[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1913-H1914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INVESTIGATION OF ILLEGAL FUND-RAISING ACTIVITIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to 
discuss with my colleagues serious issues which have come up in the 
investigation that Congress has launched into illegal fund-raising 
activities.
  In the past few days, the White House has blurred the issues by 
claiming to have fully complied with our request for relevant 
documents. This is just not true, Mr. Speaker. The Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight has not received all subpoenaed 
records, and the White House counsel has indicated that the President 
will be asserting executive privilege over an unspecified amount of 
documents.
  The American people have a right to know. After weeks of seemingly 
good-faith negotiations with the White House lawyers in which the 
committee prioritized its request, the White House refuses to provide 
all documents to the committee. For weeks the White House counsel said 
documents would be forthcoming once a document protocol was adopted, 
yet the committee's April 10 adoption of a document protocol was met 
with continued White House resistance.

[[Page H1914]]

  The White House proposed an alternative document protocol essentially 
putting control of subpoenaed documents into the hands of the White 
House that is being investigated. We are today involved in 
investigating allegations of illegalities of a very serious nature 
which must be addressed without delay:
  Did the Clinton administration sell foreign influence overseas in 
return for campaign contributions? The American people have a right to 
know.
  Was America's national security put in jeopardy by foreign money that 
may have found its way into the Democratic National Committee's 
campaign coffers? The American people have a right to know. Did foreign 
governments funnel foreign funds into the 1996 campaign to influence 
the outcome? The American people have a right to know.
  How did a cast of characters, such as John Huang, Charlie Trie, 
Chinese arms dealer Wang Jun, purported Russian mob figure Grigory 
Loutchansky, and convicted drug dealer Jorge Cabrera gain access to the 
highest levels of our Government? The American people have a right to 
know.
  Were there unlawful disclosures of classified information to 
unauthorized Democratic National Committee employees as the CIA 
inspector general is now investigating? The American people have a 
right to know.
  I was optimistic after my first meeting with White House counsel 
Charles Ruff in February that the White House's actions during the last 
Congress of delaying and withholding documents in the Whitewater, FBI 
files, and the Travelgate investigations would not be repeated. Yet, 
now, 6 months into this investigation and a month after the deadline 
for compliance with the committee's March 4 subpoena, the President is 
repeating the same dilatory tactics of the past.
  Many of the subpoenaed documents which the White House has failed to 
produce pertain to close friends that the President has appointed to 
high Government positions, such as Webster Hubbell, John Huang, and 
Mark Middleton. These people have taken the fifth amendment to our 
committee. Other documents pertain to individuals who have fled the 
country, such as former Little Rock restaurant owner, Charlie Trie, 
another Presidential appointee.
  Last week we sent the White House two narrowly targeted subpoenas for 
documents dealing only with John Huang and the Riady family, nothing 
else. These documents were first requested by the committee over 6 
months ago. Mr. Huang is being investigated for alleged illegal 
activities involving foreign governments and interests while a Federal 
employee at the Department of Commerce and his DNC fund-raising 
practices. Of the $3.4 million Huang raised for the DNC campaign during 
the last election, the DNC has pledged to return nearly half of that.
  These two subpoenas were a real test case of whether the White House 
was going to cooperate with Congress or not. The deadline was 
yesterday, and the White House has not produced the documents. My staff 
has spent hours working with the White House to respond to its 
concerns.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to enter into the Record the chronology of 
the Government Reform and Oversight Committee's efforts to get the 
White House to turn over the documents regarding John Huang, which has 
been going on since last October. My predecessor, Chairman Clinger, 
issued the first request for Mr. Huang's documents on October 3, 1996. 
Six months, numerous letter requests, and three subpoenas later, the 
committee has yet to receive all the documents from the White House 
pertaining to John Huang.
  Now we still need to obtain more documents that are outstanding and 
past due that are related to Charlie Trie, Webster Hubbell, and others. 
These documents are also being withheld and are important records we 
will be pursuing in the coming days.
  Mr. Speaker, the major purpose of a congressional investigation is to 
illuminate the facts and not hide them. Congressional investigations 
are by their nature far different from a judicial inquiry where a grand 
jury conducts all matters secretly. Public disclosure of the facts is 
the essence and in large part the purpose of congressional oversight. 
The American people have a right to know the facts in these matters. 
The President committed to provide all documents. I hope that all 
Members, both Democrat and Republican, will join me in asking the 
President to keep his word and comply with our lawful subpoenas and 
produce all documents to our committee.
  The document referred to is as follows:

  Government Reform and Oversight Chronology of White House Document/
                       Subpoena Requests 1996-97

       October 31, 1996--Then Chairman Clinger requested ``all 
     records regarding Mr. Huang's activities'' including Huang's 
     involvement in trade or foreign policy matters, all of 
     Huang's White House meetings and explanation for Huang's 
     fund-raising activities.
       November 13, 1996--Chairman Clinger renewed his request for 
     documents pertaining to John Huang.
       November 1996-January 1997--Former White House Counsel Jack 
     Quinn sent out memos to collect documents pertaining to John 
     Huang, Charlie Trie and other key players connected with the 
     illegal fund-raising allegations. White House made limited 
     production of documents pertaining to these individuals.
       January 15, 1997--Chairman Burton did a letter request to 
     the White House for records pertaining to John Huang, Charlie 
     Trie, Pauline Kanchanalak, and others. The due date for this 
     request was January 30, 1997.
       February 6, 1997--Chuck Ruff met with Chairman Burton and 
     informed him that the President was going to be fully 
     cooperative in providing documents and the President wouldn't 
     claim executive privilege.
       February-March 1997--Limited document productions are made 
     and much of information provided was previously provided or 
     already made public. Substantive documents were produced in 
     connection with certain Senate nominations.
       March 4, 1997--Chairman Burton issued a subpoena to the 
     White House due on March 24, 1997 for documents pertaining to 
     John Huang, the Riadys, Charlie Trie, Webster Hubbell and 
     others.
       March 19, 1997--White House Special Counsel Lanny Breuer 
     wrote to the Committee Chief Counsel: ``I was heartened when 
     you expressed an understanding that the White House 
     anticipated making its production after the Committee had 
     adopted governing protocols.''
       March 28, 1997--White House Special Counsel Breuer again 
     wrote: ``. . .the White House anticipated making its 
     production after the Committee had adopted governing 
     protocols.''
       April 10, 1997--Committee adopts a document protocol for 
     the handling and storage of documents.
       April 15, 1997--White House Counsel's office informed 
     Committee that documents would not be provided despite the 
     adoption of the document protocol. Documents pertaining to 
     categories 1-8 of the subpoena were gathered at this point 
     but the White House does not want to turn them over and 
     refused to provide a privilege log outlining the documents 
     that will be withheld. (Only limited production of non-
     sensitive documents was made).
       April 16, 1997--White House Counsel attorneys and Committee 
     attorneys met to discuss obtaining the outstanding documents. 
     The White House objected to turning over ``sensitive 
     documents'' and refused to commit to providing a privilege 
     log.
       April 18, 1997--After extensive discussions with the White 
     House and the minority staff, the Committee sent a detailed 
     letter to the White House prioritizing the March 4, 1997 
     subpoena. The Committee was told at this time that items 1-8 
     of the subpoena were gathered. Other priority items were 
     identified pertaining to Webster Hubbell and Mark Middleton 
     and were requested by April 28, 1997.
       April 23, 1997--White House Counsel met with Chairman 
     Burton to discuss documents that the White House had not 
     produced. Charles Ruff committed to providing a privilege log 
     for documents the President was going to withhold. Ruff was 
     served at that meeting with two subpoenas specifically 
     requesting all documents pertaining to John Huang and James 
     Riady. (These subpoenas were a subset of previously 
     subpoenaed records and were due to the Committee at noon on 
     April 28, 1997.)
       April 28, 1997--White House failed to provide documents 
     pertaining to John Huang, the Riadys or Webster Hubbell and 
     did not provide a privilege log detailing withheld documents, 
     nor a letter from the President asserting privilege.

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