Posted on 05/11/2005 6:08:01 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES - A federal prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement Wednesday that Hillary Clinton's former national finance director panicked when costs for a celebrity-studded 2000 Hollywood fundraising gala mounted and lied to the government to conceal it.
Peter Zeidenberg, of the Justice Department's public integrity division, told jurors that David F. Rosen deliberately caused campaign finance reports to be filed with the Federal Election Commission that claimed "in-kind" contributions of $400,000 for the Hollywood gala, when he knew that contributions exceeded $1.1 million.
The event, held in August 2000 at a 112-acre Brentwood estate, drew celebrities such as Cher, Diana Ross, John Travolta, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and was catered by famous chef Wolfgang Puck, Zeidenberg said.
It was Rosen's job to raise money for Clinton's campaign and to keep track of how much was spent to raise it, Zeidenberg said.
"This event was his responsibility from start to finish," Zeidenberg said. "He was involved in every key decision that was made, everything from the design of the invitations to the selection of the venue, to who was sitting next to whom. He was in on the decisions."
Rosen has pleaded not guilty to three counts of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
His defense attorney, Paul M. Sandler, was scheduled to give his opening statement Thursday morning.
Clinton has not been charged and U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz told jurors Wednesday that she would not testify in the case.
Asked about the trial at a news conference in Washington, D.C., Clinton shrugged and said nothing.
Zeidenberg in his opening statement also talked about Clinton.
"You will hear no evidence that Hillary Clinton was involved in any way shape or form," Zeidenberg said. "In fact, it's just the opposite. The evidence will show that David Rosen was trying to keep this evidence from the campaign."
The event was bankrolled by Peter F. Paul, a three-time convicted felon who pleaded guilty in March to unrelated securities fraud charges. Paul has told the FBI that he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Clinton's campaign that was not reported.
The event also was co-organized by Aaron Tonken, who is serving a 63-month prison sentence for unrelated charges of defrauding charities of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Zeidenberg told the jury of seven men and five women that Clinton at the time of the gala faced a wealthy challenger and tight polls and needed money for advertising. Under arcane campaign finance rules in place at the time, her campaign would have benefited by underreporting the cost of the fund-raiser, Zeidenberg said.
"The higher your costs go, the harder it is to net at the end of the day money for the campaign," Zeidenberg said.
Rosen also knew that the campaign had been told to keep a lid on fund-raising costs.
"How are you going to react when you see that you have OK'd $5,000 for Patti LaBelle's hairdresser, or $10,000 worth of Paul Anka CDs given away on a single night?" Zeidenberg said. "David Rosen knew that people would be extremely alarmed and upset at those kinds of expenses."
Lawyers for Rosen in documents filed before the trial said their defense will be that Tonken and Paul concealed information from him about the event's costs.
Los Angeles, anyone know the racial makeup of this jury.
IMO, this charge doesn't REALLY sound so onerous.....he'll get off and Hillary will be seen as a Victim of his. Hillary is UBER TEFLON.
How can this judge say that Clinton will not testify? Does he know the outcome??
Clinton appointed judge. Gave money to Clinton and Boxer.
...Asked about the trial at a news conference in Washington, D.C., Clinton shrugged and said nothing...
She's already on record saying that she thinks Rosen will be aquitted. Why didn't she repeat that?
The corruption of the Clintons could make a mob boss blush.
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