Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990 TAG: 9003023203
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Newsday
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Chamorro defeated President Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista party Sunday with the help of $500,000 in private contributions from U.S. donors, one of her top fund-raisers, David Carmen, a Washington-based consultant, said in an interview.
The private aid was critical because the $9 million Congress appropriated last year for the Nicaraguan election was specifically barred from campaign use.
The White House had no immediate response to Newsday's questions, delivered Wednesday, about its role in the election.
An administration official said that while he had no information about the private funding, the administration was "holier than it might have needed to be" to avoid any suggestion of impropriety in dealings with Chamorro's Union of National Opposition.
Documentation Newsday obtained shows the White House effort began in November, before it became apparent to Bush and his aides that $9 million in congressional aid earmarked for non-partisan use was not reaching Nicaragua.
Bush expressed his "discouragement" at learning that only a small portion of the $9 million had been disbursed by mid-January, according to sources.
It was about then that Abraham Sofaer, the State Department counsel, advised that private solicitation by the White House could violate Congress' intent in limiting funds for non-partisan purposes. It was not known whether Bush saw Sofaer's opinion.
Several congressmen were doing the same thing, including Rep. Frank Guarini, D-N.J. "The White House helped in a lot of technical advice and backup and political know-how," said Guarini, whose sister was once Chamorro's college roommate.
Some of that political know-how was provided by Bush's son Jeb, who was dispatched Jan. 15 for a private meeting with Chamorro in Houston, sources said. Jeb Bush was a board member of the Miami-based private fund-raising group for her campaign. Also at the meeting was William Pryce, special assistant to the president for Latin American affairs. One White House official said the meeting dealt with campaign strategy and finances. A source who attended described it as both a social call and political brainstorming session.
The assistance went beyond providing political know-how:
White House chief of staff John Sununu signed an administration-drafted letter to be shown to potential contributors declaring that such contributions were legal and would constitute "greatly needed support for UNO's campaign."
Bush himself solicited contributions from the Democratic and Republican parties.
The White House, sensitive to the political disaster that befell the Reagan administration three years ago over private funds to support the Contras after Congress had banned such aid, sought a legal opinion.
In mid-January, the Department of Justice wrote national security adviser Brent Scowcroft that there were no laws "which would prevent the president or members of his administration from encouraging private donors to contribute funds."
But in a separate memorandum, Sofaer, while agreeing there were no specific statutes barring such fund-raising, warned that "any such solicitation by the president or other White House official . . . does raise legal concerns."
Alluding to the Iran-Contra scandal, he noted that Congress had "repeatedly questioned the legality or propriety of efforts to solicit private funds to accomplish objectives which Congress itself has either prohibited or refused to support."
In a Jan. 23 memorandum to Bush, Scowcroft noted that the State Department "cautions about possible adverse congressional reaction" but described it as a "policy rather than legal concern." It could not be determined if anyone in the White House besides Scowcroft and his NSC staff saw the Sofaer memo. Nevertheless, because of the concern, Scowcroft recommended Bush write the chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties to enlist their assistance in soliciting funds for UNO.
Bush did so the following day.
A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee said its chairman, Ronald Brown, declined to make a contribution. But a spokesman for the Republican National Committee said Chairman Lee Atwater gave $25,000 in party funds to UNO and authorized the use of his name for private fund-raising campaigns.
by CNB