longtime Clinton friend who heads the worldwide Lippo banking group, according to a lengthy statement read by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.)…..Burton called for the prosecution of Riady, Huang's former boss at Lippo, based on the FBI documents. Legal analysts, however, pointed out that there is a five-year statute of limitations on 1992 campaign law violations. And Huang, based on his plea agreement, cannot be further prosecuted….."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 10/29/99 Jerry Seper "….the committee's chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican, said Huang -- now a cooperating witness in the Justice Department's campaign finance task force probe -- has given new information to government prosecutors about suspected campaign irregularities. That information includes accusations that Huang: Was asked by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Harold Ickes, now an adviser in the pending senatorial candidacy of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, to raise campaign cash for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s re-election when Huang served as a Commerce Department official……Mr. Burton said Huang told task force investigators he and Mr. Riady arranged to have "hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions" funneled through Lippo Group employees and subsidiaries to the Clinton campaign. He said Huang "got the bank account numbers from some of these employees and passed them on to Lippo Group headquarters in Jakarta to make sure they were reimbursed." ….."

AP via Newsday.com 10/28/99 Pete Yost "….The House Government Reform Committee voted unanimously to grant Huang, a government witness, limited immunity from prosecution after the panel's chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, stated that Huang: ….. --Embarked on an illegal fund-raising scheme in 1992 after his boss, Indonesian businessman James Riady, promised presidential candidate Bill Clinton $1 million in political donations. ``Why wasn't James Riady indicted?'' asked Burton. Clinton greeted Riady while shaking hands on the president's recent trip to New Zealand. Riady has not returned to the United States since allegations of campaign fund-raising abuses erupted in 1996. Burton said Huang has told investigators that after Clinton and Riady took a car ride in 1992, Huang helped arrange the scheme in which Riady employees could be reimbursed for their political donations. Burton said Riady made the promise of $1 million during the ride. The car ride and Riady-connected donations were previously known, but Riady's alleged $1 million personal commitment to Clinton had not been known until Huang began cooperating with the Justice Department earlier this year. ….."

Committee on Goverment Reform Rep Burton 10/28/99 "….The first order of business today is to vote to confer immunity on John Huang. I believe we've reached an agreement on this issue. I thank Congressman Waxman for that, and I thank all of my colleagues. I think we're going to have a unanimous vote…..John Huang was James Riady's right-hand man in the United States. He worked for James Riady at the Lippo Bank in Los Angeles. In 1994, the President appointed him Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce. This happened after a series of meetings involving James Riady and Webster Hubbell. Mr. Hubbell got $100,000 from Mr. Riady. A few weeks later, Mr. Huang got his job at the Commerce Department. At the end of 1995, he became the Vice Chairman for Finance at the Democratic National Committee. He was forced to resign from the DNC prior to the 1996 elections when the fundraising scandal surfaced. The DNC had to return more than $3 million that he raised. Most of that came from foreign sources. We have the FBI's interviews of John Huang. We've been reviewing them, I believe we've reached an agreement to make them public. Our staffs will work together with the FBI to redact personal information and I hope they'll be ready for release early next week……"

Drudge 10/27/99 "…..John Huang, Clinton fund-raiser and former Commerce Department official, has alleged to federal investigators that White House aide Harold Ickes called him at his government office in 1995 and asked him to 'round up' money for the congressional campaign of Jesse Jackson Jr.... MORE... Haung also claims James T. Riady, an Indonesian billionaire, told President Clinton during a limousine ride that he would raise $1,000,000 for the President... "

Judicial Watch 10/27/99 "….The speech was part of Judicial Watch's 5th Anniversary Celebration in Pasadena, California on October 23, 1999. Among the highlights of Chung's speech:

- Chung detailed how an employee of Hughes Aerospace admitted to him in China that the reason Hughes had turned over sensitive missile data to the Chinese communists after a Chinese rocket had failed was that that was the only way Hughes could get insurance money for its losses.

- Chung asked why banking records he had turned over to the Clinton Justice Department showing funds transfers from the Chinese military to his bank accounts were never turned over to Congress. Chung later sent some these funds to Clinton's political campaign operation at the DNC.

- Chung recounted how he, at the urging of and in the presence of DNC official Richard Sullivan [who is now reported to be working for Al Gore] and another Democratic fundraiser wrote checks totaling $25,000 for straw donors for President Clinton's 1996 campaign.

- Chung recounted how former DNC Chairman Don Fowler was perfectly aware that his associates were related to the Chinese military. Chung also implicated Terence McAuliffe in the Chinagate scandal…..

- Chung praised Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch as being seekers of the truth and questioned why only "givers" in the campaign fundraising scandal have been prosecuted and not upper-level "givees" in the Clinton White House and DNC….."

Drudge Report 10/27/99 "…..MORE... Haung also claims that White House aide Harold Ickes called him at his government office in 1995 and asked him to 'round up' money for the congressional campaign of Jesse Jackson Jr... The DRUDGE REPORT has learned that Huang made the allegations during interviews with the FBI…… Huang charges: On August 14, 1992, between campaign stops in Los Angeles, Riady told then Gov. Clinton that he would like to raise $1,000,000 for Clinton's presidential campaign. Riady told Huang about his conversation with Clinton, according to FBI documents, and explained how he could not give the money directly to Clinton. Huang claims that Riady ordered him to organize LIPPO GROUP employees to distribute the money. In 1992, over $700,000 was given to the DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE by LIPPO employees holding green cards…… In the plea agreement, Huang fingers James Riady: "[Huang's] superior made the initial determination to reimburse contributions with foreign funds. According to defendant Huang, soliciting and reimbursing campaign contributions became part of defendant Huang's job."

USA Today 11/3/99 Walter Shapiro "….As with so much else relating to the president's near-fatal addiction to Asian campaign money, it's unlikely we'll ever know what was going through Clinton's mind when Riady allegedly made his offer. Riady, whom Clinton briefly chatted with in September during a visit to New Zealand, seems determined to spend the rest of his life outside the reach of U.S. law-enforcement subpoenas. But what gives the impossible to verify story heft, is both Clinton's record when it comes to campaign cash and the lack of integrity and truthfulness in his personal and public life. That's why it is intriguing, judging from his continued relations with Riady, that Clinton apparently did not turn to his glad-handing friend and say, "Yes, you could probably raise the money, but it would be wrong." That was the moment when another would-be president might have drawn the line -- and it would have made all the difference. According to the FBI summaries, Riady told Huang "that it would not 'look good' for (him) to give so much money. J. Riady preferred that many Lippo Group related people contribute." As a result, Huang and at least 11 other Riady employees wrote checks to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and state parties. Riady-related companies then reimbursed them from overseas funds, in direct violation of the election laws….."

USA Today 11/3/99 Walter Shapiro "….Huang was little more than a fly on the wall at a Sept. 13, 1995, meeting in the Oval Office that included Riady and Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey. According to the FBI summaries, "the 'gist' of the meeting was Riady's discussion of the importance of the Asian American Community, and their role in the upcoming election." Huang was recruited to move to the DNC after Riady stated that "he wanted to bring in a person helpful to the (Asian-American) community in the area of fund-raising ." ……"

Washington Post via Drudge 11/2/99 Pete Yost "….In interviews with the FBI, fund-raiser John Huang said he was told President Clinton was surprised when Indonesian businessman James Riady told him of his plan to raise $1 million in political donations. …… Huang, who said he was told about the conversation by Riady, also recounted how Riady came to pay $100,000 in financial assistance to longtime presidential friend Webster Hubbell. The House Government Reform Committee released 300 pages of FBI interviews with Huang on Tuesday, revealing details of what Huang has been telling the FBI for the past year…."Poor Dan Burton," White House spokesman Jim Kennedy, said of the Republican committee chairman. "Like Al Capone's vault, his investigation has yielded nothing, and his conspiracy theories lie in ruins." Kennedy said Burton is "recycling old stories like a guy at a high school reunion, desperately hoping somebody will remember, or care. Nobody does." A spokesman for Burton, Mark Corallo, responded: "Apparently, the president and his mouthpiece don't find anything wrong with James Riady flying in from Jakarta, meeting with the president and promising to give him a million dollars for his campaign. ... Apparently Mr. Kennedy would prefer that the American people had never heard about any of this." ….."

Washington Post via Drudge 11/2/99 Pete Yost "….Huang said he was asked by Riady to set up a meeting with Hubbell in 1994 around the time Hubbell left the Justice Department amid questions about his personal finances. Huang said he understood that Riady and Hubbell settled the "pride" issue satisfactorily at a breakfast meeting. Riady asked Huang to obtain Hubbell's bank account number and a $100,000 payment followed. "Huang believed that there was an understanding between J. Riady and Hubbell that J. Riady would help Hubbell monetarily, and Hubbell would help J. Riady in unspecified ways in the future," an FBI interview summary stated. The payment was among $700,000 to Hubbell at a time when he was under investigation by the Whitewater prosecutor's office. Many of the payments were arranged by friends of the president and first lady….."

WASHINGTON TIMES 11/2/99 Jerry Seper "…..President Clinton never discouraged Indonesian businessman James Riady from honoring a promise to raise $1 million for his 1992 presidential campaign despite federal laws barring donations from foreign nationals, records show. ….. Huang, a former Lippo executive who later worked for the Commerce Department and the Democratic National Committee, told the FBI he obtained private bank account numbers from some employees and passed them to Lippo headquarters in Jakarta to make sure contributors were reimbursed. "Huang assumed that these people would be 'made good' or 'taken care of' for their contributions because Huang himself had been 'taken care of' for his contributions" to the Democratic Party, according to a transcript of a Jan. 19 interview of Huang by FBI agents in Los Angeles….."

WASHINGTON TIMES 11/2/99 Jerry Seper "…..The FBI transcripts said Huang was the Lippo official who decided to make corporate donations by means of Lippo subsidiaries, including Hip Hing Holdings, Toy Center Holdings of California and San Jose Holdings. Checks were written off of the subsidiaries' bank accounts and memos were sent overseas to Lippo officials requesting foreign reimbursements, the transcripts show. "Huang took full responsibility for all the contributions made by Lippo Group entities being reimbursed with foreign funds," the transcripts said….. According to the transcripts, released yesterday by the House Government Reform Committee, Lippo employees -- including Mr. Riady and Huang -- each contributed $25,000 to the Democratic Party so Mr. Riady could impress his hometown mayor in China, where Mr. Riady was born, by bringing the mayor to a December 1993 fund-raiser with Mr. Clinton in California. Huang told the FBI he was reimbursed for his donation and he believes the others were as well….."

WASHINGTON TIMES 11/2/99 Jerry Seper "…..Mr. Burton said Mr. Riady arranged more than $700,000 in contributions to Mr. Clinton's 1992 campaign, most of which he described as "illegal." Huang's public testimony will probably come in December, Mr. Burton said……"

Fox News AP 11/10/99 Pete Yost "…..A congressional committee Wednesday enabled Charlie Trie, whose donations to the Democratic Party and the Clintons' legal defense fund fueled the campaign fund-raising scandal, to testify in public for the first time. The House Government Reform Committee voted for a limited grant of immunity from prosecution so the former Little Rock, Ark., restaurant owner can tell his story, probably at a hearing early next year.. ..."

NewsMax.com 11/6/99 Carl Limbacher "…. on Friday Chung revealed that in March 1999 the U.S Attorney's office in Los Angeles overruled the FBI on the question of whether Chung's life was still in danger, even though FBI field agents had already deemed Chung's situation dire enough to put the witness and his family under armed guard…… Though Chung offered the startling account [below] of how his protection was withdrawn on a nationally syndicated radio broadcast hours before newspaper deadlines, not a single mainstream print outlet carried the news on Saturday….."

NewsMax.com 11/6/99 Carl Limbacher "….CHUNG: The third (assassination attempt) was on March 20, 1999, this year. An Italian-American man came to my office with a weapon in his back pocket. And I was lucky to have the FBI inside my office. And they got him. But I don't know what happened next......Some of the Chinese Mafia here in Los Angeles, they also come to harass me. And this is an ongoing investigation (so) I don't want to mention too much. Yes, indeed, I fear that.

GRANT: Larry, is Johnny aware of the infamous list of curious deaths that have occured to people that have had anything to do with then-Governor Bill Clinton and now President Bill Clinton?

KLAYMAN: I don't know that he is. But one of the things that's true; thank God that he's not on that list......When we were taking his deposition, and when Johnny relayed this latest incident where a person came to his office with a gun stuffed in his pants, Johnny said to me that he called the FBI over and they came over. And this guy, of course, left. I'll let Johnny explain it too. And when they left, he asked the FBI, he said, "I want some protection." And their response was, "Call 911."

GRANT: Are you serious!

KLAYMAN: I'm being serious. Johnny can confirm this.

GRANT: Oh, my God!

KLAYMAN: I then said to Johnny, "Johnny, would you like me to ask Judge Lamberth to get you some protection? Not only are we concerned about you as a human being but as a material witness in this entire case." The Reno Justice Department lawyer breaks in and says, "He doesn't need any protection." Unbelievable, isn't it?

GRANT: It certainly is.

CHUNG: Well Bob, I'd like to say that immediately after that Italian-American, the FBI take me to the hotel. And then they immediately went to my house and picked up my wife and children. And then, FBI was protecting me. But the next day, all of the FBI was retrieved from the hotel. And that was that. And then later on I called the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles. They told me, "Mr. Chung, you're case is over. So if you are a normal citizen, what would you do? You just call 911." I said, "What!!!" (The U.S. Attorney repeated), "You just call 911." I told my sentencing Judge about this, and Judge (Manuel) Real. He also say, "What!!!"

Bob Grant's nationally syndicated radio show is broadcast Monday though Friday, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET, on the WOR radio network. Grant's broadcasts are archived and can be heard on Real Audio. Johnny Chung was interviewed during the second hour of Grant's Nov. 5 broadcast….."

Judicial Watch 11/6/99 Joe Giganti "….On the night of October 23rd, Judicial Watch held its 5th Anniversary Black-tie Dinner in which Johnny Chung was a speaker. In his hour long speech, Mr. Chung revealed new information that ties together involvement by high ranking, Chinese military officers to the campaign finance scandals. The speech has sparked interest not only from Mr. Chung's native Taiwan, but also the communist mainland of China. Because of strict controls of the Internet in China (which even blocks CNN's website), Judicial Watch's site was accessed through a government controlled "Information Station" signaling that the access was made by a Chinese official entity….."

Times of London 11/5/99 James Bone David Lister "….A confidential witness told the New York State Banking Department last year that a company set up as part of an alleged money-laundering scheme by Russian bankers was also being used to make what were described as "contributions". He identified the company as Whalesdon Financial Company, with account 826.416.310.333.01 at the Bank of Liechtenstein. Whalesdon was "used for what was coded as contributions to American contacts - Washington and so on", the witness told investigators. "The code name was contributions. To me it's [a] bribe."….According to documents in the British Virgin Islands Whalesdon Financial Company was registered on May 25, 1992, but was struck off on November 1, 1995, after failing to pay its licence fee to the Registry of Companies. No details of shareholders or directors are given for the company, which is registered to an address in Road Town, Tortola….."

MSNBC 11/4/99 Tom Vurry "….Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Scott Fredericksen, a Seattle lawyer and former prosecutor in the Office of Independent Counsel, on Thursday to be the head of the federal campaign finance task force, the Justice Department unit looking into illegal contributions in the 1996 presidential campaign. A 1997 Senate committee investigation found that 'unprecedented amounts of illegal foreign contributions' were poured into the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election effort and the coffers of the Democratic Party……The committee said it had "uncovered strong circumstantial evidence that the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was involved in funding, directing, or encouraging some of these foreign contributions." The Democratic National Committee was forced to return $2.8 million in illegal or improper donations…….When Reno asked him to take on the mission, "I felt duty bound to respond," Fredericksen said. Scott Fredericksen Now a partner in the Seattle law firm of Stoel Rives, LLP, Fredericksen served from 1991 to 1994 in the Office of Independent Counsel's investigation of scandals at the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Reagan administration. Fredericksen's job will be complicated by the parallel, on-going investigation by House Government Reform Committee, headed by Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind….."

MSNBC 11/4/99 Tom Vurry "….House Government Reform Committee chairman "Most of the [Lippo] employees didn't even live in the United States, but they had green cards," Burton said. "Mr. Huang states that he got the bank account numbers from some of these employees and passed them on to Lippo Group headquarters in Jakarta to make sure that they got reimbursed." … "Why hasn't James Riady been indicted?" wondered Burton. "It's certainly not for lack of evidence. You have clear testimony that James Riady was organizing conduit contributions. People were being reimbursed from overseas. You have documentary evidence." ….."

Worldnetdaily 11/15/99 "…. The ranking intelligence expert in the U.S. Congress says he believes that one-time Democratic National Committee fund-raiser John Huang had a "double agenda" when he was working at the U.S. Commerce Department, and that the FBI probe of the matter has been inadequate. "I think the FBI has not done an adequate job on this," said Rep. Porter Goss , R.-Fla., chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Goss also served as a member of the House Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China (the Cox Committee). "I'm a little disappointed that they have not been more aggressive on this case and a couple of other ones." In a wide-ranging interview with the editors of Human Events, Goss, who was a clandestine services officer in the Central Intelligence Agency for 10 years, also discussed what he sees as a potential disaster looming for the U.S. intelligence community as the result of the gutting of resources that has taken place during the Clinton presidency. …."

Newsweek 11/22/99 "….. Three years after an Asian money scandal rocked Bill Clinton's re-election campaign, the Justice Department is closing in on Indonesian tycoon James Riady as the alleged "central figure" in a wide-ranging scheme to circumvent U.S. election laws. NEWSWEEK has learned that prosecutors, armed with details provided by Riady's top U.S. lieutentant, John Huang, believe they have enough evidence to charge Riady-and possibly some subsidiaries of his Lippo Group conglomerate-with funneling illegal contributions to political candidates, starting with Clinton's '92 race….. But a deal appears unlikely because Riady seems unwilling to plead to a felony. Riady "did not commit any knowing violations of federal campaign laws," his lawyer said. A White House spokesman said, "Nobody cares anymore." …"

Washington Weekly 11/14/99 Marvin Lee "….The FBI debriefing notes of suspected Chinese Spy John Huang confirm that the ties between Chinese intelligence run deeper and go further back than the 1996 presidential election that has been the focus of campaign fundraising probes. John Huang reveals that in 1985, China Resources Corp., a front for Chinese intelligence, financed a Lippo-organized trip to Asia by then-governor Bill Clinton. Four years later, in 1989, John Huang together with Chinese agent Maria Hsia and James Riady of Lippo, formed the Pacific Leadership Council, and invited none other than then-Senator Al Gore to the Hsi Lai temple headquarters in Taiwan in 1989. On behalf of the Chinese government, Maria Hsia promised Al Gore that she would persuade all her colleagues "in the future to play a leader role in your presidential race." ….. When Al Gore entered the Hsi Lai temple of Los Angeles seven years later to facilitate the laundry of donations in a "fund-raiser," he must have known it came from the Chinese government….."

Washington Post 11/28/99 Al Kamen "…... Melinda Yee. When last we left the former Commerce aide, a federal judge was chiding her for discarding documents involving her work for then-Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown's trade missions. Congressional investigators charged that the missions were used as rewards for corporate executives who contributed to the Democratic Party. She was also linked with some of the controversy surrounding the Democratic fund-raising scandal, through her association with Commerce colleague John Huang and Indonesian banker James Riady. ……..Franklin [her new last name], who was never charged with any crime in connection with the federal investigations of Commerce trade missions or Democratic fund-raising, said she was nominated for the fellowship by the Council on Foreign Relations, of which she is a member….."

The Washington Weekly 11/22/99 Johnny Chung "…Evan Ryan left and came back about 20 minutes later and told me she had spoken with Maggie Williams. Evan told me "Maybe you can help us." Then she told me that the First Lady owed some money to the DNC because the DNC had paid about $80,000 for some White House Christmas parties. Evan told me that she was telling me this on behalf of Maggie, who hoped that I could help the First Lady with her debt. Then a light bulb went on in my head and I started to understand. I said I would help with $50,000. I left the White House feeling sure I would get what I wanted. The next morning I came back to the White House and was escorted to Evan Ryan's desk in the reception area of the First Lady's office. I gave her an unsealed envelope with the $50,000 check inside. She lifted the flap and looked at the contents. I had also put a note inside the envelope saying something like "To Maggie -- I do my best to help. Johnny Chung." A little while later, Maggie Williams joined us and Evan gave the envelope to her. Maggie immediately brought me into her private office and open and look it and called the White House mess to reserve a table for me and my group. Before we went to lunch, I was told that I would get another item on my wish list: a meeting with Hillary Clinton that afternoon. Maggie had set up everything. Before our meeting with Mrs. Clinton, our group walked by Maggie Williams in the Rose Garden. She gave me a look that confirmed that everything was set up. Later, when we were waiting for Mrs. Clinton in a White House reception room, I asked Evan Ryan if the First Lady was told about my donation and she said "Yes, she definitely knows." I wanted to make sure that Mrs. Clinton knew I had donated the money. I wanted to make sure that it counted. You don't just give away $50,000 for nothing. ….."

Wall Street Journal 11/23/99 George Melloan "….One of the mean jokes circulating at the outset of the presidential election campaign holds that Al Gore is better than George W. Bush at naming the presidents of tiny countries because he has hit up all of them for contributions to the Democratic National Committee. This little zinger makes it clear that Mr. Gore is vulnerable to charges of past campaign law abuses, but conveys something else as well: Foreign policy will be an election issue in 2000. Even the Boston reporter who asked George W. the trick question about small countries seemed aware of that….."

Washington Times 12/1/99 Jerry Seper "….When the Democratic National Committee welcomed Johnny Chung and a guest to a 1996 fund-raiser for President Clinton, the DNC knew the guest was not only a Chinese businesswoman but also a high-ranking officer in the People's Liberation Army. Federal law enforcement authorities told The Washington Times yesterday that DNC chairman and former Army 2nd lieutenant Donald L. Fowler, in a previously undisclosed conversation, even joked with Liu Chao-ying before the Los Angeles fund-raiser that as a lieutenant colonel herself and the daughter of China's top general, she outranked him. The White House, which ignored warnings from its own national security advisers that Chung was a "hustler" and should be kept away from the president, has said it was unaware of Col. Liu's background or her ties to the PLA. A Justice Department task force investigating campaign finance abuses during the 1996 election was told of Mr. Fowler's comment earlier this year. In a memo to Congress, it noted that investigations of Col. Liu and Mr. Fowler were among those not yet completed……"

Judicial Watch 12/1/99 "….Johnny Chung, the former Clinton fundraiser who has bravely admitted to funneling money from the Chinese military to Bill Clinton's political campaigns, told Judicial Watch on October 5, 1999 that Don Fowler, the then-head of the DNC knew that one of Chung's associates and DNC donor, Col. Liu Chao-ying, was in fact the daughter of the highest-ranking general of China's military. This speech, which was given at Judicial Watch's 5th Anniversary Dinner, was broadcast nationwide on C-Span last month as well. The full transcript of Mr. Chung's speech is available at the Judicial Watch Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org. The Washington Times reported today about Chung's new information. The information had been disclosed to the nation via Judicial Watch over one month ago on C-SPAN. "Through its excellent reporter, Jerry Seper, we're happy The Washington Times reported on Chung's revelations. The scandal is the lack of interest by others - whether in the Clinton Justice Department, the elite Establishment media, and the Clinton Justice Department," stated Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman. …."

The Washington Times 12/1/99 Jerry Seper "….When the Democratic National Committee welcomed Johnny Chung and a guest to a 1996 fund-raiser for President Clinton, the DNC knew the guest was not only a Chinese businesswoman but also a high-ranking officer in the People's Liberation Army. Federal law enforcement authorities told The Washington Times yesterday that DNC chairman and former Army 2nd lieutenant Donald L. Fowler, in a previously undisclosed conversation, even joked with Liu Chao-ying before the Los Angeles fund-raiser that as a lieutenant colonel herself and the daughter of China's top general, she outranked him. The White House, which ignored warnings from its own national security advisers that Chung was a "hustler" and should be kept away from the president, has said it was unaware of Col. Liu's background or her ties to the PLA. A Justice Department task force investigating campaign finance abuses during the 1996 election was told of Mr. Fowler's comment earlier this year. In a memo to Congress, it noted that investigations of Col. Liu and Mr. Fowler were among those not yet completed….."

drudgereport.com 12/14/99 "…Democratic fundraiser John Huang, who is set to go before Congress on Wednesday to answer for his role in the 1996 Democratic presidential fundraising scadal, has leaked his opening statement to the NEW YORK TIMES, according to early cycles of the daily. Huang, who was granted immunity, will appear before the House government Reform and Oversight Committee for three days of questioning. Huang comes out swinging in defense of Clinton and Gorein his opening words…."

The New York Times 12/15/99 David Johnston "…. Protected by a grant of immunity, Huang is scheduled to begin three days of testimony at the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee led by its Republican chairman, Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana -- an event that Republicans hope will prove uncomfortable for President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Republicans may be disappointed. In Huang's opening statement, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times, the former fund-raiser said he knew of no wrongdoing by either Clinton or Gore. Huang said he might have escaped "the terrible ordeal" had he implicated them, but, he said: "I never had a basis upon which to do so. In fact, I maintain very high regard for each of these dedicated men." …… Instead, in his prepared remarks, Huang, who once worked at the Commerce Department and later at the Democratic National Committee, portrayed himself as a victim of partisan politics, a rising tide of anti-Asian sentiment and grossly unfair news accounts, including reports of lawmakers who falsely accused him of economic espionage. "People seeking publicity have lied about me repeatedly in the press and even before this committee without consequence." But he admitted that he had made mistakes. "Embarrassed and saddened though I am by the unfortunate attention my conduct and notoriety brought upon my community, the dated and isolated offenses, which I have openly acknowledged, will not deter me from my careerlong efforts to promote understanding between the citizens of the United States and those of China, Taiwan and the rest of Asia." ….."

Agence France-Presse 12/12/99 "….A newly discovered letter links Vice President Al Gore to an immigration consultant accused of making illegal contributions to the Democratic National Committee, Newsweek reports in its edition out Monday. Gore made an appearance at a Buddhist temple in 1996, a visit arranged by immigration consultant Maria Hsia, who stands trial next month for allegedly making illegal contributions to the DNC. She denies these charges……. According to the weekly, four months after Gore's visit to the temple Hsia approached him at another fundraiser to help get the Buddhist temple designated as a "federally sanctioned testing center for Asian immigrants." Hsia sent a letter, citing the conversation, to Gore aide Elaine Kamarck, who later faxed the letter to the Immigration and Naturalization Service requesting officials there to have the "right people get in touch" with Hsia. The INS told Newsweek that it did not respond to the request. However, the letter was never disclosed during the Senate's investigation of alleged Gore campaign finance abuses. The letter was reportedly misfiled with documents from a presidential panel on aviation security and turned up only after someone sued to have access to the aviation commission's full records. ….."

LegalTimes 12/7/99 Carrie Johnson "….Nancy Luque, lead attorney for Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia, claims that prosecutors connived to gain access to damaging information about her client and then used it to win an indictment before the grand jury. She argues that the allegedly ill-gotten facts taint the government's entire case against Hsia. At issue is whether attorneys for a California Buddhist temple shared privileged information with the Justice Department in violation of their earlier agreement to cooperate with Hsia's lawyers. Luque's claim, while difficult to prove, is raising dust. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman convened an unusual evidentiary hearing on Nov. 24, when two California defense attorneys and their former paralegal testified about conversations they'd had with Hsia and members of the prosecution team. Parts of the hearing were closed - even to the prosecutors in the case - to avoid leaks of privileged information……What's more, on Nov. 29, Friedman ordered Eric Yaffe, a member of the Justice Department's Campaign Financing Task Force and one of Hsia's prosecutors, to take the stand in an open proceeding as soon as Dec. 14 to get to the bottom of the matter. Friedman said in court last week that he wants to learn what Yaffe knew about the lawyers' joint-defense agreement…... Last year, Friedman dismissed several charges against Hsia and other key targets of the investigation, opining that prosecutors' theory of the cases resembled an "Alice in Wonderland-like maze of logical leaps and tangled inferences." But in May 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit revived five counts against Hsia for making false statements under the Federal Election Campaign Act….."

Freeper ohmlaw98 12/16/99 "...key points...Gerald Solomon confirmed that evidence exists that implicates Huang..Here is his quote from 1997 and some relevant facts from the Cox Report..."I have received reports from government sources that say there are electronic intercepts which provide evidence confirming that John Huang committed economic espionage and breached our national security by passing classified information to his former employer, the Lippo Group." House Rules Committee Chairman Gerald Solomon, June 11, 1997 "The vast majority of Huang's briefings focused on the PRC and Taiwan, including "raw intelligence" that disclosed the sources and methods of collection used by the U.S. intelligence community...." "During the 18 months that he was at Commerce, Huang called Lippo Bank 232 times, in addition to 29 calls or faxes to Lippo Headquarters in Indonesia. Huang also contacted Lippo consultant Maeley Tom on 61 occasions during the same period. Huang's records show 72 calls to Lippo joint venture partner C. Joseph Giroir...."

Washington Post 12/16/99 Lorraine Adams David Vise "...Congressional Republicans finally got their chance to grill former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang yesterday, but his sole revelation was that he had received gifts of about $40,000 from an Indonesian businessman since a criminal investigation into both men began three years ago. Huang, a former Commerce Department official and fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee, has been a central figure in Republican investigations of the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign finance scandals, but yesterday marked the first time he testified under oath before Congress. In response to questions from House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Huang said James Riady, a wealthy Indonesian businessman and Democratic donor who is also a key figure in the fund-raising scandal, gave him two payments as "gift money." But Huang said the payments were not so that he would "keep quiet" about any illegal conduct by Riady. ...."

AP 12/15/99 Larry Margasak ".... Former Democratic fund raiser John Huang admitted Wednesday he arranged nearly $1 million in illegal contributions for the Democratic Party, but said he was not aware of any wrongdoing by the president or vice president. In his first public testimony on the scandal, Huang rebutted many of the most serious allegations raised against him by Republicans. He denied that he ever spied for China, worked as an agent of an Indonesian conglomerate while a Commerce Department official, or laundered money while a fund-raising official of the Democratic National Committee. ...."

Freeper YaYa123 12/15/99 Huang testimony ".....This article doesn't describe how Doug Buford, of Bruce Lindsey's law firm contacted Huang in a plea to "help" Web with his money troubles, suggesting a trust fund for the kiddos. Huang told Riady about it, and Huang told Hubbell that Riady would come to his rescue. Huang set up the meeting between Hubbell and Riady. Huang admitted that Riady was "helping' Hubbell out of friendship, which puts the lie to the old story that Hubbell was hired by Riady to work for Riady. Questioning even got into AlGore at the Buddist Temple, and at this point, John Huang's answers got even more unbelieveable. He thought, he really thought, oh yeah, that the nuns who vowed poverty, really were giving their own money to the DNC. "Strawman" just didn't ring a bell with him. This article doesn't mention that Waxman was the only democrat there, nor how focused each of the republican questioners are, with each taking different areas in which to question Huang. Souder, LeTourette, and even Shays are doing masterful jobs on Huang, who, when the questioning gets tough, can't really remember much at all. More hearings tomorrow at 10:00am on C-Span....."

AP 12/16/99 Larry Margasak "….Former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang says he arranged about $1 million in illegal contributions for the Democratic Party, largely fulfilling a 1992 promise by an Indonesian businessman to raise that amount for President Clinton. Huang, who was Clinton's chief money raiser for the Asian-American community, told the House Government Reform Committee on Wednesday that the contributions were made by U.S. donors who then were reimbursed by the businessman's company...."

NewsMax.com 12/16/99 Carl Limbacher "….. On Wednesday Chinagate kingpin John Huang continued stonewalling before Rep. Dan Burton's House Government and Reform Committee. To hear him tell it, Messers Clinton and Gore had no idea he was laundering millions in illegal Asian cash for their re-election campaign. Huang and Clinton go back together to the mid 1980s. And according to one key witness, ex-Ron Brown girlfriend Nolanda Hill, the First Lady herself ordered that Huang be placed in a key position at the Commerce Department. Huang also organized Gore's now notorious, not to mention illegal, 1996 Buddhist Temple fundraiser. The man who now claims his bosses knew nothing of his perfidy pled guilty in August to defrauding the Federal Election Commission. His sentence? One year's probation, a meager $10,000 fine and 10,000 hours of community service. Compare the kid glove consequences for Huang to what's happened to Johnny Chung, a witness who's been singing his heart out ever since he decided to cooperate with Chinagate probers last year. Out of the blue last week, the FEC hit Chung with a brand new $127,000 fine based on offenses that have long been a matter of public record. That debt comes on top of the $700,000 in fines and legal fees Chung already owes. Not to mention a probation sentence five times as long as Huang's, which Chung earned for telling all. …… "

The Washington Times 12/16/99 Sean Scully "…Democratic fund-raiser John Huang continued to take money from his Indonesian former employers even while investigators were looking into Huang's role in funneling illegal campaign contributions from the Indonesians to Democratic campaign coffers. Huang took $38,000 from the family of businessman James Riady in 1997 and 1998. The family also paid Huang's way to Asia earlier this year to attend a family party, Huang testified yesterday before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. "I have not been working at all this year," said Huang, a central figure in the 1996 fund-raising scandal. The money was given "as a friend to show concern for me." Huang insisted that the money was not a payoff from his former employer. ….."

The American Spectator 12/16/99 Byron York "…..Television news viewers have a right to be confused about the congressional testimony of formerly fugitive fundraiser John Huang. On Wednesday, Huang spoke extensively about his role in nearly $1 million in illegal contributions to the 1992 elect-Clinton effort, but few news organizations took the trouble to explain it. Some, like ABC and NBC, ignored it altogether. Others barely mentioned it. Here's what the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather reported: In his first ever comments on the matter, Democratic fundraiser John Huang told Congress today he regrets his own illegal fundraising activities in the Clinton presidential campaigns. Huang testified that the President and Vice President were not in any way involved and that he was never, as some have claimed, a spy for communist China. Huang took a thinly veiled swipe at Republicans in Congress who compelled him to testify and others for what he called quote "demonizing me and other Asian-Americans" unquote. …..

The American Spectator 12/16/99 Byron York "…..…..What interests investigators is the amount and the timing of the contributions. The fact that the donations of Ong, Yeh, Ma, Chiang, Sund, and daSilveira add up to precisely $200,000 suggests that the contributions might have been guided by some central supervisor. And the fact that they were all made within a very brief time period could be further evidence of an overall plan. Altogether, the apparent coordination of the contributions -- in light of the known campaign violations of Huang -- makes investigators believe that someone was orchestrating an illegal contribution scheme to benefit the '92 Clinton campaign. To the investigators, it does not make sense that this could have been a random occurrence. "It's like throwing paint at the wall and getting the Mona Lisa," says one. "It just doesn't happen that way." But such suspicion does not extend to the Democratic National Committee. According to spokesman Rick Hess, the DNC has not returned any of the contributions from the people mentioned in this article, apart from the $50,000 Hip Hing Holdings contribution. For that matter, the party has not returned any of the contributions made by John Huang himself….."

NewsMax 12/4/99 "….A lone gunman, whose apparent attempt to assassinate key Chinagate witness Johnny Chung was foiled by the FBI last March, said he wanted to "do some shipping to Beijing" in a telephone conversation with Chung just minutes before the attack. In an exclusive interview with NewsMax.com late Monday, the Taiwanese-American businessman shared a recording of the chilling March 20, 1999 phone call, including the explicit reference to the Chinese capital, from the man he suspects was out to kill him. The call was the second Chung received from the suspected assassin that day. Hours earlier, the Chinagate whistleblower told NewsMax.com his would-be killer phoned to establish contact. After the first call, Chung immediately notified the FBI, which wasted no time dispatching an agent to the office of his fax broadcasting business in Los Angeles. Shortly after the FBI arrived the suspected hit-man was on the line again: ….. Chung says that just minutes later, a man arrived at his address and began pounding his office door "like a crazy man." He refused to let him inside. The menacing stranger had a gun in his back pocket and had been canvassing the building looking for the Chinagate witness, Chung's neighbors later told him. To this day the FBI has been mum on the incident, keeping even Chung in the dark about what happened after the foiled hit. But the Taiwanese-American businessman told NewsMax.com that agents nabbed his would-be killer minutes later, after running a check on his car's license plates. …."

WorldNetDaily.com 1/2000 Charles Smith "….An Indonesian government audit report accuses former President Suharto of accepting bribes from a consortium of companies that are linked to President Clinton's campaign finance scandals. A report obtained by Dow Jones Newswires on Jan. 5 alleges that PT Paiton Energy, a consortium led by Edison Mission Energy of the United States and Mitsui & Co of Japan, inflated its costs by up to $937 million in order to sell expensive electricity to Indonesia…… Federal Election Commission records show that Mission Energy CEO John Bryson donated money to the Clinton/Gore campaign and contributed money to Clinton's legal defense fund. Mission Energy is also a partner of Indonesia's Lippo group, a consortium partly owned by Indonesian billionaire Moctar Riady and the Chinese Army CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) bank. The Lippo Group and the Riady family are also accused of providing illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton/Gore campaign….."

WorldNetDaily.com 1/2000 Charles Smith "….Documents provided by the U.S Commerce Department indicate that Lippo business partner Edison Mission Energy received strong Clinton administration support for the multi-billion dollar Paiton project. One 1994 document notes that "with its state-of-the-art emissions-control technology and by using low-sulfur Indonesian coal, the project will be one of the cleanest, most efficient coal-fired facilities in the world." The Lippo conglomerate is currently the only global supplier of low-sulfur coal. In 1996, President Clinton created the 1.7 million-acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, placing off-limits the world's largest deposit of low-sulfur coal, giving the Lippo group a monopoly in the only other clean-burning coal deposits -- located inside Indonesia….."

WorldNetDaily.com 1/2000 Charles Smith "….The Indonesian auditor said its bribery allegation was based on the finding of $22.23 million of funds listed as "Project Development Costs" in Paiton Energy's 1994 financial report. The auditor said it couldn't find any explanation of the item, although the amount was more than 50 percent of the company's total assets. "We believe that the consortium or Paiton Energy Corp. covered information on expenditures related to speedy-money or bribery," the agency said…."

WorldNetDaily.com 1/2000 Charles Smith "….According to a 1998 article published in the Wall Street Journal, "Wasted Energy" by Peter Waldman and Jay Solomon, the international team of advisors was "shut out" by senior Indonesian officials who ordered the consultants to "stop reviewing fuel costs." "We were slapped back so fast our heads were spinning," stated a Lazard Freres advisor. The Indonesian government auditor's report was the first to review the accusations against Paiton I and the other 25 power projects. The audit recommends that the Indonesian attorney general investigate everyone involved in negotiating the contract….."

NewsMax 1/8/00 Carl Limbacher "…The FBI has confirmed that its agents arrested an unidentified suspect in connection with an attempt to kill key Chinagate witness Johnny Chung last March, Fox News Channel reported late Friday. …..At the top of her interview with Chung, Zahn reported, "Chung believes that he's been marked for death by Beijing because he cooperated with the Justice Department's investigation into the (Chinagate) scandal." Turning to Chung, Zahn added, "The FBI confirmed that it had arrested a man in March allegedly trying to kill you." To date, America's establishment press has been oblivious to the ominous implications of the now-confirmed report that a Beijing operative apparently attempted to rub out a key US government witness…."

Newsday.com 12/27/99 AP "….A North Carolina federal prosecutor was named Monday to head the Justice Department's campaign finance task force. Robert Conrad, who has been criminal chief of the U.S. Attorney's office in Charlotte, succeeds David Vicinanzo, who returned to New Hampshire to be with his family. Vicinanzo remains as a consultant to the task force, set up after the 1996 elections to investigate allegations of campaign finance abuses. Twenty-two people have been charged in the continuing investigation, the Justice Department says. The inquiry came under fire in September when FBI agents told a Senate committee that Justice Department prosecutors impeded their work in the investigation of Democratic donor Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie. ….."

Freeper Truthkeeper comments on 12/17/99 "…I wonder if you (or anyone) also caught possibly the most important part of the hearing. It occurred when Burton was grilling Huang about whether his Justice Dept. interrogators knew the fund-raiser seating arrangement was determined by the admission price (if you know what I mean). After some lengthy wrestling, he finally got Huang to admit the following facts:

1. People who contributed more WERE given the better seats.

2. The Justice Department WAS AWARE of this fact because the interrogators made up a seating chart and discussed fact #1 (above) at length with Huang.

After Burton pulled these admissions out of Huang, he asked or said something to the effect of "So the Justice Department knew there was seating preference to this "community event" based on the contribution amount?" Huang again confirmed that they did. (Translation: Yeah, it was a fund-raiser, all right.) Then I saw him turn to a staffer and whisper, "Did they write this information on the 302s?" It looked like he asked that person to go check this out. (Want to bet the 302s do NOT state this fact?)

This is a tremendously significant point. The Justice Department KNEW THIS WAS A FUND-RAISER. Burton now has John Huang's DIRECT TESTIMONY of such...and STILL General Reno chose not to appoint an independent counsel on the matter, despite knowing of illegal activities….."

Christian Science Monitor; Boston, Mass.; 12/17/99 Robert Kilborn and Lance Carden; "…..John Huang, who admitted raising illegal contributions for the Democratic Party, gave his first public testimony on the scandal. Under a grant of limited immunity, Huang testified that he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing by [President] Clinton or Gore in the fund-raising scandal. Although Huang expressed remorse for his illegal activities - for which he was sentenced to a year's probation and fined $10,000 - he accused some lawmakers and others of "unjustifiably demonizing me and other Asian-Americans."

New York Times; New York; 12/17/99 "….Documents made public today at a Congressional hearing about a Democratic fund-raiser at the center of the 1996 campaign finance controversy showed that in interviews with Justice Department investigators, President Clinton denied placing fund-raising calls from an official White House workspace. The documents also showed that Mr. Clinton was never asked in the interviews about the fund-raiser, John Huang, who testified for a second day today before the House Government Reform Committee under a grant of limited immunity. Representative Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who is the committee chairman, said before his panel released the interviews that he could not understand why the F.B.I.never asked the president and Vice President Al Gore about activities of Mr. Huang or other main figures in the illegal fund-raising. ….. ''How could they not ask the president about John Huang?,'' Mr. Burton asked. ''Did they forget? Did they think it wasn't important? Did someone tell them not to?'' …."

The Washington Post 12/17/99 David A. Vise; Lorraine Adams; "…. "I am at a loss," Burton wrote, "to understand why you would tolerate an investigation that failed to ask the president a single question about the following subjects: James Riady, John Huang, Charlie Trie, Mark Middleton, and the Presidential Legal Expense Trust." Burton also complained that Gore was not questioned about "the Hsi Lai Temple, Maria Hsia, John Huang and James Riady." In a statement released yesterday, the Justice Department said it "has conducted a vigorous investigation into allegations concerning campaign finance violations . . . interviews have been conducted so as to focus on the matters then under review." …."

Wall Street Journal; New York; 12/16/99 "….Abstract: "the second of three days of Congressional testimony by John Huang, the mystery man behind many of the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign's fund-raising scandals, will likely draw C-SPAN cameras and not much else" The conclusion one draws from this is fairly obvious: The people who violated existing campaign laws in 1996 have largely gotten away with it. Mr. Huang won a sweetheart plea agreement with the Justice Department that resulted in no jail time and involved him only pleading guilty to making $7,500 in illegal campaign contributions that were unrelated to the 1996 election. "As it now stands, the law has no teeth," remarked Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman. "Why else would two of the most prominent figures from the 1996 scandal -- John Huang and Charlie Trie -- be allowed to plea to charges that resulted in no jail time?" Why else? We can answer that in two words -- Janet Reno. And beyond that, her boss, Bill Clinton. ……. From Mr. Clinton's first days in office, his "strategic partnership" with China included a friendship with Asian fat cats and Clinton fund-raising operatives such as the Lippo Group's James Riady and Macau's mysterious money man Ng Lap Seng. Then-Commerce Secretary Ron Brown ferried corporate titans and Friends of Bill to Beijing and Hong Kong to cut deals, and national security aide Sandy Berger, a former China trade lobbyist, sat in on weekly White House meetings to discuss strategy and fund raising for the 1996 Presidential campaign. The lines between foreign policy, national security and Mr. Clinton's self interest blurred. And surely with this bad example before them, those lines blurred in the eyes of many officials, at many levels, throughout the government. ……. Her department lurched into a series of feckless investigations, obtained a few guilty pleas, but made no real progress toward uncovering the truth about what precisely had happened. We are not suggesting here that the fund-raising and the Lee case are linked directly, but we are suggesting that Ms. Reno's Department acted as if it didn't want to know. Now we are told that the answer to all our problems is more and tighter campaign finance laws, like the ones the incumbent Administration has ignored and the incumbent Attorney General has managed not to enforce. ….."

NewsMax 1/27/2000 Johnny Chung with Carl Limbacher "..."We like your President. We want to see him reelected." Those were the words of former Chinese intelligence chief General Ji Shengde, as he sat across a dinner table from me in 1996 and pledged $300,000 to the Democratic Party for the express purpose of reinstalling Bill Clinton in the White House. Now, in a stunning development that has shaken China's ruling class to its core, General Ji has been arrested as part of a massive crackdown on widespread government corruption. The scandal revolves around billions of dollars in smuggled merchandise and apparently touches dozens of high ranking Communist Party, police and banking officials. ..... My sources tell me that the investigation has now led to some of the same Chinese government officials who I came to know after I became famous in China for my friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Besides General Ji, Liu Chaoying, the China Aerospace executive who introduced me to the general, is now under investigation. As the Times reports, the dimensions of this scandal are something never before seen in China. Even the Vice Minister of China's Justice Department has been detained and questioned....."

NewsMax 1/27/2000 Johnny Chung with Carl Limbacher "...When I testified before Congress about General Ji's offer to help reelect Clinton, Beijing was not pleased. They sent agents to assassinate me. The FBI has confirmed the arrest of at least one of them. As for General Ji, he was demoted. He's now a teacher, which is a far cry from the status he once enjoyed as the keeper of China's intelligence secrets. For the son of one of China's most powerful military men, Ji's demotion is a personal disgrace. Just days ago, after months of refusing to talk, Vice Minister of Justice Li Ji-Zhuo implicated General Ji in the smuggling conspiracy. ....."

NewsMax 1/27/2000 Johnny Chung with Carl Limbacher "...At the center of the scandal is Xiamen businessman Lai Changxing, president of the Yuanhua Group, who investigators say bribed local customs officials to look the other way as his smuggling operation grew. Key witness Yang was the intermediary between Mr. Lai and Gen. Ji, with whom Yang worked very closely. According to The New York Times: "The authorities have closed down (Lai's) Yuanhua company, and at some point last fall Mr. Lai disappeared, presumably into a secret life abroad." Lai isn't the only one with a secret life abroad. Sources tell me that Chinese investigators have learned about US bank accounts held by Gen. Ji's wife totaling millions of dollars. And if that weren't bad enough, both Mr. and Mrs. Ji own million dollar-plus homes in a wealthy Los Angeles neighborhood, according to the latest revelations. For now Gen. Ji has thrown up a protective umbrella over his relationship with Mr. Lai, and has yet to tell probers where the mysterious businessman is hiding....."

NewsMax 1/27/2000 Johnny Chung with Carl Limbacher "...While the scandal rocks Beijing's princeling class, Gen. Ji Shengde's former boss, Gen. Xiong Guangkai is enjoying a red carpet welcome at the Clinton Pentagon as he cajoles top US military officials to trim military aide to Taiwan and abandon America's own plans for a missile defense shield. Could Gen. Xiong be involved in the smuggling conspiracy as well? There's no evidence to suggest that yet. Still, the way things work in the Chinese military, it's hard to believe Gen. Ji would do anything that Gen. Xiong hadn't already approved...... Now Beijing's ruling class waits and wonders: If General Ji Shengde begins to talk, who is he liable to bring down with him? And how will President Jiang react as the scandal spreads to China's princelings? ...."

NY Times 1/24/2000 AP "...The Supreme Court today refused to free a Democratic fund-raiser from charges that she hid illegal contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. The court, without comment, rejected an appeal in which Maria Hsia argued that she was charged under the wrong law and that prosecutors must prove that she knew her actions were illegal. Hsia, an immigration consultant in the Los Angeles area, was charged in 1998 with five counts of making false statements by disguising contributions to the Clinton-Gore campaign and other politicians between 1993 and 1996. Hsia, who steered thousands of dollars from a Buddhist temple to the Democratic presidential campaign, was accused of soliciting donations and then orchestrating false filings to the Federal Election Commission....... "

WorldNetDaily 1/25/2000 Charles Smith "….A convicted Chinagate figure linked to Communist Chinese intelligence obtained detailed information on the U.S. Patriot missile system, according to documents found in John Huang's Commerce Department office. The documents reveal that the Clinton Commerce Department appointee, who pled guilty to campaign finance violations in August 1999, met with American defense contractor Raytheon in an effort to sell the advanced anti-missile system to South Korea. The documents, part of a cache of over 200 boxes of material, were obtained by Judicial Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based legal watchdog group.

WorldNetDaily 1/25/2000 Charles Smith "…."Huang took the Fifth Amendment more than 2,000 times when asked by Judicial Watch if he had ties to Chinese intelligence," stated author and Asian Defense analyst William Triplett. Russian SCUD missile. According to documents found in John Huang's files, the North Korean SCUD ballistic mobile missile is a prime threat to South Korean cities. Moreover, said Triplett, co-author of "Red Dragon Rising," the Commerce Department has no authority over weapons sales. "Commerce doesn't do weapons," stated Triplett flatly. …..Investigators inside Congress requested and obtained copies of the Huang documents. According to the investigators, Huang never mentioned working on the Patriot missile sale during his congressional testimony. "We were not aware that Mr. Huang had dealings with weapons for South Korea," stated the source inside Congress who requested not to be identified. "The only known ties Huang had with South Korea was a two hundred and fifty thousand dollar donation to the DNC from Cheong Am company," stated the Capitol Hill source….."

WorldNetDaily 1/25/2000 Charles Smith "….The Huang Patriot missile documents appeared at the same time China's People's Liberation Army Lt. Gen. Xiong Guankai, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, arrived in Washington to begin three days of meetings. Xiong is scheduled to meet Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and other senior Pentagon officials. China was recently accused of passing missile technology to North Korea by the U.S. State Department. However, according to China expert Triplett, Huang is not the only person who can answer questions about possible Chinese espionage. "General Xiong can answer all of the questions," asserted Triplett. "All of the campaign finance scandal comes to him. He is the head of Chinese military intelligence. He approved the three hundred thousand dollars to be given to Johnny Chung. This guy can answer the questions about the Clinton China scandal for Judicial Watch, Congress and the American people." …."

Associated Press 2/1/2000 "....A Miami computer company already fined $1 million by the Justice Department for illegally contributing to Democratic candidates has agreed to pay another $209,000 to the Federal Election Commission. Future Tech International used corporate funds to reimburse employees who contributed to President Clinton's 1996 campaign and several House and Senate Democrats, including Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, according to documents released by the FEC. In addition, Future Tech made $110,000 in unregulated soft money contributions to the Democratic National Committee......"

New York Post 2/1/00 Dick Morris "..... COINCIDENCE? The Wall Street Journal reported last week that shortly after former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker was convicted in the Whitewater scandal, he was hired by James Riady, head of the Indonesian Lippo Group....... According to published reports, Riady's lawyers are currently negotiating with the Justice Department for a plea bargain. For years, Riady has eluded American investigators and stayed out of the United States. But that was no problem for Clinton. Clinton greeted him warmly in New Zealand, where he was invited to a private reception last September -- even though he knew that the Justice Department was after Riady. A friend is a friend. In addition to hiring Tucker in 1999 (without waiting to see if he would begin serving a long jail sentence in a few months), Riady and former Hillary Clinton law partner Joe Giroir stepped in right after Tucker was indicted by Kenneth Starr in 1996 and arranged an unusual and lucrative deal for Tucker's wife, Betty. The deal meant a minimum of $325,000 per year for the Tuckers, no doubt helping tide them over during his difficult time. According to Giroir, Tucker's hiring was "a strictly merit situation." ...."

New York Post 2/1/00 Dick Morris "..... What's the coincidence? Well, Riady and Giroir have also helped out other Clinton confidants in trouble with the law. When former Assistant Attorney General Webb Hubbell was under investigation by the independent counsel, Riady hired him and paid him $100,000. When this was revealed, Riady and Hubbell claimed that it was just a favor for a friend, although it was later disclosed that Riady barely knew Hubbell. The payment was arranged by John Huang, a longtime Riady employee and the Democratic Party fund-raiser who pleaded guilty to collecting more than $1.6 million in illegal foreign campaign contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. And guess what? When Huang was under investigation, Riady provided him with $38,000 -- again, just out of friendship. He's some good friend, isn't he? By further coincidence, Giroir and Riady were in the Oval Office at the fateful meeting that led to the transfer of John Huang from the Commerce Department to the Democratic National Committee as a fund-raiser. It was only a day or two later that Riady decided he wanted to help out Webb Hubbell. Coincidence? At Commerce, Huang had access to classified documents that investigators believe may have been improperly transferred to Riady. ....."

New York Post 2/1/00 Dick Morris "..... The timing of the Tucker-Riady dealings stinks to high heaven. If, as reported, the Tuckers concealed the deal, the independent counsel should reopen the Tucker case, find out all of the details surrounding the Riady "hiring" and re-examine what Tucker has revealed about Whitewater. Why is it that every corrupt Clinton official who might implicate the president and first lady ends up on the Riady payroll? Any suspicions that the Riady-Hubbell deal (where Riady paid Hubbell large consulting fees for no work) was an effort to buy his silence should be heightened by the revelation of the subsequent Riady-Tucker partnership, and the Huang payoff.

Now we face the real issue: Is Robert Ray, Starr's successor as independent counsel, going to roll over and play dead or is he really going to prosecute? According to the Journal, Ray's office was apparently unaware of the Riady-Tucker relationship. Based on his bad health, Tucker never faced jail time, which reduced the leverage Starr presumably had over him during the plea and cooperation negotiations. But now Tucker has received a liver transplant and may be fit to go to prison..... "

The New York Times 2/10/00 William Safire "…..Loeb's delicatessen on 15th street serves the best hot corned beef sandwich in town. It was there I ran into Lee Radek, who for years has been successfully making certain that no investigation of illegal Asian money poured into the Clinton-Gore campaign touches any of the higher-ups. Munching a pickle, I asked how come the current trial of Maria Hsia -- the longtime Gore fund-raiser charged with using Buddhist nuns as conduits for $140,000 in illegal contributions -- was being held in Washington, rather than near the Hacienda Heights, Calif., temple, scene of the alleged crime. "We thought this would be a better venue," the chief of the cover-up replied. From his concealing standpoint, he's right -- the nation's capital is far better for acquittal or most lenient sentencing of the defendant……"

The New York Times 2/10/00 William Safire "…..Reno Justice wants none of the Clinton-Gore Asian funny-money traffickers such as John Huang, Pauline Kanchanalak and Charlie Trie to face punishment that might induce them to involve any of the famous recipients of China's largess. In moving the trial of Hsia (pronounced shaw) to Democratic D.C., Reno Justice was certain it would get a Clinton-appointed judge. That's because in all the "Asian Connection" cases here, the chief federal judge bypassed the normal random assignment procedure to direct all those cases to Judge Paul Friedman. After this liberal jurist relieved Clintonites in 1998 by dismissing as "Alice in Wonderland" five of six felony counts against Hsia, the Court of Appeals overruled him, reinstating the charges whose prosecution he so reluctantly oversees today. (Feeling the heat of criticism about being the repeatedly chosen instrument of the cover-uppers, Friedman last week got the chief judge's egregious assignments stopped.) …..Reno's Radek not only has a demonstrably anti-prosecution Democratic judge but the usual 90 percent Democratic D.C. jury. Hsia's lawyer reminded it this week that the defendant "is a minority, supports Democrats and has all her life." ….."

Jewish World Review 2/10/00 Michelle Malkin "….Live, from the sixth floor of the U.S. District Courthouse, I watched the futility of campaign finance reform unfold before my eyes. The federal criminal trial of Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia - Vice President Al Gore's infamous Buddhist temple gal pal -- opened here in the courtroom of Judge Paul Friedman on Monday. It's a case study in the senselessness of passing new laws to fix The System. …….. Three of the nuns testified to Congress in 1998 that the temple reimbursed them and others for $55,000 in Democratic National Committee donations, which were drummed up by Hsia the day after Gore's two-hour visit to Hsi Lai in April 1996. …… Besides, Luque rationalized, "Even if Maria Hsia knew that contributions came from somewhere else, how does just knowing cause a lie?" So Hsia is not responsible even if she knew laws were being broken because knowing a lie isn't telling one. The monks and nuns were not responsible because they were unwitting dupes who didn't know the laws. The Democrat campaign treasurers who accepted the checks from Hsia were not responsible because they can't check every contribution. And Al Gore is not responsible because there was no controlling legal authority. ….."

Newsmax 2/9/00 Carl Limbacher "….Johnny Chung, the former Democratic Party fund-raiser whom Hillary Clinton once greeted with the words, "Welcome to the White House my good friend," has offered to come to New York to explain to voters how she traded White House favors for illegal campaign contributions from Chinese sources four years ago. The latest polls show that Mrs. Clinton is gaining on her expected opponent, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in her bid to be New York's next US Senator. But just days after she officially entered the race, evidence has emerged suggesting that the First Lady may be up to her old fund-raising tricks again. Reportedly Hillary's campaign war chest is now filled with contributions from some of the same suspect donors who landed the White House in legal hot water after the last election….."

News Day 2/8/00 AP "….Hillary Rodham Clinton's long list of donors includes some whose names surfaced in the fund-raising scandals of President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, federal campaign records showed on Wednesday. Several were overnight guests in the Lincoln Bedroom and others attended White House coffees. Both practices came under criticism from Republicans, who accused the president of improperly providing White House access to those who ponied up campaign cash. Mrs. Clinton's camp stands by the contributors, saying they have done nothing wrong. Her spokesman Howard Wolfson said it makes sense that people who supported the president also support the first lady's candidacy. But Mayor Rudolph Giulaini's camp attacked the donations Wednesday. "Mrs. Clinton is importing to New York the unethical and tainted fund-raising practices that were the center of the fund-raising scandals that rocked the White House after the 1996 election," Giuliani spokeswoman Kin Serafin said Wednesday….."

World Net Daily 2/13/00 Charles Smith "…..In an apparent breach of national security, the Central Intelligence Agency provided convicted Chinagate figure John Huang with information on corrupt trade deals with Indonesia, according to documents obtained from Huang's files, which included the names and phone numbers of four CIA agents. The original documents that identified the CIA agents were heavily blacked out and marked as being withheld for "national security" reasons. However, Clinton administration officials accidentally included a second un-blacked-out copy, revealing the CIA contacts, with documents for Huang. Judicial Watch, a Washington-based legal watchdog group, obtained documentation on the CIA meetings with Huang as part of a cache of over 200 boxes of materials from the U.S. Commerce Department through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. ….."

World Net Daily 2/13/00 Charles Smith "…..During his stay at Commerce, Huang obtained a secret clearance and attended more than 37 classified briefings with the CIA. "Huang clearly had access to commercial information that would have been of keen interest to the Riadys," said Asian defense specialist, and co-author of "Year of the Rat," William Triplett. "That very night Huang called Lippo in Jakarta." "Huang took the Fifth Amendment more than two thousand times when asked by Judicial Watch if he had ties to Chinese intelligence," added Triplett. The newly-released documents from the Commerce Department show that agents from the Central Intelligence Agency met with Huang and representatives from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. ….."

World Net Daily 2/13/00 Charles Smith "…..According to the documents, four CIA agents attended an August 1994 "Trade Policy Coordinating Committee" meeting with Huang on Indonesia. (Editor's note: WorldNetDaily has the names of the CIA personnel but is not publishing them.) The subject of the meeting was U.S. government-financed trade deals that contained "first family involvement" -- a euphemism for kickbacks to relatives of then-Indonesian dictator Suharto. The Huang documents could not have come at a worse time for the newly-declared Hillary Clinton Senate campaign in New York. It was Mrs. Clinton who reportedly had insisted that Huang be given a position at the Commerce Department under Ron Brown…… In addition, Riady has been accused of having passed illegal monies to the 1992 and 1996 Clinton/Gore campaigns. Ominously, the CIA has also accused Riady of working for Chinese military intelligence. …..According to a 1998 CIA report presented to Sen. Fred Thompson, R.-Tenn., "James and Moctar Riady have had a long-term relationship with a Chinese intelligence agency. The relationship is based on mutual benefit, with the Riadys receiving assistance in finding business opportunities in exchange for large sums of money and other help." …… "The Chinese intelligence agency seeks to locate and develop relationships with information collectors, particularly with close association to the U.S. government," states the CIA report on Riady. ….."

World Net Daily 2/13/00 Charles Smith "…..The 1994 meeting between the CIA and Huang included detailed information on a $2.6 billion U.S.-sponsored electric power plant for Indonesia. A 1994 Commerce Department report found in Huang's files noted that the Indonesian "Paiton" power plant had encountered difficulties with financing because the Asian Development Bank knew it contained money for a Suharto family member……. In addition, 1994 documents provided by the Offshore Private Investment Corporation noted that Suharto's daughter Prabowo and her brother-in-law Hashim Djojohadikusumo were given a total "2.5%" ownership in the U.S.-sponsored power project, through their local company BHP……. PLN also obtained similar documents to those found in Huang's files. In 1999, PLN acquired documents that stated Clinton administration officials were aware of "corruption, collusion and nepotism" inside the electric power trade deals made with Indonesia. PLN used the documents to win a lawsuit against the Clinton administration, charging that U.S. officials knew the Paiton power plant contract was "corrupt from the beginning." In December 1999, an Indonesian court ruled that the entire $2.6 billion Paiton power plant contract was illegal. ……"

The Washington Weekly 2/14/00 Marvin Lee "….The Department of Justice has changed the venue of the trial against Maria Hsia, the Gore-fundraiser charged with laundering illegal contributions through Buddhist nuns, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. In Washington, D.C. the federal district court is controlled by the Clinton White House. All campaign fundraising cases against Clinton associates have bypassed the random selection of judges and have been assigned to Judge Paul Friedman who has cooperated with the Justice Department in its attempt to shut up witnesses so the case is not moved closer to the top and into the White House. Appearing on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," last week, former House impeachment counsel David Schippers was asked whether the Washington D.C. court is more favorable to the Clinton-Gore team: "I think that's absolutely true. I think it's been proved already where there have been acquittals out there on cases that were very strong cases. As an old prosecutor, usually it's the defense that's screaming about the venue. In this case, Ms. Hsia's from California. The -- the co-conspirator, the temple, is in California. The money was paid in California. The reimbursement was made in California. The trial is being held in Washington, D.C." …….."

LATimes 2/5/00 William Rempel Alan Miller "…..Newly obtained FBI documents show that Democratic fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie smuggled a wealthy Taiwan businessman using a false identity into the White House to meet President Clinton. The incident is among numerous revelations in a confidential summary of Trie's statements to federal investigators that are certain to reverberate during an increasingly contentious election-year debate over campaign finance abuses. The bizarre episode, regarded as a serious breach of presidential security by federal officials, occurred at a White House holiday party Dec. 13, 1996--days before Trie fled the United States to avoid authorities investigating fund-raising improprieties……"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 2/7/00 Jerry Seper "……Democratic fund-raiser Charles Yah Lin Trie told the FBI that an Indonesian businessman with ties to the Chinese military gave him $200,000 to contribute to the Democratic Party and to reimburse those who gave to President Clinton's legal defense fund. According to a 74-page summary of extensive FBI interviews obtained by The Washington Times, Trie also said it was he who first suggested that Mr. Clinton or Vice President Al Gore be encouraged to attend a fund-raising event at a California Buddhist temple because "alot of money" would be available for the Clinton-Gore campaign………. Mr. Gore, despite repeated efforts, has not been able to explain why he attended the temple fund-raiser. Initially, he said the event was for community outreach. Later, when confronted with new evidence, the White House said the vice president had used "a poor choice of words." Mr. Gore's office then said he knew the event was "finance-related" because top Asian-American contributors would be present but did not know campaign donations would be solicited………. Trie said he used the $200,000 for donations to the Democratic Party and to reimburse Mr. Clinton's legal defense fund. He identified his Jakarta money source as Tomy Winata, whose business concerns include extensive property holdings, a bank controlled by the Indonesian army and a massive telecommunications company. Mr. Winata, an ethnic Chinese, has been described by U.S. intelligence officials as a businessman who has profited greatly by serving as a front man for corporations controlled by Indonesian and Chinese army and intelligence officials……He has been identified as a business associate of Liu Chao-ying, a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army and the daughter of China's top general. Col. Liu directed much of the fund raising among Asian-Americans in the United States, including $300,000 she routed from Gen. Ji Shengde, the chief military intelligence officer for the PLA, to California businessman Johnny Chung for the Democratic Party……"

The Oklahoman 2/4/00 "….On the day the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill calling for greater defense cooperation with Taiwan, Communist China demanded that President Clinton block the legislation. Well now, that's calling in an investment. Beijing's brazen demand could hardly come as a surprise at the White House, where Chinese influence -- clout may be a better word -- is taken seriously. Americans can only hope, in the wake of a Clinton- Gore campaign finance scandal covered with China's fingerprints, that our president can remember he works for us. The House bill, which drew 140 votes from Democrats, came the same day CIA Director George Tenet warned that China is building up its military forces opposite Taiwan. Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee the mainland continues to locate short-range ballistic missiles near the Taiwan Strait. According to a report in the Washington Times, U.S. analysts believe China will increase its missile arsenal from 150 to 650 over the next several years. …."

The Washington Post 2/6/00 William Rempel Alan Miller "…. Newly obtained FBI documents show that Democratic fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie smuggled a wealthy Taiwan businessman using a false identity into the White House to meet President Clinton. The episode, regarded as a serious breach of presidential security by federal officials, occurred at a White House holiday party Dec. 13, 1996, days before Trie fled the United States to avoid authorities investigating fund-raising improprieties……. Trie said Tomy Winata, a Jakarta billionaire with financial ties to the Indonesian army, sent him $200,000 in traveler's checks to "help out" with donations, a portion of which Trie used to make illegal contributions to the Democratic National Committee and reimburse donors to the Clinton legal defense fund…… "

Associated Press 2/8/00 "….The Jusice Department, kicking of trial against a former fund-raiser, says Maria Hsia concealed the source of more than $100,000 in illegal donations. Hsia's lawyer, meanwhile argues that the Los Angeles immigration consultant is the victim of ``a smear job'' by federal prosecutors. ``The system breaks down'' because of people like Hsia, who ``time and time again engaged in these schemes'' in the 1996 election campaign, prosecutor Eric Yaffe told the U.S. District Court jury in opening statements on Monday. In becoming ``a major player in the Democratic Party,'' Yaffe said, Hsia tapped well-to-do business acquaintances secretly to reimburse straw donors and conduits for cash who were falsely listed in federal election records as contributors. ……. The temple treasury was the source of many of the contributions, although election records falsely listed individual people as the donors, said Yaffe. Yaffe said the temple reimbursed Hsia for some of her own political contributions. Luque denied that, saying that Hsia was simply being paid for immigration-related work she did for the temple….."

UPI 2/7/00 "…..Controversial Democratic fund-raiser Yin Lah "Charlie" Trie told the FBI last spring that he received money from an Indonesian billionaire to "help out" with political contributions, some of which wound up with the Democratic National Committee in 1996, and also formed business relationships with other Asian contacts, including a Chinese army officer. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that an FBI report on its wide-ranging interviews with Trie indicated the Chinese officer, a woman who was later arrested in China on corruption charges, had even been recommended by Trie for membership in the DNC's business leadership forum, although she never joined. ……. Trie said it was he who urged either Clinton or Gore to make an appearance at the Buddhist Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif., in 1996. The vice president eventually did the honors and later found himself in political quicksand after it was revealed that much of the money donated by the temple had been reimbursed by other donors. Trie said he stepped aside after the initial planning at Huang's request and turned the visit over to Gore fund-raiser Maria Hsai. Hsai was later indicted on election law violations for her role in the reimbursement of the donations. Trie also told the FBI that he had met with Gore himself on several occasions, but never talked about fund raising with him. …… "

UPI 2/7/00 "…..Trie told agents that he was able to help a businessman from Taiwan crash a White House holiday party in 1996 by using someone else's identification. Trie said he wanted to introduce Clinton to Chic Chong "Simon" Chien, chairman of TransCapital International and a potential Trie client, but "did not want people thinking he was bringing another foreigner into the White House." To solve his problem, Trie said he called his secretary in Little Rock and had her send her husband's Arkansas driver's license to him. Trie said he was able to use the license to waltz the tuxedo-clad Chien into the White House under the name of Reynaldo Mapili, a Filipino-American mail carrier who apparently bears no resemblance to Chien. ….."

UPI 2/7/00 "…..The Times said Trie received about $200,000 in travelers checks from Tomy Winata, a Jakarta billionaire, during a 1996 Democratic National Committee fund-raiser at the tony Hay-Adams Hotel across the street from the White House. Trie said he had tried to get Winata a seat at the head table, but Winata held out for a private meeting with Clinton, which never took place. Trie said Winata dispatched two aides to the hotel with a satchel containing the travelers checks. He said the checks were "to help out" with donations, and that he immediately sent at least $25,000 to the DNC. …..Winata has tight business connections to the powerful Indonesian army and with relatives of former President Suharto, but the Times said he also has ties to Liu Chao-ying, who is reportedly close to the head of China's military intelligence branch. ….."

UPI 2/7/00 "…..The Times said Trie himself had a business relationship with one Lin Ruoqing, a female Chinese military officer who was later arrested by the Chinese authorities on corruption charges. The FBI report said Trie at one point recommended that Lin join the DNC's business leadership forum, but she never did. Lin, however, provided Trie with a car registered to the Chinese army during Trie's visit to Beijing….."

Fortune Magazine 2/7/00 Jeffrey Birnbaum "….Vice President Al Gore's visit to a Buddhist temple near Los Angeles in 1996 is the very symbol of campaign-finance chicanery, particularly illegal contributions from Asia. Gore tried to distance himself from the event by claiming at first that it was "community outreach." Eventually he conceded that it was "finance related," but he's always said he didn't know it was a fundraiser. Could that be true? It stretches credulity. Over the years Gore, who rarely signed his own thank-you notes, maintained an extraordinary correspondence with Maria Hsia, a fundraiser who was one of the event's main organizers. "I cannot thank you enough," Gore wrote to Hsia and Howard Hom, then her partner, in 1990. "You two are great friends. See you soon." Six years later Hsia stood with the yellow-robed Master Hsing Yun when Gore arrived at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif...... Gore and Hsia got to know each other in the late 1980s, when Gore was worried about raising enough money for his 1990 Senate reelection. Hsia, an immigration consultant, was eager to contribute to politicians who could help her clients and associates. One associate was John Huang, who became notorious as an Asian fundraiser for the Democratic Party in 1996. Her clients would later include the Hsi Lai Temple, whose parent was the Fo Kuang Shan Buddhist order. In 1989, Gore was the sole U.S. Senator to accept Hsia's entreaty to visit the temple's Taiwan headquarters on a trip partly paid for by the order. ….."

Fortune Magazine 2/7/00 Jeffrey Birnbaum "….Prior to that journey, Hsia had donated money to Gore's campaign, and Gore had written to Hsia, "My involvement in the presidential race over the past two years has delayed my efforts to raise money for the 1990 [Senate] campaign and left our coffers empty for the upcoming race.... I appreciate your generosity and hope we can get together sometime soon." And before Gore accepted Hsia's entreaty to go to Taiwan, she wrote to him: "If you decide to join this trip, I will persuave [sic] all my colleagues in the future to play a leader [sic] role in your future presidential race." Hsia also collected donations for Gore in California, helped organize Asian-American giving in Tennessee, and directed other contributions to his campaign through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In appreciation, Gore wrote to Hsia in January 1989: "You are a wonderful friend." In December the next year, he hand-wrote "Thanks!" over his signature on a letter to Hsia that said, "You helped make this campaign season an overwhelming success." In a more personal note that same month, he wrote, "Your friendship and your personal commitment to my political endeavors mean a great deal to me." ….."

www.house.gov/reform/reports/fundraising "….On April 29, 1996, Vice President Albert Gore Jr. attended an illegal John Huang-organized fund-raiser at the Hsi Lai Buddhist monastery in California which raised $140,000. Four days before details emerged on Gore's participation in the illegal fund-raiser at the Hsi Lai Buddhist monastery, Gore claimed, "Number one, we have strictly abided by all of the campaign finance laws, strictly. There've been no violations." …..On October 18, 1996, The DNC announced that it would reimburse the Hsi Lai Buddhist monastery $15,000 collected from the illegal fund-raiser attended by Al Gore. In various statements, Clinton's reelection team brushed off inquiries about improper fund-raising activities, claiming a lack of knowledge. Al Gore pointed the finger at the DNC claiming it was a "community out-reach event" with no money offered, collected or raised. Three months would pass before Al Gore would be forced to admit in a television interview that he knew the fund-raiser at the Buddhist monastery was a "finance-related event." He also admitted that it was a mistake to attend……"

PENNY BENDER, Hsia indictment another blow to Gore's squeaky-clean image. , Gannett News Service, 02-19-1998, pp ARC. "…. * A federal indictment alleged that Hsia collected $55,000 from 11 monks and nuns who were later reimbursed with the temple's funds, violating election and immigration laws. The temple is a tax-exempt religious organization barred from making political contributions…."

Jerry Seper, Fund-raiser for Democrats is indicted by grand jury. , The Washington Times, 03-01-1998, pp 10 "… Three Buddhist nuns told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee last year that the temple reimbursed them and others for $55,000 in donations to the DNC. The donations were made after Mr. Gore's appearance at the event. They testified that the day after the event, Mrs. Hsia asked the temple to raise more cash to help Mr. Huang reach his fund-raising goals for the event. One temple official, Venerable Yi-Chu, asked several monastics to write $5,000 contributions each, for which they were later reimbursed, the nuns said. The indictment said several conduits posed as donors, including monks and nuns, temple volunteers, Mrs. Hsia's clients and Mrs. Hsia herself, although all were reimbursed with money from the temple. The February indictment also claimed that Hsia solicited the donations and then orchestrated false filings to the Federal Election Commission. Prosecutors claimed that the filings amount to false statements to the government, including the INS ….."

Richard T. Cooper, The Democrats and the money pot. , Minneapolis Star Tribune, 01-02-1997 "… Albert Gore Jr. accompanied Maria Hsia and John Huang on a 1989 Trip to Taiwan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Then-Tennessee Sen. Al Gore combined elements of a policy fact-finding trip and a campaign-type foray (Gore later received contributions from seven PLC members with business interests in the region). Democratic sources say that the primary reason for the trip was to reward Hsia, Huang and other PLC activists for their financial support of the DSCC. Hsia, Huang and the others had important private interests in the region and they stood to benefit from traveling with so prominent an American as Gore….."

www.house.gov/reform/reports/fundraising "…. John Huang was at the time an employee of the Bank of Central Asia, which is owned by interests that include the Lippo Group. James Riady, among the top brass at Lippo Group, also was supposed to be on the trip, but there is no record of his attendance……"

Richard T. Cooper, The Democrats and the money pot. , Minneapolis Star Tribune, 01-02-1997, pp 11A "….Maria Hsia, a Taiwan native, immigrated to the United States in her early 20s and found a niche as an "immigration counselor" at a law firm whose clients included many Chinese. She also found her way into politics. She began raising money for Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts in 1983, and she helped U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston finance his 1986 reelection campaign. Later she, together with Huang and Riady, marshaled Asian-American support for McCarthy's unsuccessful race for Senate and for other Democratic candidates….."

"Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia is indicted", Minneapolis Star Tribune, 02-19-1998, pp 04A. "….A report by Senate Republican investigators, based on classified information provided by the FBI and CIA, said that the Governmental Affairs Committee "has learned that Hsia has been an agent of the Chinese government" and "acted knowingly in support of it." ….."

Bob Woodward, Campaign finance // An FBI oversight adds fuel to the fire // Investigators – "… ....belatedly discovered files indicate that Maria Hsia, a Taiwanese-American immigrant who for a decade has raised money for Democratic causes, was "doing the bidding" of Beijing as a Chinese agent, a senior official said. Hsia, 46, set up an Asian-American fund-raising group called the Pacific Leadership Council (PLC) with Riady and John Huang, later a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The two largest recipients of PLC money in the 1990 election cycle were then-Sens. Al Gore, D-Tenn., and Paul Simon, D-Ill……"

An FBI oversight adds fuel to the fire // Investigators think newly discovered files show further Chinese efforts to influence U.S. elections.. , Minneapolis Star Tribune, 11-15-1997, pp 13A "….. The Hsia evidence came to light only after Freeh canvassed all FBI field offices in September and ordered a "meticulous review of all file holdings in the FBI's possession that bear on attempts by the {People's Republic of China} to influence U.S. political elections." ......the FBI issued a statement saying that the files are "voluminous," consisting of "raw, uncorroborated intelligence that requires significant analysis before the information is appropriate for dissemination." Freeh's directive also produced intelligence that the Chinese government planned to use joint business ventures with U.S. companies and others to raise money that could be funneled into U.S. campaigns. Other newly uncovered reports also suggest that the Chinese government planned to spend more than the previously reported $3 million to influence U.S. campaigns, according to U.S. officials. Fragmentary intelligence also indicated that the Chinese wanted to funnel money directly to the Clinton-Gore campaign, they said. …."

Bob Woodward, Campaign finance // An FBI oversight adds fuel to the fire // Investigators think newly discovered files show further Chinese efforts to influence U.S. elections.. , Minneapolis Star Tribune, 11-15-1997, pp 13A "…..But after Thompson announced two weeks ago that he was suspending his public hearings, officials said, the FBI obtained intelligence showing that the Chinese equivalent of the CIA boasted that it had been successful in "thwarting" the congressional inquiry….."

Democratic fund-raiser indicted on tax charges in U.S. , Reuters, 07-07-1998 "…. Ms. Hsia, who faces a separate income tax evasion case in California, is represented by attorney Nancy Luque, who has represented others involved in scandals connected to the White House including ............Hsia allegedly underreported her taxable income for 1995 and 1996 and filed a return for her immigration consulting business which also understated its income, according to the indictment….."

Judge Tosses 11 Campaign Charges By Bill Miller Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 1, 1999; Page A20 "…… A federal judge yesterday threw out much of the government's case against Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak, delivering the latest in a series of legal blows to Attorney General Janet Reno's campaign finance investigation. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman followed earlier decisions that gutted much of the prosecution's cases against Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie and Maria Hsia, two other key figures in the Justice Department's investigation into foreign contributions to the Clinton-Gore reelection effort. Friedman earlier dismissed similar charges concerning FEC statements in the cases against Hsia and Trie. He threw out five of six charges lodged against Hsia and three of 14 charges filed against Trie. Other rulings by the judge have created stumbling blocks for campaign finance prosecutors, including one last fall that held that citizens of foreign nations are prohibited only from making "hard money" contributions, or donations that directly support individual candidates for federal office. That ruling led prosecutors to act on their own to drop six charges against Kanchanalak and Kronenberg; only $80,000 of the money they allegedly provided was for "hard money" purposes……"

The GOP draft attacks Vice President Al Gore, but lacks information on China's alleged efforts to influence U.S. elections.. , Minneapolis Star Tribune, 02-08-1998, pp 18A "…. After the news of the dismissed charges against Hsia, Chris Lehane, a spokesman for Gore, issued a statement on behalf of Gore that said: ``Maria Hsia has been a political friend and supporter of the vice president, as well as a leader in her community,'' ``We are pleased for her.'' ….."

Two of the Three Judges who rejected Friedman's decision were Clinton appointees. (James Vicini, U.S. court reinstates charges against fund-raiser. , Reuters, 05-18-1999.) "….On May 18, 1999 a U.S. appeals court reinstated criminal charges against Hsia and said that Judge Friedman was wrong in dismissing five of the six counts against Hsia based on his citing of the First Amendment's broad protections of religious expression and free speech. Hsia's lawyer, Nancy Luque, said she was ``obviously disappointed' ' at the ruling and that she would definitely appeal to either the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court. ….."

Government Reform and Oversight Committee, Dan Burton, Chairman "……Huang admitted that funds were raised before and after the event at the April 1996 Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple. He also acknowledged that donors at the event were given prominent seating, at the front, near the Vice President. Huang also admitted that when the event failed to raise the $100,000 it was expected to raise, he asked Maria Hsia to raise $55,000 on short notice. Hsia did so, and directed the illegal reimbursement of the nuns from temple funds. Huang claims to have no knowledge of Hsia's illegal activities with respect to the temple fundraiser. Chairman Burton asked Huang about the Vice President's statements about the event:

Chairman Burton: In an interview, the Vice President said 'I did not know that the money was being contributed at the time. The people with me did not know. Obviously something, someone did not handle it right.' Now, is that true? Did none of the people that were accompanying the Vice President like Don Fowler or David Strauss, did - or yourself, I mean, did any of them know that money was being collected?

Huang: To answer your question, it's not true. I believe Mr. Fowler knows about that. And also Mr. Strauss probably knew about that as well.

Chairman Burton: So they knew it was a fundraiser, you knew it was a fundraiser, Maria Hsia knew it was a fundraiser, Don Fowler knew it was a fundraiser, but the Vice President, who was with all of you did not know it was a fundraiser.

Huang: Mr. Chairman, I can only state that Mr. Fowler knows about it, knew about it, and Mr. Strauss knew about it. I really can't say anything further about what more than that……"

Freeper abwehr 2/7/00 observes "….Huang as a vice chair of the Democratic Finance Committee appointed at the presidents direction would certainly know to ask once he heard the above to ask if they were a tax exempt organization. His subsequent actions of insisting that the donations be credited to Hsia not Trie further indicate his direct knowledge of from who and where the funds were being raised. Thus either Huang of Trie may have committed perjury which is not subject to their immunity ….."

The Business Times/Singapore 2/14/00 Shoeb Kagda "….INDONESIA'S Lippo group is forging ahead after having formed a strategic alliance with Hongkong's Hutchison Whampoa group for its push to create the largest Internet empire in the country. It has secured an additional US$100 million (S$166 million) commitment from Taiwan's China Development and Investment Bank group (CDIB) for its drive, sources in Jakarta told BT…….. The deal was concluded by Lippo's founder and patriarch Mochtar Riady, who is also in negotiations with two other Taiwanese IT powerhouses -- the Hwashin Group and Acer. …… Separately, BT understands that US-based financial giant American Insurance Group (AIG) is looking to increase its 5 per cent stake in Lippo e-Net, formerly known as Lippo Life. …… Lippo e-Net will act as the umbrella company coordinating not only the investments and strategic alliances, but also the dovetailing of the group's existing businesses with its new empire. As part of its efforts to speed up the laying of the broad band cable infrastructure in the greater Jakarta area, for example, Lippo has tied up with Hutchison Whampoa and is in negotiations to sell as much as 20 per cent of Multipolar. The Hongkong-based telecommunications giant is also said to be helping the group develop its wireless calling card facility. The Riadys have also brought in American Jim Guy Tucker, a specialist in broadband cable TV, to spearhead the group's entry into this field. The former Arkansas governor, who used to own cable companies in the US, is a technical adviser in the group's subsidiary KableVision, which will offer Internet access through television sets. ….."

The Straits Times 2/26/00 AP "…..A Singaporean has been charged with lying about the source of US$200,000 (S$340,000) in political contributions to Democratic Party groups, court records here showed. Mr Ralph I. Lancaster Jr., an independent prosecutor investigating Labour Secretary Alexis M. Herman turned an eight-count indictment charging Singapore businessman, Abdul Rahman with making a false statement and improperly making contributions as a foreign citizen. While Abdul's name has not surfaced before, he appeared to be the businessman who was cited, but not identified, by Attorney General Janet Reno when she referred Ms Herman's case to an independent counsel in May 1998. ….."

washington post 2/27/00 Ruth Marcus "……Vice President Gore would have an easier time running for president in 2000 if he didn't have to contend with the fallout from his campaign four years ago: images of the vice president among saffron-robed monks at a Buddhist temple fund-raiser, or proclaiming that "no controlling legal authority" prevented his dialing for dollars from the West Wing. Gore's primary opponent, former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley, has begun to probe those four-year-old wounds--and to warn that worse will come from the GOP if Gore wins the Democratic nomination. ……"

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "……He [Trie] also confessed to orchestrating the sale of a 500-liter (130-gallon) medical fermentation device to a pharmaceutical plant in China suspected of manufacturing chemical and biological agents for military purposes. Insight has obtained copies of the secret depositions given by Trie to the FBI's Campaign Finance Task Force that, until recently, was thought to have begun shutting down operations after skirmishes with the Reno Justice Department concerning the scope and direction of the long-running investigation. In fact, based on the FBI's 302 summaries of Trie's lengthy depositions, the task force appears significantly to have expanded its operations and is zeroing in on key targets involved in suspected illegal campaign donations from overseas, most notably China and Indonesia. ….."

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "……Trie, who pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign operations and is cooperating with federal authorities, has revealed extensive details about the machinery of campaign-finance irregularities involving the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, and Clinton's political operations. He lays bare the elaborate methods he and others used to collect and channel illegal contributions from Asian-Americans and overseas nationals. It is the revelation about the estimated $1 million sale of dual-use medical technology to China, however, and the involvement of a respected U.S. government scientist in a company Trie used to facilitate the sale, that most deeply has shocked federal investigators and national-security officials contacted by Insight. ……"

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "……Peter Leitner, a senior Defense Department licensing analyst who specializes in export controls of dual-use technology, has reviewed Insight's copies of the confidential FBI interviews with Trie. Leitner says the transfer of the highly sophisticated pharmaceutical-grade fermenting machine poses significant risks to U.S. security at home and abroad if used to make advanced germ-warfare products such as anthrax and botulism. The evidence of the fermenting machine's sale and transfer sometime in 1993 to the Changchun Biological Products Institute is alarming, according to Leitner, given that the Chinese facility has been flagged by some experts as a biological-weapons laboratory run by the People's Liberation Army. Leitner tells Insight: "This whole affair has the classic earmarks of a Chinese military-intelligence operation." What the FBI has done with the information newly obtained from Trie is not clear. However, Insight has learned that Rep. Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican who is chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, is aware of the new development and has scheduled hearings on this and other revelations made to the FBI by Trie. ......"

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "….Wheeler and Leitner, who appears in the documentary, were asked to comment on the FBI summary materials. Leitner tells Insight that Trie's export of biotech materials to China illustrates "a major diversion of U.S. military and technological assets to biowarfare plants in China." According to Wheeler: "This is a new basis for the congressional oversight committees to revisit the federal task-force investigation of campaign-finance violations in light of compelling evidence that the Reno Justice Department has failed to conduct a thorough investigation."

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "…..Trie told the FBI he formed an international-trading business in 1991 that "brokered the export of biotech machinery and elevator equipment to China." It was this company, Daihatsu International Trading Inc., that arranged the sale in mid-1992 of the 500-liter fermenting machine from Sulzer Biotech Systems in Woodbury, N.Y., which, only after Clinton took office in January 1993, shipped the equipment from its Swiss manufacturing plant to the Chinese facility…….. Trie told the FBI that he didn't see the fermenter sale as a big deal. What appears to have impressed him is that on trips to China he met with high-level intelligence, military and business officials, some of whom gave him hundreds of thousands of dollars that he used to make illegal donations. ….."

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "…….According to Wheeler, Rene Losher, former executive director of Sulzer Biotech Systems, has advised government investigators that a Swiss engineer was sent to Changchun to help install the tank. The buyer was Zhang Jiaming, director of the Changchun Biological Products Institute. Leitner says the FBI also should have been concerned with the likely participation in the deal of Peter Fu, a toxicology expert at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's research facility on the grounds of the Pine Bluff military arsenal in Arkansas. The arsenal originally was established to produce and store biological weapons, Leitner says. According to the FBI summaries, Trie said Fu and his wife, Violetta, were "silent partners" in the formation of Trie's Daihatsu International Trading Inc. and invested thousands of dollars in start-up capital. According to government sources who have seen Trie's full FBI interviews, the Fu's gave Trie $40,000 in "start-up capital" for this joint venture……."

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton In fact, Fu tells Insight in an exclusive interview that he was not a "partner" with Trie and did not invest money in Daihatsu, per se. But he admits that he and his wife lent the Tries $40,000 as a favor and that the loan was repaid. At the same time, Fu acknowledges that the registered mailing address for Daihatsu was Fu's home in Little Rock, Ark.. …..A summary of Trie's depositions to the FBI reads, in part: "Trie acknowledged being a close friend of Dr. Peter Fu, a research biochemist who was chief of the toxicology branch of an FDA facility near Little Rock," adding that "the Fus withdrew from the partnership in 1992 or 1993." Trie also told the FBI that Zhang was present when Trie formed United Biotech and that Trie had introduced Fu to Zhang in Little Rock……. The 500-liter fermentation tank transferred to the Changchun facility would be prohibited for sale by the Department of Defense's Militarily Critical Technologies List because it allows the manufacture of large quantities of biological agents, such as botulism or anthrax bacteria, for military purposes, Leitner says. Several 500-liter tanks of this type were discovered in Iraq and seized as contraband by U.N. Special Commission inspectors in 1991. According to government sources, China has listed the Changchun facility on the international registry of facilities producing biological or chemical agents but claims its only use at this time is for the production of pharmaceuticals such as hepatitis vaccines. ….."

Insight 2/2000 Douglas Burton "…….Leitner calls Trie's deposition regarding the fermentation tank and the involvement of Fu "a revelation" that should have been followed up but apparently wasn't. "Here we have an FDA guy who is head of the toxicology branch of his lab, who gives Trie $40,000 and gets introduced to the manager of a bioweapons program in China. They gave direct assistance to a biological-weapons program, and the FBI did not follow up. It's right there on page four of the FBI summary. You can't get more blatant than that." ………. "

The Wall Street Journal 2/18/00 "……Senator Bill Bradley has demanded that Al Gore explain his appearance at the now legendary 1996 fund-raiser staged at a Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, California. Needless to say, the Vice President of the United States will shrug off Mr. Bradley's pertinent question, secure in the knowledge that no one else is likely to bother him with it again anytime soon. But those curious for a clue should get themselves down to the D.C. courtroom of federal district Judge Paul Friedman, who is presiding over the trial of Democratic Party fund-raiser and Gore crony Maria Hsia. The question of the moment is whether the entire federal legal establishment is going to manage to shrug off the Clinton-Gore fund-raising violations. Consider the Hsia trial testimony this week of Clinton co-fund-raiser John Huang, who cut a deal with prosecutors for his own role in the scandal--one year of probation, a fine and community service. Get a load of what Justice got in return. Mr. Huang testified that the Buddhist Temple event "was never a fund raising matter."…... Maria Hsia has been raising money for Al Gore as far back as 1989, long before he teamed up with Bill Clinton's own fund-raising operation….. Jeffrey Birnbaum detailed the Gore-Hsia financial relationship in the February 7 issue of Fortune. "You are a wonderful friend," Mr. Gore wrote Ms. Hsia in 1989....... In a copy of a notice filed by prosecutors and released by Rep. Coble, the Justice Department requested the Hsia case be sent to U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman "at the request of the Chief Judge." The department said the case was "related" to an earlier indictment of Clinton fund-raiser Charlie Trie and that both cases should be handled by the same judge. Rep. Coble said the Hsia case was not "related" as defined by court rules and called the handling of the Hsia case "disturbing." ...,,:

2/7 Fortune Magazine article "……Vice President Al Gore's visit to a Buddhist temple near Los Angeles in 1996 is the very symbol of campaign-finance chicanery, particularly illegal contributions from Asia. Gore tried to distance himself from the event by claiming at first that it was "community outreach." Eventually he conceded that it was "finance related," but he's always said he didn't know it was a fundraiser. Could that be true? It stretches credulity. Over the years Gore, who rarely signed his own thank-you notes, maintained an extraordinary correspondence with Maria Hsia, a fundraiser who was one of the event's main organizers. "I cannot thank you enough," Gore wrote to Hsia and Howard Hom, then her partner, in 1990. "You two are great friends. See you soon." Six years later Hsia stood with the yellow-robed Master Hsing Yun when Gore arrived at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif. ……"

2/7 Fortune Magazine article "……A little-noticed set of documents collected by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee leaves scant doubt that the event at the Buddhist temple was a Democratic Party fundraiser--and that Gore knew it. These electoral mash notes between Gore and Hsia make clear that Gore saw green whenever he saw Hsia….."

2/7 Fortune Magazine article "…… Gore and Hsia got to know each other in the late 1980s, when Gore was worried about raising enough money for his 1990 Senate reelection. Hsia, an immigration consultant, was eager to contribute to politicians who could help her clients and associates. One associate was John Huang, who became notorious as an Asian fundraiser for the Democratic Party in 1996. Her clients would later include the Hsi Lai Temple, whose parent was the Fo Kuang Shan Buddhist order. In 1989, Gore was the sole U.S. Senator to accept Hsia's entreaty to visit the temple's Taiwan headquarters on a trip partly paid for by the order. Prior to that journey, Hsia had donated money to Gore's campaign, and Gore had written to Hsia, "My involvement in the presidential race over the past two years has delayed my efforts to raise money for the 1990 [Senate] campaign and left our coffers empty for the upcoming race.... I appreciate your generosity and hope we can get together sometime soon." And before Gore accepted Hsia's entreaty to go to Taiwan, she wrote to him: "If you decide to join this trip, I will persuave [sic] all my colleagues in the future to play a leader [sic] role in your future presidential race." ..."

2/7 Fortune Magazine article "……Hsia also collected donations for Gore in California, helped organize Asian-American giving in Tennessee, and directed other contributions to his campaign through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee......., Gore and Hsia stayed in touch through the years. He co-sponsored part of an immigration bill she favored. She and her partner gave his son an electronic submarine game. She sent material for Gore's book, Earth in the Balance. ("Perfect," Gore aide Peter Knight wrote back.) And, as ever, she raised money.......:

Freeper snopercod 2/18/00 Senate Gov. Affairs report (1997) "……Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Special Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in Connection With 1996 Federal Election Campaigns, HSI LAI TEMPLE portion in .pdf format. Pages one and two (of 83) - the executive summary, follow (publishing date unknown, but probably Dec. 1997):

THE HSI LAI TEMPLE FUNDRAISER AND MARIA HSIA

The fundraiser attended by Vice President Gore on April 29, 1996 at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, has been the focus of considerable attention and controversy ever since reports first surfaced in the national press revealing that some of the donations given to the DNC in connection with this event were unlawfully reimbursed1. Over the course of its investigation, the Committee has examined the various allegations of illegality and impropriety that have surfaced in connection with this event. Furthermore, the Committee has conducted a broader inquiry into the unlawful involvement of the Hsi Lai Temple in the 1995-96 election cycle and the complex chain of events that produced this involvement.

As a result of these inquiries, it has become apparent that the DNC's Hsi Lai Temple fundraiser on April 29, 1996 was merely one instance - albeit the most significant one - in an ongoing campaign of illegal Temple donation-laundering arranged by a woman named Maria L. Hsia in support of Democratic candidates. Nor was this campaign merely an aberration confined to the 1995-96 election cycle. Rather, it had roots stretching back to 1988, with the decision of James Riady, John Huang, Maria Hsia, and others to organize themselves into a political fundraising and lobbying organization in order to advance their interests through U.S. politics.

The Temple-related issue that has hitherto received the most attention in the press - Vice President Gore's knowledge (or alleged lack thereof) with regard to the status of his April 29 luncheon as a DNC fundraiser - is addressed in this section. It will be obvious from the evidence recounted herein that despite his various denials, the Vice President was well aware that the event was one designed to raise money for his party. Preoccupied by a narrow debate over the inconsequential terminology of "community outreach," "finance-related events," "donor maintenance," and "fundraisers," many observers have missed the forest for the trees. The real significance of the Temple incident lies not in the Vice President's lack of candor, but in the ongoing relationship this affair illustrates between him - and the Democratic Party - and a small but influential political clique headed by Riady, Huang, and Hsia. As will become clear, despite the participation of Temple monastics in criminal wrongdoing in connection with the April 1996 event and in Hsia's broader campaign of Democratic Party donation-laundering, the Temple itself seems to have been only a secondary actor in this drama. Indeed, Temple officials seem to have known little - if anything - about the political campaigns they illegally supported at Hsia's direction2. The real significance of the Temple incident may therefore be found in what it reveals about the activities and agenda of its key decision-makers - Maria Hsia and John Huang.

Hsia and Huang have both asserted their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and have refused to cooperate with the Committee. Nevertheless, from documentary evidence produced pursuant to subpoena and from interviews and depositions of persons involved, the Committee has been able to develop a detailed understanding both of the events at issue and of the role of Hsia and Huang therein.

1. See, e.g., Phil Kuntz, Instant Karma: Cash Gets to Democrats Via Buddhist Temple," Wall 1 Street Journal, Oct. 17, 1996 (recounting allegations by Buddhist nun that DNC donation for Gore event was reimbursed). This early coverage prompted the Christian Coalition to file a complaint against the DNC with the Federal Election Commission in connection with the Hsi Lai Temple fundraiser. See generally Colleen Sealander, letter to Master Shing Yun, Oct. 29, 1996 (Ex. 1) (forwarding complaint to Temple, with attachments).

2.Since the Hsi Lai Temple received electronic alarm services from a corporation called "DNC," 2 many of the monastics solicited to give money to the Democratic National Committee may have mistaken the party for the company. Cf., e.g., IBPS check #1278, Jan. 5, 1996 (Ex. 2) ($50 payment to "DNC," apparently for alarm services). ......"

Freeper Severnside 2/18/00 Ed and Bill "….. We think our picture in "Year of the Rat" tells it all. From left to right: Maria Hsia [identified by the CIA as a Chinese agent], the Buddhist Master, No-controlling-legal-authority, Ted Sioeng [identifed by the CIA as a Chinese agent] and hovering in the background is John Huang who took the Fifth a godzillion times before Larry Klayman. We stand by our comment on Gore at the Temple: Either he's lying when he says he didn't know or he's too dumb to be President. ......"

Chattanooga Free Press 2/18/00 "….. Gen. Chi Haotian is Communist China's defense minister. He was quoted recently by the Hong Kong newspaper called Cheng Ming as saying: "Seen from the changes in the world situation and the United States' hegemonic strategy for creating monopolarity, war is inevitable. "We cannot avoid it. The issue is that the Chinese armed forces must control the initiative in this war. ... We must be prepared to fight for one year, two years, three years or even longer." Does that sound to you like a declaration of future war? Americans didn't believe the Japanese warlords' threats before they attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The United States, Britain and France apparently did not believe Adolf Hitler's bombastic threats before he marched into Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. But the current policies of the Clinton administration are ignoring the reality of the Chinese Communist threats. While the Communists have been stealing U.S. nuclear secrets at Los Alamos, N.M., and have been threatening to make war, President Clinton has been collecting political campaign funds from Chinese Communist-connected visitors at the White House, and bestowing trade concessions upon the Communists...."

NewsMax.com 2/18/00 Carl Limbacher "…. FBI Director Louis Freeh failed to intercede with The New York Times as the paper prepared a bombshell report that blew the lid off a crucial Chinagate sting operation planned by the bureau's Los Angeles Counterintelligence Group, key cooperating witness Johnny Chung says in a new videotape account of his story. The failure of the FBI's brass to seek a delay from Times editors caused Los Angeles investigators to shortcircuit their probe into a suspected Chinese military connection between the campaign cash Chung was raising for the White House and the Clinton administration itself. Once the Times report hit the streets, the FBI's Los Angeles Counterintelligence Group immediately became concerned for Chung's safety, rushing the key witness and his family to a secure location for their protection. As Times editors informed Chung's lawyer of their impending blockbuster, Chung himself was preparing to wear a bodywire into a high stakes meeting with Robert Luu, a man investigators believed had been sent to quiet Chung by top officials in Beijing……… "

The Associated Press 2/18/00 "….A videotape of Vice President Al Gore's controversial visit to a fund-raiser at a Buddhist temple won't be available for his political opponents' campaign commercials for another week or so. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman ruled Friday that the Gore video will be off limits to the public until a jury reaches a verdict in the criminal trial of former Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia. Justice Department prosecutors plan to wrap up their case Tuesday, followed by a defense from Hsia's lawyers and jury deliberations. Hsia lawyer Nancy Luque played the video for the jury, making it vulnerable to public dissemination. In a three-page ruling, Friedman made all trial exhibits available immediately, except for the tape, saying he wanted ``to avoid the possibility that the jury will be influenced by the coverage of the videotape by the media.'' However, the media already has videotape of Gore at the Buddhist temple, with CNN airing segments on Jan. 31. Congressional investigators looking into Gore's role in the fund-raising scandal of 1996 never were able to find video of him at the temple. Luque did not give the source of the tape, which carried a commentary in Chinese. Thursday in court, Luque referred to the Republican National Committee in saying she'd like the judge to keep the Gore tape under wraps until the case ends so it doesn't prejudice the jury. The judge said he'd gotten a few inquiries about the video from congressional offices……"

Freeper abwehr 2/18/00 "…..Unable to find a copy??? I hate it when the media lie like this. Do they do it on purpose, or is it just stupidity or laziness on their part? The real story:
Hsia barred reporters from viewing the videotape taken by King & I Productions, videographers hired for the Vice President's Temple luncheon, including that taken of the speeches made by Vice President Gore and others to the assembled guests229. Within two days of the luncheon, all copies of the videotape footage were gathered up from the film company and quickly shipped to Taiwan230. Moreover, the monastic who took the tape from the production company on May 3, 1996- a monk by the name of Man-Chin231 - left the Fo Kuang Shan order shortly after the Committee served Temple officials with a subpoena for the videotape; he has since disappeared232. Despite the repeated assurances of Temple officials that they are looking for this missing tape - and despite the fact that Temple officials have used short excerpts from this tape in making a brief publicity video that appeared on the Cable News Network - the full videotape record of the event with Vice President Gore on April 29, 1996 remains hidden to this day.
229. See Memorandum of Interview of Anonymous Chinese newspaper reporter, May 16, 1997, pp. 1-2.
230.Hank Tseng, letter to Christopher Ford, Aug. 27, 1997 (Ex. 153); Hearing testimony, Sept. 4, 230 1997, pp. 167-69 & 173-81.
231.See Ex. 153.
232.Hearing testimony, Sept. 4, 1997, pp. 174-75 & 179 (remarks of Man Ho, Senator Fred Thompson, and Brian Sun).
Source: The "Thompson Committee" hearings, 1997. .pdf transcript…….. Gotta love Nancy Luques request to the judge that she didn't want to release the tape because it might prejudice the jury when she had just showed it to that same jury... and the judge? AGREED! ….."

World Net Daily 2/17/00 Charles Smith "….Why is Miami businessman Mark B. Jimenez, charged with 17 counts of making illegal contributions to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, living free in the Philippines despite apparent efforts by the Justice Department to extradite him? "We are not letting up," Attorney General Janet Reno said in announcing the indictment filed against Jimenez last year in U.S. District Court in Washington, charging him with using straw donors to make contributions to the candidates. (See sidebar.)…… Despite quiet pressure from the U.S. Justice Department, the Philippine government refused to return Jimenez, and Reno has remained silent on the Jimenez case. She did not answer an interview request. Why would the Philippines refuse to return an indicted criminal? It seems Jimenez is accused of making illegal political donations not only to President Clinton, but also to other world leaders as well. In particular, Jimenez is reported to be a close friend and campaign contributor to Philippine President Estrada……… In response to the weak pressure from Reno to extradite Jimenez, Estrada fired his justice secretary, Cuevas, last Sunday and has thereby buried the issue for good……… The cooperation between U.S. and Philippine law enforcement has broken down over the Jimenez case. Philippine sources indicate that Estrada has no interest in honoring the legal requirements to return Jimenez, while Estrada denies the Jimenez case was his reason for firing Cuevas…….. Cuevas, however, claimed he was never informed that he was being fired by the president, adding that he learned about his termination only through the media. "I was really beleaguered. It's like punching somebody who was asleep. I was expecting a reward, but the opposite happened," the 70-year-old Cuevas said in a radio interview……"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 2/17/00 Jerry Seper "…..The chief judge of the federal court here told Justice Department prosecutors to ask that a criminal case against a Democratic fund-raiser be assigned to a judge appointed by President Clinton, records show. Chief District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson, already under investigation for bypassing the court's random computer assignment system, made the request in the prosecution of Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia. Judge Johnson has suggested she assigned the Hsia case to Judge Paul L. Friedman, a Clinton appointee, because it was related to a case he already had been assigned - the prosecution of Arkansas businessman Charles Yah Lin Trie. She used the department's statement that the cases were related as justification for her decision to bypass the random assignment system…….In a Feb. 14 letter to the House Judiciary subcommittee on the courts and intellectual property, the Justice Department acknowleged that it had filed "a related case notice stating that at the suggestion of the chief judge" the Hsia case was related to the Trie prosecution……."As far as I am concerned, this procedure is unusual, unorthodox and may be improper," said Mr. Coble. "The subcommittee is concerned that the chief judge may have improperly influenced the department's decision to file a related case notice. "Did Chief Judge Johnson abuse her position by requesting that the department file a notice of a related case, particularly when the department apparently did not believe the cases were related?" Mr. Coble asked in requesting that the ongoing investigation be expanded. "Was this an attempt to disguise a special assignment? . . . An investigation in this matter should immediately be commenced."……"

Associated Press 2/16/00 Pete Yost "…..A former Democratic money-raiser insisted in court today that an appearance by Vice President Al Gore at a Buddhist temple in 1996 ``was never a fund-raising matter.'' John Huang, testifying at the trial of fellow fund-raiser Maria Hsia, said Gore was to attend a fund-raising event on the same Los Angeles trip but that appearance was canceled because of the vice president's ``tight schedule.''……. The Gore tape was played by lawyers for Hsia, who is on trial for what prosecutors describe as a scheme to illegally reimburse contributors for more than $100,000 in donations they made to the Clinton-Gore '96 campaign and the Democratic Party…… Huang described how he, Hsia and the head of the Buddhist sect from Taiwan visited the vice president at the White House in the spring of 1996, laying the groundwork for what became the temple fund-raiser…….. Huang said the temple fund-raiser had been planned as a community outreach event, the same term Gore initially used to describe it. But Huang said the temple event turned into a fund-raiser when two planned stops by Gore were combined into one because of constraints on the vice president's time…… Huang said that on the day after the fund-raiser he ``mentioned'' to Hsia that ``I hoped I could bring back $100,000.'' He said Hsia subsequently told him to meet her at the temple at 10 at night before Huang flew back to Washington. Huang said that at the meeting in a temple reception room, Hsia ``handed me an envelope; she mentioned 'this is $100,000,' I just took it with me and went with my wife to the airport.''….."

Associated Press via ABC NEWS 2/16/00 Pete Yost "……The videotape of the vice president is the latest reminder of a controversy that has followed Gore since the campaign fund-raising scandal erupted in 1996. Some of the donors at the temple fund-raiser were illegally reimbursed for their contributions out of temple funds and when questions first arose about it, Gore said he thought he was attending a community outreach event, not a fund-raiser. …….. Huang said he began realizing with some concern that the temple fund-raiser was in danger of producing only meager rewards, $30,000 to $40,000, far less of the $200,000 to $250,000 that usually flowed into Democratic coffers whenever Gore showed up at an event……"

Associated Press 2/16/00 Pete Yost "…..The chief judge of the federal court here suggested that Justice Department prosecutors ask that a criminal case against a Democratic fund-raiser be sent to a judge appointed by President Clinton, documents state. Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson has already drawn judicial and congressional scrutiny for bypassing the normal random assignment system and sending the cases against six Clinton supporters to judges appointed by the president. But Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C, whose judiciary subcommittee is looking into the assignments, disclosed a new document on Wednesday which states that Johnson suggested to prosecutors that they ask for the case of fund-raiser Maria Hsia be sent to a judge appointed by Clinton. "This procedure is unusual, unorthodox and may be improper," Coble wrote in a letter to the federal appeals court in Washington. Coble, a House Judiciary subcommittee chairman, enclosed a copy of a notice that the Justice Department filed in the Hsia case in 1998 in which prosecutors requested the case be sent to U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman "at the suggestion of the Chief Judge." …."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. But it was something else Trie admitted that most caught my eye. The onetime Little Rock restaurateur also acknowledged that he had a business relationship with an officer in China's Army, Col. Lin Ruoquing. The Times reported that Col. Lin supplied Trie with license plates registered to the People's Liberation Logistics Department when he was in Beijing. In turn, Trie invited her to become a member of the Democratic National Committee's Business Leadership Forum. I, too, knew Lin Ruoquing. But in all our dealings she kept her position in the Chinese military completely secret from me. To me she was Chairwoman Lin, a simple businesswoman, who headed up China's Three Best Pharmaceutical company. Only later would I learn of Lin's true importance. It turns out Chairwoman Lin was no mere Chinese army colonel who controlled a drug company. In reality, as I would later find out, she was one of the most powerful military officers in all of the People's Liberation Army….."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. Lin Ruoquing was the person in charge of China's one-child policy for the entire millions-strong People's Liberation Army. As such, it was she who determined how big the families of China's military class could be. Anyone in the armed forces who wanted a second child had to secure permission from her office. That meant she and her underlings had the power to enforce the one-child rule with forced abortions when necessary. But now, five years after I terminated my relationship with Chairwoman Lin, she sits in a Beijing jail - sentenced to death, according to reports from Hong Kong, after being found guilty on charges of massive corruption……. As fate would have it, I was scheduled to travel to China just weeks later. It was on this trip to Beijing that Chen introduced me to Chairwoman Lin, whom he identified as chief of Three Best Pharmaceutical. His own company was a subsidiary of Chairwoman Lin's operation. Having no idea that Lin was a colonel in the People's Liberation Army, I thought I was just dealing with Chinese business people. Just like in Washington, I was the new kid in town in Beijing, too. This was only my second or third visit to the People's Republic. ….."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. Looking back on this episode, I see now there were clues that Yi-Qiou Chen and Chairwoman Lin were no mere Chinese business executives. For instance, my hosts were able to put me up in Beijing's state house, the Diaoyutai - in building number two, which offered some very prestigious accommodations. ……. Mr. Chen suggested I invite Chairwoman Lin to the U.S. to tour the White House and the Democratic National Committee. Again, at this time, I had no idea she was a colonel in the Chinese Army. Since I had already invited the businessmen from Haomen Beer Company to the White House, this would be no different, I figured. To me it was just another business opportunity. ….."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. In order for her to get a passport from the Chinese government, I had to personally write her an invitation to tour the White House and the DNC. That's how it's done in China. You have to obtain a formal invitation first or they won't let you out of the country. I invited only three people for White House and DNC tours: Chairwoman Lin, her assistant and her son. When Chairwoman Lin's party arrived in America, I was stunned to see that my three-person guest list had suddenly expanded to seven people. It was during her visit to America that Chairwoman Lin told me about Charlie Trie, and how he had tried to strike up a business arrangement with her. She said that Trie had invited the general manager of her company to come to the U.S. Trie was very anxious to do business with her but I don't know what kind of deal he proposed......."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. I decided I would introduce Chairwoman Lin to then-DNC Chairman Don Fowler and DNC finance chairman Richard Sullivan. At the time, I thought that deals such as Lin's Tylenol proposal would be good for my business and enable me to contribute even more money to the DNC. I told Sullivan and Fowler that Chairwoman Lin was the wife of a retired Red Army General, which was true. The Red Army has been defunct since Mao Zedong's 1949 revolution. I still had no idea that Lin herself had ties to its modern-day successor, the People's Liberation Army. But during Chairwoman Lin's stay in the U.S., I began to grow more and more uneasy about my relationship with her. I had several concerns. First, the fact that she showed up with a party of seven when I had invited only three weighed heavily on my mind. Where did she get the other four invitations, I wondered. When it came time to take Chairwoman Lin on her visit to the White House and DNC, she did not dress appropriately…... Under the circumstances, I decided I would take her only to the Old Executive Office Building next door, then straight back to her hotel…."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. By then, I had pretty much decided not to do business with Chairwoman Lin and her associates. They talked big about huge business deals, but nothing they said ever seemed to pan out. My decision to end this relationship turned out to be extremely fortunate for me. When we got back to her hotel, a message awaited saying that she was to return to Beijing immediately. I saw a look of panic in her face, but I did not know what it meant. Later, I would learn that Chinese authorities arrested Chairwoman Lin the minute she stepped off the plane. During this same period, President Clinton himself asked me to make a special return trip to China. This had nothing to do with business deals or campaign contributions. My mission would be to use whatever influence I had with the Chinese government to secure the release of Harry Wu, the human rights activist then imprisoned by Beijing as a dissident…… Just hours after I arrived in China, I was surprised by Chairwoman Lin's assistant, who suddenly appeared at my hotel. She even knew my hotel room number, which I thought was quite amazing. She had come to beg me to help rescue another important Chinese figure - her own boss, Col. Lin Ruoqing, the person I knew only as Chairwoman Lin. It was then that I learned she had been arrested. I told her I was busy on another project, the Harry Wu mission, but the chairwoman's aide persisted. For the first time, she admitted to me that Lin was a colonel in the People's Liberation Army. But there was more. ….."

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. Because she was desperate for my help, Lin's assistant also came clean about her boss' real job, running the one-child policy for China's entire armed forces. I was shocked to discover that the woman whom I had kept out of the White House weeks before had actually wielded so much power. The assistant also told me that Col. Lin had stashed away millions of dollars in cash at her Beijing house. Right away I wondered if this money came from high-ranking military officers who paid her to obtain waivers of China's one-child policy. There is no way, under normal circumstances, that a Chinese colonel could be a millionaire. I had to turn Lin's assistant down. My mission was to free Harry Wu. I couldn't get distracted by Col. Lin's problems, no matter how important a person she was. ……"

NewsMax 2/14/00 Johnny Chung "….. Something else about Lin bothered me too. During my last trip to Beijing, when I was honored with accommodations in the Diaoyutai, I discovered that her offices were right there in the same building number two complex. I decided that somebody who might know what Lin had been up to was Charles Parish, who was the chief of the visa section at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. In the past Parish had helped me get visas for dozens of Chinese businessmen I had invited to the U.S. Parish told me that Chairwoman Lin had presented him with seven invitations for White House/DNC tours, each supposedly signed by me. This made me suspicious of Parish. There had been rumors that Parish had been selling visas out of the embassy himself. And I knew that he, Lin and Yi Qiou Chen, the Chinese businessman who first introduced me to this web of intrigue, had long known each other. I had also heard reports that Parish had obtained an office in the Diaoyutai himself, right there in prestigious building number two. There were rumors that his Diaoyutai office was a package deal that included a Chinese girlfriend, who later ran around Beijing bragging that her boyfriend could get a visa for anybody she wanted. I severed my ties with Chen, Lin and Parish because I smelled trouble. I learned that Chen and Parish later took up with Charlie Trie. I don't know what kind of deal Trie made or how much money is involved. But I told the Justice Department everything I've reported here - and more. ……"

AP 2/2/00 Pete Yost "……A federal jury today found former Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia guilty of arranging more than $100,000 in illegal contributions during the 1996 presidential campaign……. Hsia, who began raising money for Vice President Al Gore more than a decade ago, showed no emotion as the U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman read the verdict. ……. At the trial, former Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang, the central figure in the campaign fund-raising scandal, testified that Hsia handed him an envelope containing $100,000 the day after Gore attended the temple event. Most of the donations in the envelope were reimbursed by the temple. ……"

Florida Times-Union 3/4/00 Knight-Tribune News Service "…..For several years, Vice President Al Gore has maintained he knew little about the purpose of a 1996 luncheon in his honor at the Hsi Lai Buddhist temple that turned into an illegal money laundering operation. But a growing body of documents, including new records obtained by Knight Ridder, show that Gore would have had a reason to believe the luncheon at a tax-exempt religious institution, which was attended by some of the Democratic Party's top fund-raisers, was for the purpose of raising political money…….. One previously unreleased Secret Service memo prepared about the time that Gore flew to Los Angeles for the luncheon describes it as a political fund-raiser. Other Gore staff memos refer to a fund-raising luncheon; one lists a ticket price of $1,000 to $5,000 per person. Luncheon participants told Senate investigators that at least two of the podium speakers referred to the event as a fund-raiser in Gore's presence. ……The question of whether Gore knew he was attending a fund-raiser is important because raising political money on the site of a tax-exempt religious institution could constitute a violation of the federal tax code….."

Washington Times 2/6/00 "……According to Attorney General Janet Reno's Justice Department, which prosecuted the case, the nation's campaign-finance laws weren't the only things violated. The Clinton Justice Department has repeatedly portrayed the president, the vice president, their re-election committee and the Democratic Party as mere victims - unknowing dupes - of unscrupulous fund-raisers and contributors, including not only Hsia but also Charlie Trie, John Huang, Johnny Chung, Yogesh Gandhi, the Wiriadinata family, etc. Meanwhile, Miss Reno has steadfastly rejected recommendations from the likes of New York Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Clinton-appointed FBI Director Louis Freeh and Charles La Bella, the respected prosecutor she appointed to head her department's campaign-finance task force, to seek the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the roles of President Clinton and Vice President Gore in the scandal……."

Associated Press 2/29/00 Pete Yost "….Focusing on a Buddhist temple that illegally bankrolled fund-raising events attended by Vice President Al Gore and other politicians, prosecutors are portraying an ex-Democratic fund-raiser as the overseer of a scheme to hide the true sources of more than $100,000 in campaign donations. But a lawyer for the defendant, Maria Hsia, says the Justice Department's case is so flawed that it suggests the prosecutors' motive in bringing the charges was simply to raise Gore's name once again in the 1996 fund-raising scandal. ``Why is Maria Hsia here?'' defense attorney Nancy Luque asked a federal court jury Monday in closing arguments at the trial, now in its fourth week. Prosecutors brought the case because of Hsia's ``relationship with the vice president'' which ``goes back to 1989. ... That is the only thing I can think of,'' Luque continued. Hsia, an immigration consultant, used 40 or 50 people as illegal conduits, most of whom were ``dupes'' who didn't even speak English, said prosecutor Eric Yaffe. ``She used ... her own clients and she used the temple to suit her own purposes,'' repeatedly arranging for the Buddhist temple to finance campaign donations……."

LA Times 3/1/00 Robert Jackson "……"....The criminal trial of Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia rushed toward a speedy conclusion Monday after Hsia's attorney decided against putting on a defense after three weeks of prosecution testimony. ... Hsia, a Los Angeles immigration consultant, did not take the witness stand to defend herself against five charges of causing false reports to be filed with federal election officials. Her attorney, Nancy Luque, told jurors in her closing argument that the government had failed to prove Hsia did anything to cause inaccurate reports to be submitted by others. "No witness told you that Maria Hsia caused them to tell a lie," Luque said to the jury. "She never told anybody to break the law." ..."

Associated Press 2/29/00 "…..Former Democratic fund-raiser Charlie Trie apologized "for any harm I caused President Clinton" and says he never tried to obtain "anything improper in return" for hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, many of them illegal…….. Alternately defiant and contrite, Trie outlined his involvement in White House coffees with Clinton that resulted in millions of dollars flowing to the Democratic Party. The White House has always maintained the events weren't fund-raisers, but Trie said, "It was ... well known that it cost $50,000 to attend a coffee." Trie said he paid $50,000 to get businessman Winston Wang into a coffee, with Trie asserting he was reimbursed later by three wire transfers from associates of Wang. Trie described his role in bringing a Chinese arms dealer to another White House coffee, saying that Trie's business partner at the time, Macau businessman Ng Lap Seng "was ... excited about the prospect of doing business" in areas other than arms. …."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 3/3/00 Jerry Seper "….. A longtime fund-raiser for Vice President Al Gore was convicted Thursday by a federal jury in Washington, D.C., of concealing the source of $109,000 donated after a 1996 fund-raiser attended by Mr. Gore at a California Buddhist temple. Maria Hsia, a Taiwan-born U.S. citizen, had been accused of hiding "the true sources of thousands of dollars of illegal contributions she solicited" from the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif., for the Democratic Party and the 1996 Clinton-Gore Re-election Committee. Prosecutors said the California immigration consultant "made a conscious decision to undermine" federal electoral laws "to advance her own business and political interests" in an effort to gain access to Democratic politicians. Hsia, who first began raising campaign cash for Mr. Gore more than 10 years ago, showed no emotion as the guilty verdict was read by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman here. The verdict came after three weeks of testimony and 10 hours of jury deliberation over three days....... Sen. Fred Thompson, Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, which investigated campaign finances abuses, issued a one-sentence statement after the verdict: "I don't know who is more surprised, me or the Justice Department."......"

CNSNews.com 3/3/00 Jim Burns "…..Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) predicted that Maria Hsia, who was convicted Thursday on charges she hid $109,000 in illegal campaign contributions during the 1996 Clinton-Gore re-election campaign, will receive probation instead of jail time and that she had most likely compromised American national security. During a question and answer session at the Heritage Foundation in Washington Friday Thompson, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee which investigated the campaign finance scandal, said the Hsia conviction is but one example of how far down in stature the Justice Department has sunk during the Clinton Administration. "The greatest tragedy of the Clinton administration is the Department of Justice," Thompson said. He cited as the reasons, "no leadership, gross incompetence [and] not having an outside prosecutor look into the campaign fundraising case."…… When asked by CNSNews.com if Hsia was connected to the communist Chinese government and if this may have compromised American security Thompson said yes. "We pointed out that there were a half a dozen individuals who were raising large sums of money for the Democratic National Committee who had very close ties with the Chinese government," Thompson said. "We also said in our report that Miss Hsia was an agent of the Chinese government. We did this after consultation with the FBI. With regard to the rest of your question, I'll just leave it there. I don't want to draw any broad conclusions until I at least have the chance to go back in and review our report," Thompson said. ….."

INSIGHT Magazine 3/3/00 Scott Wheeler "……The summary reveals that Trie explained "he would have contributed money to Clinton's campaign back in 1992, but he was aware at the time that either the FBI or the CIA was interested in talking to him." According to the summary, when then-governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton told Trie that he would run for president, Trie telephoned the Chinese Embassy, apparently to apprise Beijing of the development. It is this slip, according to the summary, that was the cause of Trie's anxiety about openly donating to Clinton in 1992 despite his "pro-Clinton enthusiasm." ……. In May 1998, an Associated Press, or AP, report indicated that the Justice Department and the FBI had "gathered evidence as early as 1992 that two fund-raisers who organized Clinton's initial efforts among Asian-Americans were engaged in wrongdoing."... According to the AP account, "The Lums also told prosecutors that [Ron] Brown, then the Democratic Party chairman, tipped them off in 1992 that a businessman they were working with was in fact an undercover FBI agent." The same press account says the Lums were told of the attempted FBI sting only days before they were to meet with Clinton in Arkansas. How the FBI got on to these operations is not discussed. ……. The retired official, who worked on counterintelligence and technology-transfer cases related to China, states that the testimony "suggests Trie was already in communication with sources of tainted money" in 1992. A U.S. citizen since 1984, Trie legally was free to make any legal donation he wished, so the retired special agent is suspicious of what may be a Trie cover story or spy legend. . ….. "

INSIGHT Magazine 3/3/00 Scott Wheeler "……According to the FBI documents, Trie explained to investigators that he phoned the PRC's consulate in Houston to ask officials to "gather Asian immigrants and community leaders [and] organize a party to raise money for Clinton." The summary of sworn Trie depositions went on to say, "The consular official told Trie that the PRC could not become involved in a U.S. election campaign and warned him that the phone line was tapped." In short, Trie was told to "shut up and duck." The retired special agent says the money that the PRC poured into Clinton's campaign coffers through Trie after Clinton was elected president, coupled with the dramatic testimony, suggests that the investigation is far from over….."

Freeper The Bolt 3/3/00 "…. How do we know Charlie Trie did not support Clinton's fundraising? Because when it came time for the democraps to quiz him in the house hearings they left the hearings entirely. Any major media coverage of the hearings? No. Former CIA says the Russians are using stolen IMF loans to fund Bill and Hill, who in turn are funding Gore's campaign. Book release scheduled for May, 2000….."

Philadelphia Inquirer 3/4/00 Chris Mondics "…...... The vice president said shortly after the fund-raiser that he understood it to be a "community outreach" event. In 1997, a Gore spokeswoman, Lorraine Voles, said that Gore "knew it was a finance-related event" with donors present, but that he was not aware money was being raised at the event. Another aide called it a "donor maintenance" event. Gore has said he had no information at the time suggesting it was a fund-raiser. …….. When Gore arrived the afternoon of April 29, 1996, at the Hsi Lai temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the Western Hemisphere, he was greeted by dozens of saffron-robed temple monastics who waved Buddhist flags, chanted and bowed toward him in a traditional Buddhist greeting. Gore was accompanied by Don Fowler, who was then the Democratic national chairman; Hsia; and Democratic Party fund-raiser John Huang, who later pleaded guilty to unrelated campaign finance law violations. Gore exchanged gifts with Yun and made a traditional offering of flowers to the Buddha. A flurry of memos by Gore's staff members in the weeks just before the event shows his staffers were aware that the Southern California stop was a party fund-raiser....A March 15, 1996, memo from Gore scheduler Kimberley Tilley to the vice president, contained in a Senate report on the incident, reported he had been invited to an event in Lawrence, N.Y., on April 29. That was the same day he had been booked for two Democratic National Committee fund-raisers, one in San Jose, Calif., and the other in Los Angeles. Gore responded with his own e-mail saying he would have to decline if the fund-raisers already had been scheduled. Since the Hsi Lai event turned out to be his only Southern California stop on April 29, he could have had reason to believe he was attending a fund-raiser...... .An exchange of e-mails in mid-April 1996 between two White House staffers, concerned that a visit with Yun by the vice president might upset U.S.-China relations, also describes the event as a fund-raiser. "Hsing Yun has invited the vp to visit the Hsi Lai temple in LA," John J. Norris wrote to colleague Robert Suettinger. "Hsing Yun would host a fund-raising luncheon for about 150 people in the vps honor."......In addition, John Huang told a House committee last year that both DNC Chairman Fowler and Gore's deputy chief of staff at the time, David Strauss, knew the luncheon's purpose was to help replenish Democratic Party coffers. "Mr. Fowler knows about this, knew about it, and Mr. Strauss knew about it," Huang told the committee, adding that the luncheon seating was determined in part by how much guests had donated......."

"…… Testimony of John Huang (Day 1) Before House Government Reform Committee…..
BEGINNING OF TRANSCRIPT EXCERT: REP. BURTON: If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to, while I've still got this fresh in my mind. If you received checks in advance -- and I believe you did -- and this was the only event, how could it not be called a fundraiser? Didn't you get checks in advance?
MR. HUANG: I did receive the checks in advance.
REP. BURTON: So, so, you knew that it was a fundraiser because you already had checks in your hand.
MR. HUANG: As I reported to you, Mr. Chairman, I had the plan as a fundraiser in the restaurant earlier, that motion was going. So, any checks I had received, I didn't remember how many of them, very, probably a few, but I did receive the checks --
REP. BURTON: I know. But you knew the two were going to be consolidated into one event because of the time frame. So, you knew there was going to be a fundraiser at the temple, is that not correct? And you've already said you knew they were going to be combined into one event.
MR. HUANG: Mr. Chairman, as I stated, the original planned fundraising event was canceled. And I didn't recall anybody at that luncheon was raising money or collecting money. I do know with such an opportunity later on, I would be able to inspire more people giving more money.
REP. BURTON: Did any of the people that gave you money get special seating at the event? Did they sit up front?
MR. HUANG: Some of the people willing to make more commitment, yes, they were.
REP. BURTON: So, this definitely was known as a fundraiser because you were giving them preferential seating. You did not give the checks back, so you knew this is what was going on. Now, the -- after the meal in the temple dining hall, I'm going back to that, there were some statements made by some people that there was actual discussion by some of the speakers about raising money. And we've got people who said, testified to that effect, that, you know, that were there that said, "Yeah, we heard people say, yeah we want to raise some money for the vice president." You don't recall that…..
MR. HUANG: To answer your question, it's not true. I believe Mr. Fowler knows about that, and also Mr. Strauss probably knew about that as well.
REP. BURTON: So, they knew it was a fundraiser. You knew it was a fund raiser. Maria Hsia knew it was a fundraiser. Don Fowler knew it was a fundraiser. But the vice president, who was with all of you, did not know it was a fundraiser?
MR. HUANG: Mr. Chairman, I can only state that Mr. Fowler knows about it, knew about it, and Mr. Strauss knew about it. I really can't say anything further about, what, more than that……..

REP. SHAYS:….there was an article in the New York Times of June 12th, and the article, what I want to read to you it says, "And White House aides" -- speaking of this event -- "are now upset that the reimbursement scheme will be a central point in the prolonged criminal investigation and prevent Mr. Gore from putting the episode behind him. Officials at the Democrat National Committee said this week that they also felt betrayed by Mr. Huang's varying accounts of the event, especially after questions were first raised about its propriety last fall. He kept insisting it was just community outreach and that he had never ever billed it as a fundraiser, said one Democrat official who insisted on anonymity, and of course, that is far from the truth. We just feel completely misled by him." Evidently, Republicans aren't allowed to criticize you, but Democrats are. Was this a fair criticism of you?
MR. HUANG: The answer is no.
REP. SHAYS: Right. Because if in fact you had misled them, you would have been breaking the law, and you would have been disagreeing with the very thing that you told us you had, you hadn't stopped breaking the law after 94. So, I'm going to, as, you know, my distinguished ranking member is willing to give you the credibility to say you're under oath and you're telling us the truth. And you've told us the truth. They were informed. They knew it. So, the only thing we have going now is you didn't directly tell the president, vice president, directly, is that true? You didn't speak to the vice president?
MR. HUANG: Absolutely not.
REP. SHAYS: So, you didn't tell the vice president, but you told his people? Is that true?
MR. HUANG: All his people knew about it, yes, the same. Yeah. ......"

Associated Press 3/1/00 Pete Yost "…..Charlie Trie, the ex-Little Rock restaurant owner turned illegal fund-raiser, told disbelieving congressional Republicans Wednesday he thought he was only making ''a U-turn'' when he moved hundreds of thousands of dollars from overseas businessmen to the Democratic Party. …… Trie moved what Republican committee staffers say was over $700,000 to the Democratic Party, Clinton-Gore '96 and various Democratic politicians from foreign nationals including Macau businessman Ng Lap Seng and Jakarta telecommunications magnate Tomy Winata. Trie disputed the amount, saying that less than half the amount was illegal. Trie said Ng wanted his picture taken with President Clinton and that Winata wanted a private meeting with Clinton but that Winata never got it. Trie said he did arrange a White House tour for Winata. They were interested only in impressing their clients with the prestige that being introduced to Clinton would bring, said Trie. ……. Disputing Trie's assertions that the Democratic Party didn't know what he was up to, Burton produced a letter that Trie instigated from the DNC's Business Leadership Forum to a woman at a government-owned company in Beijing who also was a colonel in the Chinese army. Lin Ruo Qing expressed an interest in joining the forum and Trie's assistant in Little Rock told the Democratic Party in a note that ''Miss Lin is currently working for a Chinese government-owned organization, therefore, it is difficult for her to apply for a business visa.'' ……… Trie tried to blame the FBI's seizure of his records to explain why he hadn't filed his income tax return for 1996, but backtracked because the seizure didn't occur until well after tax time. ''When you start lying things get messy,'' chided Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn. ……Trie's benefactors periodically gave him chunks of money, $10,000 to $20,000 at a time on which he didn't pay taxes, including when he was in Asia amid the uproar of the campaign fund-raising scandal back in the United States......."

Reuters 3/1/00 Christopher Wilson "….. Former Democratic fund raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, an Arkansas restaurateur and acquaintance of President Bill Clinton, on Wednesday apologized for his role in funneling illegal contributions to Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, saying he had got in over his head……. "I never tried to influence any policy decision or lobby for the interests of others. My business associates and I just wanted to go to events with important people and to get the opportunity to have our pictures taken with the President of the United States," he said. "I would also like to apologize for any harm I have caused President Clinton." ……… Burton and other Republicans pressed Trie on his contacts with several Asian business figures who had links with the Chinese government and grilled him bluntly on whether or not he had knowingly acted as a Chinese agent. "I have never committed any form of espionage," responded Trie, describing the allegations as "a joke." Nonetheless, he acknowledged that he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Macau-based businessman Ng Lap Seng, known as Woo, and from Tomy Winato, a wealthy Jakarta business figure and friend of former Indonesian President Suharto. Much of this money was channeled to the Democratic National Committee in illegal donations....He also admitted he had arranged for guests to attend coffee receptions with Clinton at the White House, saying he once paid $50,000 to get businessman Winston Wang invited and was later reimbursed by Wang's associates. The White House has denied that the coffee receptions were fund raising events, but Trie said it was "well known that it cost $50,000 to attend a coffee." …….. On another occasion, Trie said he brought a Chinese arms dealer, Wang Jun, to coffee at the White House but believed that the man was simply the head of a large legitimate Chinese company, CITIC, described as "the General Electric of China." ……"

worldnetdaily.com 3/1/00 Paul Sperry "….."Hordes" of Chinese officials marched into the Arkansas state capitol demanding favors soon after Bill Clinton was elected president, a former Arkansas state auditor told WorldNetDaily. "We never had a single Chinese visitor come until Clinton became president," said Julia Hughes Jones, who served as then-Gov. Clinton's state auditor. Starting in November 1992, high-ranking officials from the Chinese consulate in Houston beat a path to her door. "They were in my office at least once a week from then on," said Jones, whose office was next door to Clinton's. And they meant business. "I had this one Chinese guy from the embassy come in my office -- tall, heavy-set, mean-looking, but very well-dressed, wearing an expensive black overcoat," Jones recalled. "My secretary told me there was this man out front to see me and he was scary-looking, and didn't speak very good English." But he knew enough to get across what he wanted, she says. In a meeting, he demanded that Jones broker deals for China with Wal-Mart Stores and Tyson Foods, both based in Arkansas. "I thought it was really strange," she said. …… Jones now figures long-time Clinton fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie had made promises to Chinese officials on behalf of Clinton on his many trips to China before the election. And the officials were following up. …."

USA Today 2/28/00 Edward Pound "….. A federal grand jury investigating whether Labor Secretary Alexis Herman was involved in a campaign fundraising scheme has accused a Singapore executive of making $150,000 in illegal donations to the Democratic Party. The businessman, Abdul Rahman, once a social acquaintance of Herman's, was accused of a felony and seven misdemeanors. The grand jury said Rahman, in making contributions in the names of two other people, had caused the Democratic National Committee to file a false campaign report with the Federal Election Commission. In addition, he was accused of violating an election law prohibiting donations by foreign citizens. The gifts were made to the DNC and four state party organizations during the 1996 campaign. …..Herman is not named in the indictment, but the inquiry is continuing. The Labor secretary's lawyer, Neil Eggleston, could not be reached for comment but has said his client had not acted improperly. ...... Reno said the Justice Department had developed no evidence clearly demonstrating that Herman had acted illegally, but the attorney general said her investigators had corroborated parts of the allegations against the Labor secretary. Those allegations were made by Laurent Yene, a native of Cameroon and former partner of a Washington consultant named Vanessa Weaver. She and Herman are close friends. Yene has alleged that Herman, while a top White House official, had encouraged Weaver to solicit campaign gifts from Rahman and that the funds were funneled to the Democratic Party through a company owned by Weaver. ….."

AP 2/28/00 Pete Yost "…..The independent counsel investigating Labor Secretary Alexis Herman has charged a Singapore businessman with making $200,000 in illegal contributions to the Democratic Party through two U.S. businesswomen with ties to the labor secretary. Herman is not mentioned in the Feb. 16 indictment against Abdul Rahman, but the two U.S. businesswomen, sisters Vanessa and Caryliss Weaver, are named 11 times as the contributors of record for donations which the indictment says actually came from Rahman. ……. Vanessa Weaver and Herman are close friends and Herman, who ran the White House Office of Public Liaison before becoming labor secretary, took Caryliss Weaver on a trade mission. Herman had been introduced to Rahman by Vanessa Weaver on one or two occasions. Rahman was introduced to President Clinton during the 1996 presidential campaign. ……"

WorlNetDaily 2/26/00 Paul Sperry "….. In 1991, when Bill Clinton let on he was running for the White House, Arkansas fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie tried to develop a sister city relationship between Little Rock and Changchun, China -- a key biowarfare research hub, sources say. While visiting the Chinese city, where he eventually bought a home, Trie brokered deals to export biotech equipment to a Changchun lab suspected of being a Chinese army front for the manufacture of agents used in biological weapons. Changchun is in Jilin province, which borders North Korea. It's also near Harbin, China's new propaganda center for biowarfare. "During one of his early visits to Changchun, Trie met with Zhang Jianming, director of the Changchun Biological Products Institute," according to a copy of FBI summaries of interviews with Trie obtained by WorldNetDaily. The lab, a unit of the Public Health Ministry, is run by the Chinese communist government……"

WorlNetDaily 2/26/00 Paul Sperry "….. Trie formed a close bond with the bio lab chief while in Changchun, where Trie and his late wife bought a home for $20,000. "Trie provided a letter of invitation for Zhang to use in obtaining a visa to the United States," the 150-page FBI reports says. "Once in the United States, Trie accompanied Zhang on his travels." Zhang visited Little Rock and, in November 1992 -- after Clinton was elected president -- he and Trie set up what appears to be a shell company called United Biotech. The company had a bank account and a Little Rock address, but no business plan or real income. The firm was dissolved a year later. But in that time, Trie helped Zhang procure a 132-gallon "medical fermentation tank" from a New York-based manufacturer, according to the FBI. …."

WorlNetDaily 2/26/00 Paul Sperry "….. "He got them the fermenting equipment to grow the bugs" used in germ warfare, a senior Pentagon official told WorldNetDaily. Special agents worry that the Chinese government may have used the apparent shell company to acquire other biotech equipment……. A search of Arkansas secretary of state records for DBAs, sole proprietorships and incorporations registered under Trie's name turns up no less than six import-export or international consulting businesses. They include Jesco International Inc., Asian Pacific International Inc., Daihatsu International Trading Inc., Premier International Investment Inc. and T&L International Inc. At least one, Jesco International, traded with China before going out of business. …."

WorlNetDaily 2/26/00 Paul Sperry "….. According to the FBI report, the 50-year-old Trie had an ethnic-Chinese "silent partner" -- Dr. Peter P. Fu -- who invested in Daihatsu International. An FDA toxicologist, Fu met Chinese scientist Zhang in Little Ro