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| For Immediate Release | |
| Nov 7, 2000 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Implicates Al Gore in Illegal Fundraising Republicans Also Involved (Washington, DC) Today, Judicial Watch continued to obtain testimony from John Huang, the reported Chinese agent. Judicial Watch is the public interest anti-government corruption law firm that sparked the Chinagate scandal with the original deposition of Huang four years ago on October 29, 1996. Huang, who previously worked for the Lippo Group, an alleged front for Chinese intelligence, and was a high official at the Commerce Department during the Clinton-Gore Administration, returned to answer questions about his role and others’ in the illegal sale of seats on trade missions in exchange for political campaign contributions. Court testimony of Nolanda Hill, business partner and confidante of the late Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, established that Hillary Rodham Clinton, with the knowledge of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, had devised this illegal scheme. Since Huang now has immunity, he was forced to answer questions without claiming the 5th Amendment – having previously done so over 2,000 times over the last four years. In his testimony today, Huang implicated Vice President Al Gore in the illegal fund raising, but refused to answer questions which he was ordered to answer on at least 131 occasions. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola found Huang in contempt of Court for these refusals, and if this is sustained by the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth, Huang could be headed to prison. In addition, Huang revealed that Congress never questioned him about the Clinton-Gore Commerce Department trade mission scandal. Huang refused also to answer questions about a number of high-level Republican politicians who reportedly got illegal campaign contributions through him and the Lippo Group. Indeed, Huang implicated about 25 percent of the Thompson Committee, which supposedly investigated Chinagate, in illegal contributions. He also implicated former Senator Alfonse D’Amato – the Republican politician who chaired the Whitewater Committee. “Huang’s testimony explains why the Republican Congress never investigated the illegal sale of trade mission seats for campaign contributions. Huang’s deposition is incomplete and will be reconvened at the end of November. In the meantime, his testimony has regrettably apparently revealed a bipartisan effort to cover-up the illegal sale of Commerce Department trade mission seats in exchange for campaign contributions,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is a sad day in American history. Our whole system is corrupt,” added Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman. |
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