Cash and Kerry

[windansea]

The gift: He rails against big donors, but he knows the drill. Just ask Johnny Chung

By Michael Isikoff
NewsweekFeb. 9 issue - John Kerry needed cash, and soon. In July 1996 the Massachusetts senator was locked in a tough re-election fight, so he was more than happy to help when he heard that a generous potential contributor wanted to visit his Capitol Hill office. The donor was Johnny Chung, a glad-handing Taiwanese-American entrepreneur. Chung brought along some friends, including a Hong Kong businesswoman named Liu Chaoying.

Told that Liu was interested in getting one of her companies listed on the U.S. Stock Exchange, Kerry's aides immediately faxed over a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The next day, 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 Kerry a fund-raiser at a Beverly Hills hotel, raking in $10,000 for the senator's re-election campaign.

In a 30-year career untainted by scandal, Kerry's encounter with Chung and Liu would turn into a political embarrassment. Federal investigators later discovered that Liu was in fact a lieutenant colonel in China's People's Liberation Army and vice president of a Chinese-government-owned aerospace firm. And Chung, who visited the Clinton White House 49 times, went on to become a central figure in the foreign-money scandals of 1996. Chung eventually pleaded guilty to funneling $28,000 in illegal contributions to the campaigns of Bill Clinton and Kerry. According to bank records and Chung's congressional testimony, the 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 Liu.

There was never any suggestion that Kerry knew about the dubious origins of Chung's largesse. Still, the appearance that the senator had played a cynical cash-for-favors game forced him to play damage control. In January 1998 he told the Boston Herald that the timing of the SEC meeting and the subsequent fund-raiser was "totally coincidental" and "entirely staff driven." He said the Beverly Hills event had been set up by a professional fund-raiser, and that he had never even met Chung until the night of the event. But congressional documents obtained by NEWSWEEK seem to tell a different story. "Dear Johnny, It was a great pleasure to have met you last week," Kerry told Chung in a handwritten note dated July 31, 1996. "Barbara 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." That same day the Kerry fund-raiser faxed a memo to Chung that read, in part: "The following are two ways in which you can be helpful to John." No. 1 was "Host an event in L.A. on Saturday, Sept. 9th." (A Kerry spokesman acknowledged that the senator may have met with Chung prior to the fund-raiser, but not in his Senate office.)
more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4121890/

edit: added 4th paragraph

[asjr]

1. Isikof

should be drawn and quartered. The WH must be funneling money to him. And wasn't that money returned? We have become a nation of finger pointers.

[windansea]

2. yes I believe so...but....

There was never any suggestion that Kerry knew about the dubious origins of Chung's largesse. Still, the appearance that the senator had played a cynical cash-for-favors game forced him to play damage control. In January 1998 he told the Boston Herald that the timing of the SEC meeting and the subsequent fund-raiser was "totally coincidental" and "entirely staff driven." He said the Beverly Hills event had been set up by a professional fund-raiser, and that he had never even met Chung until the night of the event. But congressional documents obtained by NEWSWEEK seem to tell a different story. "Dear Johnny, It was a great pleasure to have met you last week," Kerry told Chung in a handwritten note dated July 31, 1996. "Barbara 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." That same day the Kerry fund-raiser faxed a memo to Chung that read, in part: "The following are two ways in which you can be helpful to John." No. 1 was "Host an event in L.A. on Saturday, Sept. 9th." (A Kerry spokesman acknowledged that the senator may have met with Chung prior to the fund-raiser, but not in his Senate office.)

[flpoljunkie]

3. "There was never any suggestion Kerry knew dubious origins of Chung's

largesse."

You could have included this paragraph in your original post. Yet, you chose not to.

This is Kerry's response to the "special interest" campaign contributions questions in an article by Matea Gold and Nick Anderson in today's Los Angeles Times.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-dems1feb01,1,7684104.story?coll=la-news-politics-national

"You know, Gov. Dean has in the course of this campaign made a number of comments he's had to apologize to other candidates for," Kerry said, "and I would respectfully suggest that that may be just one more."

As evidence that he fights special interests, Kerry cited his opposition to the Medicare prescription drug bill, drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and to a bankruptcy bill that would tighten rules requiring small debtors to pay their creditors.

"You'll probably see some bankers that contributed to me," he said, "but I stood up against them."

____________________

As I have noted many times on DU, John Kerry is the only Senator running for President who voted against the bankruptcy bills in 2001, both were egregious giveaways to the banks and credit card companies. The bankruptcy bill will soon be reintroduced in the House by Tom Delay, after having lain dormant in the Senate all of 2003.

[windansea]

4. DU rules...only 3 paragraphs of copyrighted material

just posted first 3 paragraphs...and link to the rest

:shrug:

[flpoljunkie]

5. My understanding of DU rules is 3-4 paragraphs are allowed.

.

[windansea]

6. just looked it up

4 paragraphs are allowed...will try to edit OP as it was not my intention to hide the 4th paragraph...

[flpoljunkie]

7. Thank you for your forthrightness; it is admirable.

[windansea]

8. no problem

:)

[windansea]

9. kick n/t

[windansea]

10. kick n/t