In 1996 Sen. John Kerry received $8,000 from Red China bag man Johnny Chung, then took another $10,000 in exchange for which Kerry arranged a high-level meeting between Communist Chinese intelligence operative Lt. Col. Liu Chao-ying, the aforesaid Chung and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about setting up fronts on the American stock exchanges capable of transferring U.S. technologies and hardware to Red China, according to broadcaster Lowell Ponte.
By Greg Pierce
Kerry and Chung
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry met and personally corresponded with Johnny Chung, a central figure in the foreign-money scandals of 1996, before Chung threw Mr. Kerry a Beverly Hills fund-raiser, Newsweek reports in its latest issue.
Mr. Kerry has maintained that his first meeting with Chung was at the Sept. 9, 1996, event, reporter Michael Isikoff writes. Chung, who visited the Clinton White House 49 times, eventually pleaded guilty to funneling $28,000 in illegal contributions to the campaigns of Mr. Kerry and Bill Clinton.
In the summer of 1996, Mr. Kerry, who was locked in a tough re-election fight, was told that a generous potential contributor wanted to visit his Capitol Hill office. The donor was Chung, a Taiwanese-American entrepreneur, who brought along some friends, including Liu Chaoying, a Hong Kong businesswoman later determined by federal investigators to be a lieutenant colonel in China's People's Liberation Army and vice president of a Chinese-government-owned aerospace firm.
Told that Miss Liu was interested in getting one of her companies listed on the U.S. stock exchange, Mr. Kerry's aides immediately faxed a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The next day, Miss Liu and Chung were ushered into a private briefing with a senior SEC official.
Within weeks, Chung returned the favor: On Sept. 9 he threw Mr. Kerry a fund-raiser at a Beverly Hills hotel, raking in $10,000 for the senator's re-election campaign. According to bank records and Chung's congressional testimony, the campaign contributions came out of $300,000 in overseas wire transfers sent on orders from the chief of Chinese military intelligence — and routed through a Hong Kong bank account controlled by Miss Liu.
"Dear Johnny, It was a great pleasure to have met you last week," Mr. Kerry told Chung in a handwritten note dated July 31, 1996. "Barbara [a Kerry fund-raiser] told me of your willingness to help me with my campaign. ... It means a lot to have someone like you on my team as I face the toughest race of my career."
The new Kerry
You might think the Vietnam War was a big part of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's life "just because he mentions it in every speech, on his TV commercials, in his campaign material, and during his media interviews, and also surrounds himself with Vietnam vets and his war buddies," Roger Simon writes in U.S. News & World Report.
"But you would be wrong! That was the old Kerry. The new Kerry is a completely different guy. We know this because in a recent interview with him we innocently began a question by saying, 'The Vietnam War is a big part of your campaign and a big part of your life. ...'
"At which point, Kerry sharply interjected: 'No! The Vietnam War is not; my life experience is. Vietnam is one part of it. But I also offer up and talk about my experiences as a prosecutor, as a lieutenant governor. The theme is delivering to the American people, making government accountable, making it work for people.'
"And we will believe that just as soon as Kerry starts surrounding himself on stage with all his prosecutor and lieutenant governor-era buddies," Mr. Simon said.
• Greg Pierce can be reached at 202/636-3285 or gpierce@washingtontimes.com.
