WASHINGTON DESK - The Clinton White House devised a strategy to raise $7 million from Asian-Americans through favors including VIP access to the White House. These facts are supported by the DNC committee's files & records.
The Clinton White House strategy was discoverd in a 3,000 page documentation of the committee's records disclosed to the public in the past few days.
The files were obtained from DNC top fund raiser and close friend of president Clinton, John Huang. Those files reveal that the Democrat Party had a deliberate plan to raise the $7 million from Asian groups. At least $1.2 million in improper donations have been returned since the story broke last week.
The files & records, including notes on interviews with donors, reveal that Huang reprsented himself as a spokesman for president Clinton and solicited contributors on tyhe grounds that the time was ripe Asians to win the political clout in the White House. Assians were also told that they could obtain political power by making out big checks to finance president Clinton's re-election campaign.
Huang's collection of company logos and business cards, campaign memorandums, and canceled checks from contributors make it clear that there was definitely a quid pro quo promise made by Huang at the behest of president Clinton. Clinton would favor Asian donors with face-to-face photo-ops, trips on Air Force One, places at White House dinner, and other perks at the disposal of the president in exchange for large donations to president Clinton's re-election campaign through DNC channels.
Huang and politically connected Doris Matsui, deputy assistant to President Clinton and wife of California Congressman Robert Matsui(D) played a key role in setting-up president Clinton's fund-raising strategy, according to the facts contained in the files and records.
As part of that strategy, members of the Asian people who made contributions of at least $10,000 (Asian owned companies, at least $15,000) received a personal invitation to White House frolics with the president the records show. Responsibility for orchestrating that reward fell first to the White House, under the Clinton-Gore campaign, and then to the DNC that would provide the financial cover for the plan.
The White House was often filled with Asian contributors who participated in 'featured discussions' of Clinton's domestic and foreign policy toward Asian nations, especially China. The White House then, apparently reviewed previous decisions the president had already made and extended preferential trading rights and other benefits in excnange for the political contributions received.
The Clinton administration's Justice Department is examining the legality of the donations solicited by Huang. The funds are also being investigated by a congressional panel that asked the Democratic National Committee to make the documents available last week.
The economic pressure to obtain funds intensified in the Spring when the DNC had to pay for television commercials and other campaign expenses, Huang, who joined the Democratic committee in December 1995 after leaving the Commerce Department official. While there, Huang improperly sought and obtained huge political contributions from foreign corporations. Other contributions were also sought and obtained from individuals who were not U.S. citizens and not legally in the United States.
Checks were made-out on the same day that a meeting was set up with Clinton. In one case, $250,000 bought a meeting with president Clinton at the Sheraton Carlton Hotel in Soutern California between Clinton and a South Korean 'entrepreneur' who didn't even have a business in the U.S. or anywhere else. The 'entrepreneur' spoke no English.
In another case widely reported in the newspapers on Friday, Clinton met with three business executives from Thai interests in China. Following the meeting the Clinton campaign received $185,000 in contributions from a representative of the Thai interests, Pauline Kanchanalak.
However, in that case, the DNC later returned those donations, saying the money 'might not have come directly from Ms. Kanchanalak' as required by campaign law.
In March, Huang was approached by the mayor of Carson, California,
a consultant for Japanese, Korean and Chinese interests. The mayor, Michael I. Mitoma, had a client who wanted to meet the president.
Huang solicited a $250,000 donation from the client, called Cheong Am America, Inc. the Los Angeles subsidiary of a little-known South Korean company. As such, the funds were illegal.
Cheong Am had no revenues in the United States, meaning that the
funds in the April 8 check, a copy of which was in Huang's files,
were funneled to the Democratic National Committee from abroad.
Handwritten notes in Huang's files strongly suggest that the
Democrats could have known Cheong Am had no business activities in
the United States. A flow chart of the Cheong Am,business group,
also in the files, shows no U.S. subsidiary.
