ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 17, 1997 TAG: 9702170102
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The chairman of the House committee investigating campaign fund raising said Sunday his probe will be far broader than originally anticipated. As justification, he cited new allegations of official Chinese attempts to help the Democratic Party.
The White House aide handling the problem, counsel Lanny Davis, said suggestions that President Clinton encouraged improper campaign contributions in any way were ``flat-out wrong.''
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, said on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' he has issued 25 subpoenas already, 20 of them Saturday night for documents related to his investigation. The hearings still are weeks away.
``We are going to look into every area where there is the possibility of illegal activity as far as influence peddling, illegal contributions, possible involvement of White House personnel and things like that,'' he said.
``The investigation unfortunately is going to be much broader than I would like.'' He said the committee has 500 people it wants to interview.
Burton said hearings will begin in April or May with ``no way to know how long it's going to go.''
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, under Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., is conducting a parallel investigation. That committee has issued 52 subpoenas.
Both committees are seeking documents and testimony from former Democratic National Committee fund-raiser John Huang and the Indonesian conglomerate where he worked before joining the Clinton administration.
Huang, said Burton, ``may very well have given information that he shouldn't have to the Chinese and others.''
The Washington Post reported last week that evidence has emerged that the Chinese embassy in Washington was interested in providing money to the Democratic Party. That would be illegal under U.S. law. No proof has been presented that the Chinese did so.
Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., a member of Thompson's committee, said on ``Face the Nation'' on CBS that the senators will look into the matter. ``This is a very, very serious allegation,'' he said.
Also appearing on NBC, Davis said Clinton is ``very seriously monitoring'' the China issue. He insisted, however: ``There's no policy affected by contributions to this president. There's no governmental actions affected by contributions to this president. The president has made that very clear.''
Another potential problem for the Democrats emerged Sunday with a The Washington Post report that the administration changed a key policy toward Guam after Guam residents made a major contribution to the Democratic Party. Davis said the administration official in charge of Guam confirmed that the policy changes ``had been determined way before'' the contributions.
Davis also said the White House had held 103 coffees - informal, small-group meetings - with Clinton that have aroused controversy because some guests had made, or would later make, large contributions to the Democratic Party.
On ``Fox News Sunday,'' Davis said the coffees were not fund-raisers and that some of the participants contributed to Republican Bob Dole's presidential campaign. An objective of the gatherings, he said, was ``to promote his candidacy, to ask people to support him.''
Republicans on the Sunday news programs, led by Sen. John McCain, said the revelations about possible Chinese influence peddling bolstered their argument that Attorney General Janet Reno should appoint an independent counsel to look into Democratic fund raising.
Sen. Bob Torricelli, D-N.J., said an independent counsel investigation would put congressional hearings on hold and further delay action on campaign finance reform legislation.
The White House has supported campaign finance legislation co-sponsored by McCain. GOP leaders have said they won't take up legislation until after the investigations into the Democratic Party are completed.
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