For the first time, campaign fund-raising figure
Johnny Chung is publicly telling his story that the head of Chinese military intelligence gave him $300,000 intended to help re-elect President Bill Clinton
Well, I was listening to a good portion of that hearing on C-SPAN radio this afternoon and I didn't hear Chung say anywhere that the money was given to him for the explicit purpose of being funneled to the DNC.
What I think may be the real story is this Chinese intelligence head was extremely savvy about not leaving any testifiable evidence that this was ploy aimed at meddling in US politics. While he may not have specifically stated what Chung should to with the money, I think there was an implicit understanding that should Chung not use it to advance political and business agendas for the Chinese gov't, he might have some "explaining" to do, one broken knuckle at a time.
You just don't provide $300,000 to someone without having at least a vague understanding and assurance that you're going to get your money's worth.
In sum, US politics is incredibly corrupt. The Chinese know it and exploit it to their own benefit. They justifiably look down upon the US as a place where money can buy almost anything.
Of course, they completely ignore the fact that, while money is considered an excercise of the 1st amendment, China completely lacks an environment where this type of pork barrel politics can be practiced.
In fact, their people only found out today (officially) that the US has already twice apoligized for the accidental bombing of their embassy.
Regards,
Ron |
