<<GOP's Haley Barbour has been raising Chinese money for many years for the RNC. He's now in charge of the GOP congressional races. >>
Proof please.
house.gov
extract from link below:
2. Foreign Contributions Solicited by Haley Barbour
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee uncovered substantial evidence suggesting that RNC Chairman Haley Barbour developed and implemented a plan to funnel foreign contributions to the RNC through the National Policy Forum, a subsidiary of the RNC. As stated in the minority report of the Committee:
Starting in 1993, Haley Barbour . . . carried out a scheme to collect foreign money by channeling the funds through the National Policy Forum . . . . The RNC did this by arranging for a foreign businessman to put up collateral for a bank loan to the NPF. Shortly after the NPF received the loan, it transferred more than $2 million to the RNC which, in turn, channeled the money into the 1994 congressional races around the country.
While Mr. Barbour denies any wrongdoing in connection with the NPF, the Senate minority report sets forth considerable evidence showing Mr. Barbour's heavy personal involvement in the planning and execution of the funneling scheme. Specifically, the Senate minority report notes that:
(1) Mr. Barbour was heavily involved in the formation of the NPF, and subsequently established himself as chairman of the NPF while simultaneously serving as Chairman of the RNC.
(2) Mr. Barbour pushed the idea of soliciting foreign contributions for the NPF over the objections of the NPF's president, Michael Baroody, who later resigned. In a confidential memo explaining his resignation, Mr. Baroody criticized Mr. Barbour's "fascination" with foreign money and called the ostensible legal separation between the NPF and the RNC a "fiction."
(3) Mr. Barbour personally solicited Hong Kong businessman Ambrous Young to provide collateral for the NPF's loan.
(4) Mr. Barbour personally raised with Mr. Young the possibility having the NPF default on the loan so that Mr. Young's collateral could be used to pay the RNC.
The Senate minority report also finds that Mr. Barbour's testimony denying any wrongdoing "is riddled with inconsistencies and contradicted by virtually every other witness with knowledge of the loan transaction." Specifically, the report notes that Mr. Barbour's claim that he was ignorant of the foreign source of the funds is contradicted by several witnesses, including several high-profile Republicans.
There is compelling evidence that Mr. Barbour and his associates intended that the RNC would use the foreign money contributed to the NPF in the 1994 mid-term elections. The RNC's chief political strategist, Donald Fierce, told Fred Volcansek, the NPF fundraiser who solicited the contribution from Mr. Young, that the RNC would use the monies in the fall elections. Mr. Volcansek repeated this information to the U.S. representatives of Mr. Young and directly to Mr. Young himself. According to Mr. Volcansek, he told Mr. Young that "his guarantee would allow for the loan to be made and that then the National Policy Forum would be allowed to be in a position to repay the RNC and the RNC would be able to use that money in the ‘94 election cycle."
Mr. Barbour and the NPF maintain that the NPF is legally permitted to accept foreign contributions because it is independent of the RNC. Their position, however, is contradicted by the overwhelming weight of the evidence. In February 1997, the Internal Revenue Service denied the NPF's tax-exempt organization application because the NPF was a "partisan" organization "designed to promote the Republican Party and politicians affiliated with the Republican Party." In addition, the bank utilized by the NPF noted that the NPF was "an off-shoot of the Republican National Committee;" Republican fundraisers and donors viewed the NPF and RNC interchangeably; and there were significant irregularities in the RNC's financial dealings with the NPF. The NPF´s "independence" was thus, at best, a dubious legal fiction.
Press accounts indicate that Mr. Barbour is currently under investigation by the Department of Justice for possible perjury before the Senate. Those same accounts also indicate that the Department is investigating the underlying funneling scheme developed by Mr. Barbour. |
