听证会的第一个月 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 进入1996年竞选财务滥用
In the wake of the Republican victories in 1994, the Democrats and President Clinton undertook a campaign to bring in unprecedented amounts of money to the Democratic National Committee for a massive media campaign in 1995 and in preparation for the 1996 campaign
In contrast, because of the extraordinary need for cash, everything was put up for sale by the Administration and the DNC, and consequently millions of dollars of foreign money flowed into DNC coffers
几个实例的外交贡献laundered into the DNC were exposed:
1) t·库马尔甘地作出了325000美元的贡献he DNC at an event at the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel in Washington in 1996 and shortly thereafter received two $250,000 wire transfers from a Japanese businessman named Tanaka to cover the contribution. This was Gandhi's first US political contribution and the $325,000 represented more than half the funds raised by the DNC at that event. After Gandhi's donation, President Clinton accepted an award from Gandhi over the objection of Administration officials
2) In apparent exchange for White House access, Johnny Chung contributed $50,000 to the DNC in March 1996, at a time when he had less than $10,000 in his account. A few days after making the contribution Chung received a $50,000 wire transfer from the Bank of China. Soon after making the $50,000 contribution from these funds, Chung attended the President's weekly radio address with 5 visiting Chinese officials and guests
5）Trie和Ng Seng Seng洗衣服通过两名中国移民（Yue Chu和Xi ping Wang）向DNC捐款25,000美元，以便NG（也称为Wu先生）与Clinton总统一起参加DNC筹款活动。并通过其同事Keshi Zhan向DNC额外洗钱12,500美元
So desperate were the DNC and the White House for money that they allowed a number of unsavory figures to gain access to the President in return for contributions:
2) Gregory Loutschansky, a former Soviet citizen living in Tel Aviv who is reputed to be an international gun-runner and drug-smuggler, was invited by the DNC to an October 1995 dinner with the President, but was denied a visa by the State Department to enter the US
3) Roger Tamraz, a US citizen and major DNC donor, was invited by the DNC to meet with the Vice President, but the invitation was withdrawn after the Vice President's staff objected because Tamraz had "a shady reputation." Despite the fact that Tamraz was deemed unacceptable to meet the Vice President, Tamraz went to four subsequent events with the President at the DNC's invitation
The DNC and Administration were not only selling access to the President:
1) Eric Hotung, a Hong Kong businessman married to an American, offered a $100,000 contribution to the DNC in return for a meeting with Deputy National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, which the DNC promptly helped to set up
The Clinton Administration's need for money did not stop with the DNC
After determining that the Administration was for sale through campaign contributions, shady characters quickly found that providing money to the Presidential Legal Expense Trust (PLET), the President's legal defense fund, also provided access to the Administration
In addition to his contributions to the DNC, Charlie Trie brought in $789,000 to the PLET. These funds were raised from members of the Ching Hai Buddhist sect, and a large portion of them were sect funds illegally laundered through sect members
With all the evidence of wrongdoing and the sale of access revealed by the Committee, the focus of the Committee's first month of hearings were the activities of John Huang, who was central to the entire scandal, having raised most of the money the DNC has had to return
John Huang had worked for Lippo Bank in Los Angeles, but the CEO of the Bank did not know what Huang did in his office
Lippo Group, run by the Riady family, which employed Huang, had over the past few years become a major business partner with China Resources, a trading company wholly owned by the Government of the People's Republic of China, and which has reportedly served as an intelligence-collection front for China
Of the hundreds of pieces of intelligence shown to Huang, he kept possession of 12 classified documents until the end of his tenure at the Commerce Department
While he served as a relatively low-level political functionary at the Commerce Department, Huang made at least 67 visits to the White House (and possibly many more), often meeting with senior officials on US trade policy
Huang had over 400 contacts with Lippo bank and Lippo group employees and associates while he worked at the Commerce Department, was receiving classified information, attending White House briefings, and using the Stephens Inc. office to send and receive messages and faxes
Huang made personal calls from his Commerce Department phone, indicating that he was not using the Stephens office to avoid using his official phone for personal matters
While he served at the Commerce Department, Huang may have illegally solicited several large contributions for the DNC, for which his wife Jane was listed as the solicitor by the DNC
Many unanswered questions remain: What did John Huang want for his work? What did James Riady want? What did Charlie Trie and Ng Lap Seng want? Were US national interests compromised by this flow of foreign money?
These and other unanswered questions must be reviewed against the background of China's efforts to influence US elections, a finding of the Committee based on information derived from US intelligence and law enforcement with which all members of the Committee agree
1997 Congressional Hearings