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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (4097)	9/7/1998 7:24:00 PM
From: Les H	Respond to of 13994

Vanity Fair Joins Carville's War A Whispering Campaign Against Presidential Accuser By WESLEY PHELAN AND MARVIN LEE Two weeks ago Roger Clinton went on live television to issue a warning from his brother, the president, to "politicians who live in glass houses..." Rep. Dan Burton, Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee did not heed the warning. As part of his oversight function he continued to press Janet Reno for a copy of the LaBella memo implicating the president and vice president in illegal fundraising, warranting the appointment of an independent counsel. The reaction was swift. A whispering campaign in Washington alleged that Vanity Fair had investigated the sex life of Dan Burton and was set to publish the story. Press reports indicated that Vanity Fair writer Russ Baker had spent six weeks digging through Burton's trash and sexual history. When asked by the Washington Weekly whether it was true that Baker was investigating Dan Burton, his editor Kim Kessler said: "Yes, but it's not certain it will run." Never mind. The rumor alone, aired to a live CNN audience by both Larry King and Bill Press, had served its purpose. The White House had once again convinced the American people that all this is just about sex. The timing of the Vanity Fair leak makes it unlikely that it was made independent of the White House, whose modus operandi it is to gather dirt on critics by illegally obtaining their FBI file or by having private investigators like Terry Lenzner or Jack Palladino investigate them. In order to launder such illegally obtained information, however, the White House needs the cooperation of a friendly journalist willing to act as a fence and put his name on dirt provided by the White House. Russ Baker in the past has put his name on hit pieces such as one against Republican Congresswoman Susan Molinari, and has contributed to Salon, a Clinton propaganda outlet, so he would be a natural choice for the White House airing of its Burton file. We explored this angle with Russ Baker's editor Kim Kessler at Vanity Fair: QUESTION: Has he received instructions from the White House on how to conduct his investigation? KESSLER: Absolutely not. QUESTION: Has he received information from James Carville, or James Carville's organization on the things he should investigate about Congressman Burton? KESSLER: Definitely not.... QUESTION: Could you tell me what the motivation for the investigation is? KESSLER: Well, Dan Burton is a high profile legislator and the journalist came in and proposed a couple of story ideas and this is the one we went with because he has been in the news. QUESTION: Could you tell me where Mr. Baker got the notion that there might be things in Mr. Burton's past that should be investigated? KESSLER: I'm not sure. I think it probably started with accusations Mr. Burton is being investigated for his own fundraising problems. Past attacks on Clinton critics have been funded, in part, by the People's Republic of China. Johnny Chung has admitted that he donated $25,000 to the "Back to Business" committee that distributed the White House "Communication Stream of Conspiracy Commerce" report that laid out the "vast right-wing conspiracy" of Clinton critics. The "Back to Business" committee was incorporated by the Perkins Coie law firm which represents the interests of the People's Republic of China in the United States. Perkins Coie also incorporated James Carville's "Education and Information Project" that has sponsored attacks on Dan Burton in the past. U.S. intelligence has intercepted claims from the Chinese equivalent of the CIA that it had been successful in "thwarting" the Thompson Committee's investigation of Chinagate last year. If these claims are more than mere bravado and exaggeration, Chinese intelligence could only have done so through allied Senators or journalists. Kim Kessler of Vanity Fair denied that Russ Baker had received any funding from Chinese sources or that the investigation of Dan Burton was an attempt to derail the Burton Committee's investigation into the Chinagate matter. Russ Baker was not available for comment. >>> worldnetdaily.com