A blast from the past - a two-fer

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A sample of Clinton politics from Bill's tenure in the W.H.

First - from the New York Times, August 22nd, 1997:

The White House Turnstile
How is the Clinton White House like a subway? According to Johnny Chung, fund-raiser extraordinaire for the Democrats last year, you put in coins to open the gates. That cynical comment was part of a revealing interview this week with Tom Brokaw of NBC News, in which Mr. Chung seemed to live up to his reputation as a ''hustler,'' the term that National Security Council officials used to describe him when they were trying to keep him out. Mr. Chung nonetheless visited the White House nearly 50 times because he arranged for almost $400,000 in party donations, and he told Mr. Brokaw he paid the money because that is how the system worked.

No less startling was Mr. Chung's allegation that the Democratic Party was not the only player with a ravenous appetite for money. He also described how he was, in effect, shaken down for a $25,000 donation to Africare, a charitable organization supported by the Energy Secretary at the time, Hazel O'Leary. Mr. Chung said he gave the check directly to a man who said he was an Energy Department official, in order to set up a meeting with Mrs. O'Leary and a Chinese petrochemical official. On another occasion, Mr. Chung said he gave $50,000 to a White House aide to help pay for a Christmas reception in the executive mansion, and then landed a meeting with the First Lady.

Hillary Rodham Clinton said she had no recollection of such a meeting, and the White House denies that it solicited the money from Mr. Chung. But the NBC News report was filled with pictures of Mr. Chung lounging around the executive mansion like a guest at a resort hotel. There he was in the White House mess hall, or at the President's movie theater, or at the White House bowling alley.

We hear about Chung because he was prosecuted - you can only be so flagrant before someone notices. From CNN, March 5th, 1998:

Democratic Fund-Raiser Johnny Chung Agrees to Plead Guilty
Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung has agreed to plead guilty to election law violations and cooperate in the ongoing Justice Department investigation into illegal campaign fund-raising in the 1996 elections.

Chung's attorney Brian Sun said in a statement released to CNN, "Mr. Chung has reached an agreement with the government. Mr. Chung wants to put this matter behind him as quickly as possible. He and his family are looking forward to getting on with their lives."

Chung became a major figure in the Democratic fund-raising scandal when it was learned he made almost 50 visits to the White House. During one visit, Chung gave first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's then-chief of staff, Maggie Williams, a $50,000 check for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The check was delivered inside the White House.

Two days later Chung was able to bring a group of Chinese businessmen to watch President Bill Clinton deliver a radio address in the Oval Office. They then had their picture taken with the president.

The DNC returned more than $300,000 that Chung raised because of questions about the source of the money.

According to his Wikipedia entry, he got off with a slap on the wrist:

Chung was eventually convicted of bank fraud, tax evasion, and two misdemeanor counts of conspiring to violate election law. On December 14, 1998, Johnny Chung was sentenced to probation and 3,000 hours (community service).

Compare this to Dinesh D'Souza who mistakenly contributed too much money to a friend's political campaign (he had two friends contribute and he then reimbursed them) and was fined $30,000 and spent eight months in a correctional facility.

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This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on September 27, 2016 2:26 PM.

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