CHAIRMAN BURTON ASKS MIDDLETON ABOUT CHINESE CONTACTS
Opening Statement, Committee on Government Reform , Aug. 5, 1999
A couple of months ago, we had Johnny Chung testify before this
Committee. Up until that time, he was one of 121 people who had
refused to testify about illegal campaign fundraising.
At the time, I felt like we'd turned a corner. I felt like we
were finally chipping away at the big stone wall and we were
going to see what was on the other side. The Justice Department
actually agreed to have him testify. It was the first real
cooperation we had from the Justice Department in over two years.
What Johnny Chung told us was eye-opening. He testified that the
head of China's military intelligence agency, General Ji Shengde
(Gee-Shang-Duh), gave him $300,000 to help President Clinton's
campaign. Here's what General Ji said:
"We really like your President."
"We hope he will be re-elected."
"I will give you 300,000 U.S. dollars."
"You can give it to your President and the Democrat Party."
His bank records and his passport stamps backed up his story. As
a witness, he was very credible. After the hearing, he shook my
hand and he said:
"Mr. Chairman, one down, 120 to go."
He made it sound so easy. But as we started to follow up on some
of the things Johnny Chung told us, it became obvious that not
very much has changed.
Johnny Chung told us that an official at the U.S. Embassy in
Beijing was accepting cash and gifts in exchange for visas. Chung
told us that he saw this employee, Charles Parish, receive a
paper bag filled with cash and Chinese passports from the head of
the Haomen Beer Company. Chung said that Mr. Parish approved 25
to 30 visas for his Chinese business associates. At the same
time, he asked Chung for more than $7,000.
So I called Mr. Parish before the Committee. Unfortunately, he
took the Fifth. He wouldn't answer a single question. So much for
witness cooperation.
We then tried to question the State Department Inspector General
about her investigation of Mr. Parish. The day before the
hearing, they got a call from the Justice Department. The Justice
Department told them not to talk to us -- not to answer any of
our questions. So much for cooperation from the Justice
Department.
Here's another thing Johnny Chung told us: he said an influential
Chinese banker informed him that Charlie Trie had asked the
Chinese government for a million dollars to help President
Clinton. We've been trying to talk to Charlie Trie for more than
two and a half years.
We have a list of people who have refused to cooperate -- 122
since last week. A lot of those people have taken the Fifth. A
lot of those people have fled the country. Charlie Trie is one of
those rare people who did both. He fled the country -- he hid out
in China for a year. Then he came back, and when we tried to talk
to him, he took the Fifth.
We'd really like to know if Charlie Trie asked the Chinese
government for a million dollars. We'd really like to know if the
Chinese government, or an agent of the Chinese government, gave
it to him.
Charlie Trie reached a plea agreement with the Justice Department
earlier this summer. He's supposed to be cooperating with them.
Well, I know that he's not cooperating with us. Press reports
have suggested that he's not helping the Justice Department much
either.
Yet he's getting a very light sentence -- three years probation.
That's it. No jail time. No fine. Not even community service.
Despite the fact that he just pled guilty in June, they were
rushing ahead with an early sentencing date in August. So I wrote
to the Judge who's supervising the case. I asked him to postpone
Charlie Trie's sentencing until after he has given his full
cooperation to the United States Congress. Given the light
sentence Charlie Trie's getting, I thought that was a pretty
reasonable request. Fortunately, the Judge did postpone Trie's
sentencing. But once again, the Justice Department has fought us
tooth and nail.
Why don't they want Charlie Trie to talk to the Congress?
What are they afraid of?
Don't the Congress and the American people have a right to know
what happened?
I also wrote to the Federal Judge supervising John Huang's case.
Once again, the Justice Department was rushing ahead to sentence
John Huang. He promised to cooperate in exchange for another
light sentence -- 500 hours of community service and a $10,000
fine.
John Huang and Charlie Trie's names were connected to the vast
majority of the illegal contributions that went to the DNC.
Several million dollars. Most of it from foreign sources. And yet
they're both getting a slap on the wrist.
Well, John Huang hasn't cooperated with Congress. Is he giving up
anything of value in exchange for his light sentence, or is this
just another sweetheart deal? If he won't talk to Congress, we'll
probably never know.
The Justice Department wanted to have John Huang sentenced this
week. But the judge agreed to postpone his sentencing -- Over the
objections of the Justice Department!
So much for cooperation from Attorney General Reno. She's trying
to block us at ever turn.
What else did Johnny Chung tell us?
He told us about Mark Middleton.
He told us he was nervous about accepting all this money from a
Chinese general -- the head of their military intelligence agency
-- like the head of our CIA. He told his friend, Liu Chao-Ying,
that he didn't want to take the money. Remember, Liu Chao-Ying is
the daughter of one of the most powerful generals in the People's
Liberation Army. She is a Lt. Colonel in the PLA. Liu told him
not to worry, because they were working with other people too.
According to Johnny Chung, she said that Mark Middleton got a
half-million dollars through a group in Singapore to "do good
things for China."
Mark Middleton is here today. He is a former senior White House
aide from Arkansas. He was close to the President. He was the
Special Assistant to the President and Assistant to the Chief of
Staff. For the last two-and-a-half years, he has not cooperated
with this Committee's investigation in any way.
Did Mark Middleton know Liu Chao-Ying? We don't know.
Was he working with the Chinese government or other foreign
sources to arrange campaign contributions? We don't know.
Did Mark Middleton get half-a-million dollars to "do good things
for China?" We don't know.
We've asked Mr. Middleton to come in and talk to us. We've asked
him to respond to all of the allegations that have been raised
about him. We haven't been able to convince him to tell us his
side of the story.
His lawyer tells us that he's going to assert his Fifth Amendment
rights and not answer any of our questions today. I want to note
that we have an opinion from the non-partisan Congressional
Research Service that indicates that Mr. Middleton may have
effectively waived his Fifth Amendment rights under D.C. Law.
We're going to be looking into this further.
However, I think it's unfortunate that we're in this situation to
begin with. Mark Middleton was a White House aide. The taxpayers
paid his salary. For him to say he's going to take the Fifth and
not cooperate with a Congressional investigation is just
unseemly. More than two years ago, the President told the
American people that everyone would cooperate. What happened to
that pledge?
Mr. Middleton's lawyer tells us that he has given his complete
cooperation to the Justice Department. He tells us that Mr.
Middleton has done nothing wrong. We don't know.
Mr. Middleton, if you haven't done anything wrong, why not speak
up and say so?
If you've cooperated with the Justice Department, why won't you
cooperate with the Congress of the United States?
The more we learn about the Justice Department, the more it looks
like a hollow investigation. We recently learned that the
Attorney General's staff stopped the FBI from serving a search
warrant on Charlie Trie's assistant while she was destroying
documents. They let her keep destroying documents for three more
months.
The Justice Department got Johnny Chung's Hong Kong bank records
two years ago. They showed that Liu Chao-Ying wired Mr. Chung
$300,000 from Citibank, a U.S. bank. We received those same
documents in May. Since then, we've subpoenaed and obtained more
information from Citibank that shed more light on Liu Chao Ying
and her financial activities. According to Citibank, the
Department of Justice never requested these records. We've seen
this time and time again.
Is it any wonder that the Congress has doubts about the Justice
Department's investigation? Is it any wonder that we want to
interview these same people?
I'd like to make one last appeal to Mr. Middleton. I want to ask
one last time that you not invoke the 5th Amendment.
A lot of tough things have been written about you over the last
couple of years. You must want to defend yourself.
We've received testimony that you were doing something
clandestine with agents of the Chinese military -- the daughter
of the PLA's most senior general. It was very cryptic. But since
you haven't spoken to us, it's all we have to go on.
It's been reported that you were trying to raise money for the
President's campaign in Taiwan.
I'm going to put up a DNC document on the screen. It says that
you're bringing in a very wealthy and powerful family from
Indonesia to see DNC Chairman Don Fowler. Here's what it says:
"The Widjaja (Wid-Jai-Ya) family is one of the wealthiest and
most successful families in Indonesia. Mark Middleton will
discuss their giving potential at a later date."
If you're being unfairly maligned, then defend yourself. Your
attorney says that you haven't done anything wrong. Then explain
that to this Committee. Explain it to the American people.
We've been trying for two-and-a-half years to find out what
happened because the American people deserve to know the truth. I
just hope that you'll really think long and hard about this.
You've never testified under oath before. It's time for you to
set the record straight.
I now yield to Mr. Waxman for his opening statement, and then
other Members will also be welcome to make opening statements if
they wish.
Published in the Aug. 9, 1999 issue of The Washington Weekly
Copyright 1999 The Washington Weekly (http://www.federal.com)
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