Asian Fund-raiser For Democrats Is MIA

By Brooks Jackson/CNN

WASHINGTON (Oct. 24) -- Democratic fund-raiser John Huang is gone and his lawyer says he'd rather not talk until after the election.

The controversial Democratic party functionary, responsible for bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal or questionable contributions, could not be located by a U.S. Marshal attempting to serve him with a subpoena, it was disclosed today.

The subpoena was issued on behalf of the conservative group Judicial Watch, which is suing the Commerce Department to over its failure to release documents about former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's trade missions. The group alleges a cover-up of what they say may be favoritism shown to big Democratic contributors on overseas trade missions.

Huang, 46, worked for Brown at the Commerce Department before working for the Democratic National Committee. His connections to a powerful Indonesian family and his responsibility for bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars have made Huang the target of Republican attacks.

Last week the DNC said Huang was no longer raising money but remained on staff as a paid employee, preparing for an investigation by the Federal Election Commission. But today, DNC spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe said she did not know where Huang is, or even if he is still in the United States.

"He calls in," Tobe said. "We told him he did not need to come into the office." She referred questions to Huang's lawyer, John Keeney, who said his client was out of Washington and would not return until "late next week."

Keeney said Huang was offering to give testimony at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, the morning after election day. Keeney also asked a federal judge to rule out any questions about Huang's activities as a party fund-raiser, or about his earlier employment as director of U.S. operations for Lippo Bank, whose owners and officials have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic party.

Keeney said the judge should only allow questions about Huang's employment at the Department of Commerce, and only about the subject of the lawsuit.

Keeney said he would not discuss his client's whereabouts until Friday at a scheduled hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth in Washington.

Klayman, head of the conservative group Judicial Watch, said the DNC was giving him a "runaround" and trying to delay any testimony from Huang until after the election.

Asian Fund-raiser For Democrats Is MIA

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