Democrats Are Fined $243,000 for Fund-Raising Violations (People's Republic of China and Clinton)

nytimes ^ | 9/21/2002 | RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

[TLBSHOW]

Democrats Are Fined $243,000 for Fund-Raising Violations

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Democratic National Committee has agreed to pay civil fines and turn over to the Treasury a total of $243,000 to settle accusations that it took more than $1 million in illegal foreign contributions in 1995 and 1996, according to Federal Election Commission records released today.

The documents also state that the election commission's general counsel found in 1999 that there was "reason to believe" that the People's Republic of China "knowingly and willfully" violated federal election law. But the heavily redacted documents also state that the commission voted unanimously to "take no action at this time" on the general counsel's recommendation.

The documents detail efforts by the Democratic Party and the Clinton-Gore campaign to build their war chest with help from wealthy Asian donors before the 1996 election. In all, the election commission disclosed $719,500 in fines today.

The largest fine, $120,000, was paid by the International Buddhist Progress Society, which operates the Hsi Lai Temple in California, the site of an April 1996 luncheon attended by Vice President Al Gore. The national committee paid a $115,000 fine and agreed to turn over to the Treasury $128,000 it had received in illegal contributions. The Clinton/Gore '96 Primary Committee paid a $2,000 fine, the records also show.

John Huang and Yah Lin Trie, two Democratic fund-raisers who pleaded guilty to violating federal laws, agreed to pay fines respectively of $95,000 and $7,000.

The commission also found "probable cause" to believe that Hogan & Hartson, a Washington law firm, violated election laws in the handling of $50,000 in donations that a client of the firm made to the national committee in summer 1996. Two officials at the firm who were involved in the handling of the donations have agreed to pay a total of $67,500.

Representatives of the national committee and for former President Bill Clinton declined to comment. Officials at Hogan & Hartson did not reply to a phone message.

After the fund-raising scandal broke in late 1996, the Democratic Party returned $3 million in questionable or improper contributions, much of it from money donated or solicited by Mr. Huang or Mr. Trie.

Kent Cooper, a former election commission official who is now at PoliticalMoneyLine.com, which tracks money in politics, said some fines disclosed today appear surprisingly low. The election commission, he said, limited the fines assessed to some people based on their claims that they could not afford to pay more. "Some people will look at this and say the F.E.C. should have fined them more," Mr. Cooper said.

He noted, for example, that the election commission waived fines against a company called Global Resource Management based on the assertions by the company's president about its "present financial circumstances," the documents show.

The election commission found that the company, which was formed in Ohio in 1996 to resolve a "construction-related contractual matter" in Saudi Arabia, decided to make a $100,000 contribution to a national committee fund-raiser in New York on Aug. 18, 1996. The event was also billed as a 50th birthday celebration for Mr. Clinton. The company's officers made the contribution in order to meet with Ray Mabus, the former Mississippi governor and ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who helped plan the event, the election commission found.

But the money used to make the contribution was provided by Sheik Mohammed Oboud Al-Amoudi, a Saudi citizen, who wired $150,000 to the company. The company used this money for the donation "even though its officers had been informed that foreign national contributions are illegal," the election commission found.

Mr. Cooper said the documents provided further evidence of the tactics Democratic operatives used to raise money before the 1996 elections.

"Here, we're dealing with wire transfers and shuffling money to accounts," he said. "What is going on here is warning bells are going off all over the place."

Fund-Raiser's Trial Features Gore Video (February 16, 2000) $

THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: SOFT MONEY; CLINTON IS RAISING MILLIONS TO PUSH EARLY 'ISSUE ADS' (February 10, 2000) $

RENO ANNOUNCES AN INITIAL INQUIRY INTO CLINTON ADS (September 9, 1998) $

Interior Secretary Denies Politics Had Role in Dispute Over Casino (October 31, 1997) $

[Libertina]

Let me get this straight: take a million or so in illegal money, pay $243k back in fines.
My thoughts exactly. Looks like a pretty fine return on investments! No doubt the rats will stop right away now that they've been "punished." /sarcasm.

[Greeklawyer]

All this does is establish that the Democrats know how to organize shell corporations. It is now clear that if you set up a sophisticated model on no asset corporations, place strawman officers from offshore (or better make them non-existent aliases to better ensure impossibility of service), and provide for not direct papertrail to the candidates; there is no real penalty. IF you are caught there is no danger of your candidates suffering and no danger of any criminal prosecution. This was a real good lesson. (where is O'Reilly's moral outrage when it would be usefull?)

The only message this "fine" sends is how to perfect illegal contributions.

[Greeklawyer]

There should be a fruit of the poisonous tree rule. Illegal campaign contributions should include the candidate loosing office.

[Rensselaer]

Let me get this straight: take a million or so in illegal money, pay $243k back in fines.

The fine was $115,000. Another $128,000 in illegal contributions had to be forked over, making the total paid now the $243,000 reported. The rest of the illegal money had already been "disgorged" as they say, meaning repaid to the donor or to the US Treasury. So the fine may be ridiculously low in any event, but it is in addition to repaying the money.

Admittedly, this article doesn't make that clear, but that's the way it is.

[Rensselaer]

Clinton-Gore was the culprit. For almost all this stuff, it was the Democratic National Committee.

[Rensselaer]

LAWRENCE H. NORTON NAMED GENERAL COUNSEL August 20, 2001

All of this stuff was done under the former General Counsel. If you look at the documents released by the FEC, you can see it was wrapped up early in 2001. I don't know why it took so long to release it publicly.

[illstillbe]

A ... gooses/geeses coming home ... .... *ping* to you who is without power .... the electrical kind, at least ... HA!

[upchuck]

But the money used to make the contribution was provided by Sheik Mohammed Oboud Al-Amoudi, a Saudi citizen, who wired $150,000 to the company. The company used this money for the donation "even though its officers had been informed that foreign national contributions are illegal," the election commission found.

Pardon me, but can somebody explain to me why these criminal scumbags are not in jail?

Fines mean absolutely nothing to the DNC and the various fat cats mentioned in this article. Hell, it's only money. They probably all met for beers this past Fri night and laughed their collective asses off at these fines. They can always get more money. That's easy for a professional scumbag.

The guyz need some serious jail time. Will serve two purposes: they will get their just desserts and others will be warned.

[patriot5186]

Hmmm..lets see $1 million - $243K leaves $757K. They still made out like WorldCONners and Enroners. They should pay the entire million AND go to jail.

[vannrox]

CRIME DOES PAY!

The sad, but true part of this story is not being reported. Of the monies that they have been asked to return, only a tiny fraction has been returned. The lions share has stayed in the DNC coffers. There isn't any evidence that the DNC will return the money. Whether it is to the donators, or to the Federal Government.

Thus, from an accounting point of view, there is no question that crime does pay. You obtain a few million dollars, and are fined a couple of thousand. Maybe return a token amount of the money - you know just to keep the hounds at bay.

If the law was really just, and the police truely empowered, the DNC funds would be NEGATIVE right now.

[bonesmccoy]

right on! Jail time needed!

FEC needs to get off it's duff and so does the DOJ!

[aSkeptic]

"$243,000 to settle accusations that it took more than $1 million in illegal foreign contributions"

Not a bad dodge fee for treason.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

This is typical of the government. Take 7 years to investigate, find wrongdoing, and fine the perps 3 cents on the dollar (literally) for their fraud.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

If this is a record fine, there is no deterrent for this sort of thing in the future. In government, crime pays well.

[aSkeptic]

---

-- GOOD IDEA --

---

Mr Hottinger,

I am a registered voter in Ohio, I think you are on the ballot for my district, in Nelsonville Ohio. I see that you are on the Judiciary Committee on Civil Justice. I don't know anything about your career, or what kind of man you are. That's fair enough, you don't know me either. But I hope I can count on you, whenever you can, to put the interests of the constituents of Ohio and our nation above that of your party, and especially above the interests of these traitors!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/754651/posts
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Democratic National Committee has agreed to pay civil fines and turn over to the Treasury a total of $243,000 to settle accusations that it took more than $1 million in illegal foreign contributions in 1995 and 1996, according to Federal Election Commission records released today.

We are all equal under the law or we are all outlaws. I am gravely worried about our country. Many of us are.

I just wanted to bring this one example to your attention. Its a good summery of the true "state of the union". The media can blame you for party politics. But you work for US not THEM.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

And they have the audacity to campaign with corruption and lies.

[cyncooper]

In some respects, the 1996 fundraising efforts by the Clinton White House and DNC were a Democratic counterpart to the Republican Watergate scandals of 1972.

From the article you posted.

As always, the effort to say "everybody does it" so the authors of the article state that what the Democrats did was like Watergate.

But wait!

I thought Watergate was the most corrupt event in American politics as our media likes to say.

The 1996 fundraising crimes committed by the Clinton/Gore team were obvious to me when they came to light years ago. Watergate was nothing compared to this systematic law-breaking--and dare I say treason.

[alrea]

Sheik Mohammed Oboud Al-Amoudi CLINTON PARTNER BUMP

[TLBSHOW]

bump

[ladyinred]

Ready to jump in and blame the Bush administration twice in a row for something the Clinton's did eh? At least with this administration, the thing was investigated, they were fined, and it was on the NY Times front page! Blaming Ashcroft for this is ludicrous.