Time: Tue Jul 22 07:56:37 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id HAA16887 for [address in tool bar]; Tue, 22 Jul 1997 07:56:46 -0700 (MST) by usr03.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id HAA19709; Tue, 22 Jul 1997 07:54:20 -0700 (MST) Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 07:53:50 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Huang's wife takes the Fifth Amendment (fwd) <snip> > >.c The Associated Press > > By JAMES ROWLEY > WASHINGTON (AP) - The wife of former Democratic fund-raiser John >Huang is joining her husband in invoking her Fifth Amendment right >to refuse to answer questions from Senate investigators. > Jane Huang, who had originally agreed to be questioned by >investigators, canceled a scheduled deposition session last week >with the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said her Los >Angeles attorney, Richard Marmaro. > ``She has always indicated a willingness to cooperate,'' Marmaro >said in a brief telephone interview Monday. ``But she has become >disillusioned with the process, because of the way the press has >mishandled her husband. > ``So she has reluctantly decided to accept counsel's advice and >assert her privilege,'' Marmaro said. > Marmaro said he told the committee of Mrs. Huang's decision to >invoke the Fifth Amendment. > Besides the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, >Mrs. Huang is invoking the spousal privilege, which prohibits her >from being questioned about discussions she had with her husband. > Senate investigators sought to question Mrs. Huang about three >1995 donations to the Democratic National Committee, totaling >$52,000, that party fund-raising records credited her with >soliciting, Marmaro said. > The panel wants to determine whether Huang tried to hide his >involvement in the solicitations by crediting his wife with raising >the money. The three donations were obtained while Huang was a >deputy assistant commerce secretary. > They were cited by investigators at Senate hearings last week as >circumstantial evidence that Huang raised money for the DNC while >at the Commerce Department, a potential violation of the law >prohibiting political fund raising by most government employees. > Huang went to work for the DNC in December 1995 to spearhead the >party's efforts to raise money from Asian American donors. He >raised $3 million, $1.6 million of which the DNC has returned >because the donations came from questionable sources. > Huang himself has refused to cooperate with the committee's >investigation and has sought limited immunity from prosecution as a >condition for testifying at Senate hearings. > Huang's attorney, Ty Cobb, has proposed that his client be given >``use'' immunity that would bar Justice Department prosecutors from >using anything he tells Congress about fund raising as evidence >against him. > The Justice Department, which is investigating Huang, has told >the committee that it opposes any immunity grant for Huang, >committee aides say. > Senate investigators wanted to question Mrs. Huang about a Nov. >9, 1995, $30,000 donation from an Indonesian landscape architect >and his wife who had lived in Virginia. The couple, Arief and >Soraya Wiriadinata, gave a total of $450,000 to the DNC, which >returned the money after determining they did not file a 1995 >federal income tax return. The couple has since returned to >Indonesia. > Investigators also wanted to question Mrs. Huang about a $10,000 >contribution on June 15, 1995, from Mi Ryi Ahn and $12,000 given on >Nov. 7, 1995, by Kenneth Wynn, president of Lippo Land Ltd., a >Lippo subsidiary, Marmaro said. > In other developments: > CIA Director George Tenet told reporters he has agreed to be >questioned by the Senate panel in closed session about evidence of >a plot by China to influence U.S. elections. > The Justice Department has told Senate investigators it opposes >giving four Buddhist nuns partial immunity because prosecutors have >evidence indicating the four were more than just conduits for >illegal campaign donations, said committee sources. > The panel is scheduled to vote Tuesday on whether to grant the >four partial immunity to enable them to testify about a California >Buddhist temple fund-raiser attended by Vice President Al Gore. >Such immunity would bar prosecutors from using what the nuns tell >the Senate as evidence against them. > The four are expected to testify that Huang asked them to make >donations - for which they were later reimbursed by the temple in >Hacienda Heights, Calif. > Prosecutors told the panel that one of the four, the temple's >abbess, may have been involved in another illegal donation, said >the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity. > AP-NY-07-21-97 1751EDT > Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information >contained in the AP news report may not be published, >broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without >prior written authority of The Associated Press. > > >To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles. >For all of today's news, go to keyword News. > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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