For all those who thought some of the tenets in Gore's 'Earth in the Balance' smacked of socialism, you were right! For those who didn't make the connection or don't care, wake up and smell the coffee!
Investors Business Daily
02/13/98 Editorial
Not for commercial use... for official conspiracy use only.
E D I T O R I A L S
'Grave Questions' For Al Gore
Date: 2/13/98
Let everyone else wonder what Vice President Al Gore knew about that now-notorious
Buddhist temple fund-raiser in April '96. We think Gore's ties to the woman behind the
event are enough to cast doubt on his judgment and fitness for high office.
The woman is Maria Hsia. Senate investigators have found that her dealings with Gore go
back several years before the event at California's Hsi Lai Temple.
Sen. Fred Thompson's Governmental Affairs Committee will soon make public its report
on fund-raising abuses, covering both the Clinton-Gore campaigns and activities of
Democratic and Republican party organizations.
Parts of the final draft obtained by the media have raised some especially sharp questions
about Gore.
Reporter Bob Woodward, writing this week in The Washington Post, quotes from one
section of the draft that concludes that Hsia was ''an agent of the Chinese government, that
she acted knowingly in support of it, and that she has attempted to conceal her relationship
with the Chinese government. The committee has also learned that Hsia has worked in
direct support of a PRC diplomatic post in the U.S.''
Woodward described the language in this section as ''understated and studiously
nonpartisan.'' Hsia's lawyer has denied a Chinese link to her client.
A chapter of the final draft obtained by IBD traces in detail the origins of Gore's links to
Hsia back to 1988.
At the time, then-Sen. Gore needed money. His 1988 run for the White House drew
down his campaign reserves and left him strapped for his senatorial re-election bid in
1990.
Don't believe the Thompson committee? Then trust Gore's own words. The committee
cites letters Gore sent to Hsia.
Their relationship budded with an early 1989 trip that Gore, Hsia and others took to
Taiwan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. Among others apparently along for more than just a
ride was one John Huang, at the time working for Lippo Bank.
Later, of course, Huang was a Democratic National Committee official whose activities
are at the center of the fund-raising scandal.
Of five senators invited on the Far East trip, only Gore accepted. The committee's final
draft cites evidence that Hsia wrote Gore that, if he went on the trip, she would persuade
''all my colleagues in the future to play a leader ic) role in your future presidential race.''
A letter from a grateful Gore said, ''Thanks so much; it will help a great deal as we move
into the 1990 campaign. You are a wonderful friend.'' Afterward, Hsia vigorously aided
Gore's fund-raising efforts.
The 86-page section of the draft points to other curiosities.
A White House meeting that led to Gore's invitation to the temple fund-raiser came only
after intense scrutiny from Gore's national security staff out of fear over how it might affect
relations in the Far East.
But the draft report describes another Gore meeting with a person connected to China
Resources, a known front for Chinese intelligence. The Thompson committee draft does
not note any concerns by Gore's staff about this meeting.
Unless the committee missed something, the vice president's office has even more
explaining to do.
The committee draft also reveals that Gore opened himself to Hsia's influence. It suggests,
for instance, that Gore's book on the environment, ''Earth in the Balance,'' may reflect
some of her thinking.
A letter sent to Hsia by Gore's then-chief of staff Peter Knight reads in part: ''The
materials you got for Al's book on the environment were perfect. Thanks so much for
taking the time to do it. He would have been lost without your efforts because the chapter
on religion and the environment was integral to his work.''
Referring to Hsia's reported Beijing connections, a key section of the draft report reads,
''Were such alleged intelligence reports to be true, Hsia's long relationship to the vice
president of the United States would raise grave new questions about the extent to which
Chinese intelligence operatives have been able to influence U.S. politics during the Clinton
administration.''
Far from being a partisan rant, this issue bears directly on the integrity of Gore's office. As
unpleasant as such ''grave new questions'' are to raise, they require complete answers.
(C) Copyright 1998 Investors Business Daily, Inc.
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