Democrats Have To Give Back More Money

By Brooks Jackson/CNN

WASHINGTON -- (AllPolitics, Oct. 18) -- Republican Bob Dole is calling a Buddhist temple near Los Angeles a Clinton-Gore money laundry, for its role in raising funds for the Democrats.

Now the temple is getting a $15,000 check from the Democratic National Committee to reimburse it for a fund-raiser. John Huang, the DNC employee who organized the event was relieved Friday of his fund-raising duties, although he will remain on the DNC staff.

In April, Vice President Al Gore was the featured guest at a fund-raising reception Democrats held at the temple. But the DNC never paid for the use of the temple, which is a tax-exempt religious institution, or for the vegetarian food the temple provided.

Party officials told CNN today they will send a check to avoid endangering the temple's tax-exempt status. But they're still looking into a more serious allegation, in The Wall Street Journal, that some of the money raised at the event was illegal.

That's a red-meat allegation Dole has been chewing on since his appearances near Los Angeles on Thursday.

"Somebody brought in the cash," Dole said. "They give somebody the cash, they say O.K., we give you cash, you write a check to the party. That's called money laundering."

The temple's lawyer says only one $5,000 donation is suspect, so far. "No one with the temple had anything to do with that," said Peter D. Kelly. "We're as interested in finding out who that person might have been as anyone."

Still not talking is John Huang, the Democratic party employee who arranged the temple event. A camera crew caught up with him, but he remained silent about the controversy. He has reportedly raised $4 million for the Democratic party from Asian Americans and some non-citizens, including $450,000 from an Indonesian couple living in Jakarta.

President Bill Clinton has publicly called Huang a good friend. Said Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry: "He's been an effective fund-raiser and as far as I know, he's still employed at the DNC."

Huang also brought in an illegal $250,000 donation from a South Korean company, which the DNC had to refund after the Los Angeles Times questioned it.

Meanwhile, the DNC says it's returning yet another $10,000 donation found to be illegal, this one to the chairman of that South Korean company.

And, CNN has learned, the DNC is asking the Federal Election Commission to conduct an expedited investigation of the various allegations of illegal Asian contributions.

Also Friday, the Republican National Committee returned a $15,000 illegal contribution from the Canadian company, Methanex, according to Roll Call, a newspaper of Capitol Hill.

The donation by the U.S. subsidiary of Methanex, the world's largest methanol producer, violated campaign finance laws because the money was not earned in the United States, Roll Call reported in an article to be published Monday.

Related Stories:

• Asian Money Connection Expands To Include Monks -- Oct. 17, 1996
• Dole Took Indonesian Money In 1988 -- Oct. 16, 1996
• New Details on Indonesian Money Trail -- Oct. 14, 1996
• GOP Harangues Clinton Over 'Indonesian Connection' -- Oct. 13, 1996
• Clinton's Indonesian Connection Raises Questions -- Oct. 11, 1996
• Choate Attacks Major Parties On Campaign Finance Reform -- Oct. 9, 1996
• Watchdog Group Alleges Campaign Finance Violations -- Oct. 9, 1996

• Campaign Finance Reform Dies Again -- June 25, 1996

Related Sites:

• FECInfo Home Page -- A user-friendly place to get at who's giving what to whom.
• Brookings Working Group on Campaign Finance Reform
• Federal Election Commission
• Center For Public Integrity -- Government Watchdog Group
• Project Vote Smart's 1996 Presidential Campaign Finance Information
• AllPolitics' Follow The Money

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