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| For Immediate Release | |
| Sep 23, 1998 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Top Clinton aide fighting impeachment; implicated in cover-up of sale of Clinton Commerce trade mission seats for campaign contributions The Washington Post reported today that "Deputy White House Chief of Staff John D. Podesta has been coordinating the Clinton defense strategy against potential House impeachment proceedings." Podesta has his own problems. In the Judicial Watch Chinagate civil lawsuit, testimony in federal court indicated that Podesta, along with former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, ordered late-Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to defy the court orders and obstruct the Judicial Watch lawsuit until after the 1996 elections. This is the lawsuit which uncovered John Huang and the sale of taxpayer-financed Department of Commerce trade mission seats in exchange for political contributions to the DNC and Clinton-Gore campaign. Earlier this year, Nolanda Hill, Secretary’s Brown confidante and business partner, testified in a sworn affidavit and in open court that Brown told her that "The White House, through Leon Panetta and John Podesta, had instructed him to delay the [Judicial Watch] case by withholding the production of documents prior to the 1996 elections, and to devise a way not to comply with the court’s orders." This sworn testimony remains uncontested by The Clinton White House, Panetta, or Podesta. The Court now has before it a motion, filed by Judicial Watch, to begin criminal contempt proceedings against Podesta, Panetta, and others who the evidence shows have obstructed justice in this case. "By choosing Podesta to lead the anti-impeachment effort, President Clinton shows that he may be willing to do anything remain in office," stated Larry Klayman, Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel. "Will Podesta obstruct justice and defy court orders to protect President Clinton, as the evidence indicates he did at least once before?" |
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