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| For Immediate Release | |
| Dec 22, 1998 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Court finds 'little of (Huang's) deposition testimony particularlly credible' 88 PAGE RULINGS CITE "ILLEGAL" CLINTON COMMERCE DEPARTMENT DESTRUCTION AND REMOVAL OF DOCUMENTS "IN KNOWING VIOLATION OF THE FOIA AND THE ORDERS OF THIS COURT" FOUR YEAR JUDICIAL WATCH COMMERCE/CHINAGATE CASE UNCOVERED JOHN HUANG AND SALE OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT TRADE MISSION SEATS IN EXCHANGE FOR CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS JOHN PODESTA, LEON PANETTA, MICKEY KANTOR AND OTHERS FACE FURTHER SCRUTINY A federal court has granted leave to the public interest group Judicial Watch to redepose John Huang, a central figure in the Chinagate scandal and close friend of President Clinton. Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman first questioned Huang back in October, 1996 about his knowledge of documents evidencing the sale of Clinton Commerce Department trade mission seats in exchange for campaign contributions. To this day, only Judicial Watch investigators have questioned Huang under oath. Examining Huang's sworn testimony in the Judicial Watch case, the Court found that "little of his deposition testimony is particularly credible, in light of the evidence now available." Not only can Judicial Watch further question Huang, but the court ordered Attorney General Janet Reno to provide Judicial Watch with a legible of copy of Huang's desk diary. The Court rulings were issued today in Judicial Watch's ongoing lawsuit against the Commerce Department over the sale of its taxpayer-funded trade mission seats in exchange for political contributions to the DNC and Clinton-Gore campaign. "The Court's rulings speak for themselves. But as we've been saying all along, the Clinton Commerce Department obstructed justice, defied court orders, and destroyed evidence rather than divulge documents pointing to the illegal sale of taxpayer services by the Clinton Administration," said Larry Klayman. The court also found that Judicial Watch's discovery revealed evidence the Clinton Commerce Department "had illegally destroyed and removed from its custody responsive documents, apparently in an attempt to circumvent the disclosure requirements of the FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] and the orders of this Court." The complete text of the rulings is available at the Judicial Watch web site at http://www.judicialwatch.org. |
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