-Caveat Lector-
October 19, 1999
Arms dealer's 'in' was through Clinton friend
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The Democratic National Committee invited a Chinese arms dealer
to a White House coffee with President Clinton at the insistence
of Washington investment counselor Ernest G. Green, a longtime
presidential pal whom the Justice Department's campaign finance
task force is now investigating.
Richard Sullivan, a former DNC finance chairman, told the
Senate Governmental Affairs Committee at a July 1997 deposition
that an invitation to arms dealer Wang Jun for the February 1996
coffee was "obviously a mistake" but it had been issued as a
favor to Mr. Green.
Mr. Sullivan, who coordinated DNC efforts to target
big-dollar donors, including Democratic fund-raiser Charles Yah
Lin Trie, told committee lawyers that DNC officials advised him
the Wang invitation was "important for Ernie and Charlie" -- a
reference to Mr. Green and Trie.
"It was a mistake, . . . obviously a mistake," Mr. Sullivan
testified. "It was something, as I understood it, that was
important that Ernie had this guy in town doing business. Ernie
had been a longtime supporter, and it was purely as a favor to
Ernie."
The task force investigation of Mr. Green began earlier
this year after the House Government Reform Committee filed a
criminal referral with the Justice Department. The referral said
Mr. Green sought to "mislead this committee and the Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs" concerning his donations to
the DNC.
"As you may know, Mr. Green is a longtime friend of
President Clinton," said Rep. Dan Burton, Indiana Republican and
committee chairman, in a March 12 letter to Attorney General
Janet Reno. " . . . I hope you can conduct this investigation
with the vigor and impartiality it deserves."
Mr. Green's attorney, Larry Barcella, confirmed an inquiry
is under way but said it would clear his client of any
wrongdoing.
The task force, lawyers and others close to the inquiry
said, wants to know if Mr. Green made improper campaign
contributions to the DNC, if he was illegally reimbursed, if the
contributions were sought in exchange for Mr. Wang's White House
visit and if Mr. Green lied about the cash gifts under oath to
the Senate and House committees.
On the day of the Feb. 6, 1996, coffee, Mr. Green made a
$50,000 donation to the DNC in two checks of $20,000 and $30,000,
according to Federal Election Commission records. Over the next
nine months, he gave an additional $7,500. In 1995, Mr. Green
donated $250.
At the time of the coffee, Mr. Wang -- a former officer in
the People's Liberation Army -- was chairman of a Chinese arms
company known as Poly Technologies Inc., which makes weapons for
the Chinese military. The firm came under investigation in
February 1996 by the U.S. Customs Service in a smuggling
operation. Customs identified Poly Technologies as the source of
2,000 AK-47s delivered to drug dealers and street gangs in the
United States.
Mr. Green and Trie, who has since pleaded guilty to
campaign finance abuses and agreed to cooperate in the task force
investigation, helped Mr. Wang obtain a U.S. visa to attend the
White House coffee. Both wrote letters of recommendation to the
U.S. Embassy for Mr. Wang for the visa, which was issued on Jan.
22, 1996.
Mr. Green, managing director at Lehman Brothers Inc. in
Washington, has steadfastly denied that the $50,000 donation was
connected to Mr. Wang's White House visit.
He told the House committee that he made the donation out
of a long-standing desire to contribute large amounts to the
Democratic Party and the cash came from his Lehman Brothers
earnings.
But House investigators said they believe the $50,000 might
not have come entirely from Mr. Green's own money. They said bank
records document 11 trips he made to two banks between Dec. 15,
1995, and Feb. 23, 1996 -- at the time of the White House coffee
-- to deposit more than $30,000.
The records said that on Feb. 9, 1996, he made four
deposits for $8,000. Mr. Green could not recall the source of the
money or the circumstances of the multiple deposits, but he told
the panel the money could have come from speaking engagements at
churches and schools. He could not provide corroborating evidence
requested by the House panel.
Mr. Clinton has said it was "clearly inappropriate" for Mr.
Wang to have been included among coffee guests but that "nothing
inappropriate" occurred.
Mr. Green, one of the "Little Rock Nine," who integrated
Central High School in the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court
decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, celebrated the event
last week with Mr. Clinton.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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