Time: Tue Jul 22 11:58:16 1997
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Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 11:38:17 -0700
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From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Op-Ed by Jim Nicholson on Democrat Finance Scandal (fwd)
<snip>
>
>Questions begging to be asked
>
>Op-Ed in July 18th edition of the Clevland Plain Dealer
>by Jim Nicholson
>************************************
> Let's see if we have this straight: A Senate committee is
>investigating whether the government of communist China attempted
>to corrupt the American election.
>
> Among other things, the committee is trying to determine
>whether a U.S. government official who later became a leading
>fund-raiser for the Democrat Party may have passed secrets to
>foreigners closely associated with Beijing, and whether he
>received cash in return.
>
> They have learned that John Huang: 1) laundered foreign money
>through a shell corporation to the Democrat Party just after
>Bill Clinton won the presidential nomination in 1992; 2) was
>placed in a sensitive, high-level government position as a
>political payback, even though a higher-up considered him
>"unqualified;" 3) was given hundreds of classified intelligence
>reports on China, even though his superior "walled him off" from
>China issues; 4) frequently visited the Chinese embassy and called
>his former employer, the Lippo Group, virtually daily while he was
>receiving these briefings; and 5) that Lippo has a partnership
>with a company owned by the communist Chinese government and
>connected with espionage.
>
> Since John Huang was close to the President and Vice
>President of the United States -- indeed, the President was
>instrumental in getting him hired -- investigators also want to
>know how much they and others in their administration may have
>known about what he was up to.
>
> And, let's see if we also have this straight: The Washington
>press corps says that all this is a bore, old news, irrelevant --
>nobody's interested.
>
> Really?
>
> Since the scandal over the many questionable fund-raising
>practices of the Clinton-Gore campaign began to unfold, Democrats
>have pursued a clear strategy. That strategy can be summarized as
>follows: "Say we did nothing wrong, but say that everybody does
>it. Say that the real issue is campaign finance reform."
>
> None of that is surprising. But what does have to be counted
>as perplexing is the willingness -- no, the eagerness -- of so
>much of the Washington press corps to buy the Democrat pitch and
>to repeat it as gospel truth.
>
> All of which raises a few obvious questions that the
>establishment media ought to be asking but for the most part is
>not:
>
>* If Democrat operatives did nothing wrong, why are Democrats on
>the Senate investigative committee unwilling to conduct a serious
>investigation that would establish their innocence?
>
> Instead, with the notable exception of Sen. Joe Lieberman of
>Connecticut, Democrat members of the committee have been
>attempting to turn the hearings into a circus that the public
>would dismiss as just partisan politics as usual.
>
>* If both sides have been involved in similar campaign finance
>law-breaking, why is it that only Democrats have fled the country
>and gone into hiding in communist China? Why is it that only
>Democrats have invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-
>incrimination? Why is it that only Democrats have asked for
>immunity from prosecution?
>
>* If Bill Clinton and Albert Gore did nothing wrong, where is
>their outrage and sense of betrayal? Why have they not demanded
>that their friends and supporters, John Huang, Charlie Trie, James
>Riady, Johnny Chung and Pauline Kanchanalak come out of hiding
>and tell the American people what they know?
>
>* Finally, how could the real issue be campaign finance reform if
>what the investigations are meant to discover is who knowingly
>sought and accepted foreign money? That's already against the
>law. Presumably it would continue to be against the law under any
>"reformed" system of campaign financing.
>
> Having said that, let me add that I don't think the current
>campaign finance system -- a system designed largely by Democrats
>-- is perfect. Far from it.
>
> For that reason, some months ago I convened a Republican
>National Committee task force on the issue. That task force will
>report its findings at our meeting here in Cleveland today.
>
> From those recommendations, I plan to develop a formal
>Republican campaign finance reform package. It will be built on
>these principles:
>
> Government rationing of free speech has no place in our
>democracy. As the RNC task force report correctly concludes:
>"Let us not give the government the power to tell us how, and how
>often we can criticize those who govern us and our governing
>institutions."
>
> Second, there should be full and prompt disclosure of all
>contributions and expenditures. Given that information, the
>voters are capable of drawing their own conclusions and making
>their own decisions.
>
> Third, no one should be compelled to contribute money to a
>campaign or a candidate; all contributions must be strictly
>voluntary. This principle would outlaw the current practice of
>Washington labor bosses, who extract millions of dollars in
>compulsory union dues from working men and women and spend it for
>partisan political activities without the workers' permission and
>often against the workers' political views. (Roughly 40% of union
>workers vote Republican for Congress, yet union bosses spend their
>dues money almost 100% in support of Democrats.)
>
> And, oh yes, it should continue to be against the law to
>solicit foreign contributions. Any serious evidence or
>allegations that this law has been broken should be thoroughly
>investigated, and violators should be held accountable.
>
> Is it really too much to expect that such investigations be
>taken seriously by Democrats? Is it really too much to expect the
>establishment Washington media to exercise a little skepticisim
>and not act as an echo chamber for the Democrat Party line?
>
>(Visit http://www.rnc.org for the latest news and information)
>-------
>
<snip>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
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