CB -
newsmax.com
"Sunday, Jan. 14, 2001 2:54 PM EST
Chao, Chavez's Replacement , Implicated in Chinagate
Elaine Chao, the wife of Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and the woman selected by President-elect George W. Bush to replace Labor Secretary designee Linda Chavez, had several contacts during the 1990's with key Chinagate figure John Huang.
Deposition transcripts taken by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based public interest law firm, and released exclusively today to NewsMax.com, reveal that Huang's relationship with Chao may have been more significant than previously disclosed.
Huang was a former Clinton Commerce Dept. official who was a central figure in raising illegal campaign dollars for the Democratic National Committee from Asian sources during the 1996 Presidential race.
Huang has already admitted to at least one illegal donation to the campaign of Chao's husband, Sen. McConnell.
In a November 6, 2000 deposition taken by the the Washington, D.C. based legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, Huang admitted to funneling $2,000 to McConnell's Senate campaign at a 1990 Los Angeles fund-raiser.
Huang acknowledged being reimbursed for the McConnell donation and other contributions by his employer at the time, the Lippo Group -- the Asian overseas banking conglomerate founded by Indonesian billionaire Clinton backer Mochtar Riady who has strong ties to communist China.
Under intense questioning by Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman, Huang repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment privileges when asked to detail his relationship with both McConnell and Chao. Huang was later cited for contempt.
Questions Huang refused to answer include whether he had arranged later donations for McConnell while working at the Clinton Commerce Department and whether McConnell had asked for favors before and during his employment there.
Huang also refused to explain whether any of McConnell's donors ended up on overseas trade missions sponsored by the Clinton administration...."
Regards, Don |
