Seems like a very stupid move.
WASHINGTON (March 5) -- Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung has agreed to plead guilty to election law violations and cooperate in the ongoing Justice Department investigation into illegal campaign fund-raising in the 1996 elections.
Chung's attorney Brian Sun said in a statement released to CNN, "Mr. Chung has reached an agreement with the government. Mr. Chung wants to put this matter behind him as quickly as possible. He and his family are looking forward to getting on with their lives."
Chung became a major figure in the Democratic fund-raising scandal when it was learned he made almost 50 visits to the White House. During one visit, Chung gave first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's then-chief of staff, Maggie Williams, a $50,000 check for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The check was delivered inside the White House.
Two days later Chung was able to bring a group of Chinese businessmen to watch President Bill Clinton deliver a radio address in the Oval Office. They then had their picture taken with the president.
The DNC returned more than $300,000 that Chung raised because of questions about the source of the money.
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/03/05/chung.pleads /
January 08, 2008 8:46 PM
ABC News' Kate Snow reports that Maggie Williams, the former chief of staff for then-First Lady Hillary Clinton, will take control of Clinton's presidential campaign.
Not to cast aspersions at what I'm sure will prove to be an astute hire....but I can't be the only one who remembers that Williams had a role in those late-90s campaign finance scandals.
She's the one who took the $50,000 donation from Johnny Chung. And Chung claimed she solicited the contribution at the White House (which the White House denied.)
Moreover, last November, Williams was cited in a New York Times story about the huge figure -- $30 million -- Clinton spent on being re-elected to the US Senate while facing nominal opposition. Many donors were concerned that the campaign had become a way for consultants to become wealthy.
Wrote the Times: "A close friend of Mrs. Clinton, Maggie Williams, received a $37,500 consulting fee, paid to her firm, Griffin Williams Critical Point Management, at the end of July.
"Asked what the payment was for, Mrs. Clinton's campaign aides checked and subsequently responded that the payment had been a mistake. They said it should have been for less than $5,000 to reimburse Ms. Williams, who served as chief of staff to Mrs. Clinton in the White House, for travel costs. They said Ms. Williams would return the extra money. Ms. Williams, who was said by Mrs. Clinton's aides to be traveling, did not return a call to her office."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/01/welcome... 
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
