Did China Give Money For The Clinton Campaign?

Senator Fred Thompson led the Senate investigation
Photo by Ray Lustig,
The Washington Post

Key Stories

Stories are listed most recent first in each category.

• Justice Department Investigation
• Clinton and the DNC
• Gore in the Spotlight
• Campaign Finance Legislation
• Fund-Raising Continues
• House Hearings
• Senate Hearings
• Money Machine: A Post Series
• Chinese Influence-Buying Allegations

Also see these key story pages:
• Chinese Missile Allegations
• Bruce Babbitt Probe
• Senate Hearings News Archive

Justice Department Investigation

• Overview: In late 1996, a Justice Department task force started investigating allegations of campaign fund-raising abuses by the Clinton reelection campaign. Critics accused Attorney General Janet Reno of botching the investigation and demanded that she appoint an independent counsel. In a Dec. 3, 1997, Post story, Roberto Suro wrote about Reno's decision not to appoint an independent counsel to investigate telephone fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Gore. See Reno Decides Against Independent Counsel To Probe Clinton, Gore.

Jury Acquits Clinton-Gore Donor in Finance Probe
July 2, 1999
Tennessee financier Franklin L. Haney, a longtime friend of Vice President Gore's family, was acquitted by a jury of 42 charges accusing him of violating campaign contribution laws.

Campaign Fund Probe Winds Down
May 30, 1999
The recent plea bargains in the Justice Department's investigation of fund-raising by the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection effort do not portend a new wave of indictments.

Huang to Offer Guilty Plea
May 26, 1999
The Justice Department announced that John Huang has agreed to plead guilty to a single felony charge as part of an agreement that legal sources said promises that he will not be prosecuted in connection with his fund-raising for President Clinton.

Trie to Plead Guilty
May 22, 1999
Controversial fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie entered into a plea agreement with the Justice Department, winning leniency in exchange for telling all in an investigation of improper campaign contributions originating in China.

Not Chinese Agent, Chung Says
May 12, 1999
Former Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung told a congressional committee that he received $300,000 from a Chinese general interested in influencing the 1996 presidential election. But he insisted that he "never acted as an agent for the Chinese government."

Reno Delays Decision on Ickes Investigation
December 1, 1998
Attorney General Janet Reno delayed a decision on whether an independent counsel should investigate allegations that a top aide to President Clinton committed perjury during a Senate campaign finance probe.

Reno Rejects Probe of Gore on Lying
November 25, 1998
Attorney General Janet Reno said there are "no reasonable grounds" to pursue a case against Vice President Gore on charges he lied to Justice Department officials during an investigation last year of fund-raising phone calls he placed from his White House office during the 1996 campaign.

Judge: 'Soft Money' Not Covered by Foreign Political Donor Ban
October 10, 1998
In an opinion that could undermine major campaign finance prosecutions, a federal judge concluded that the Justice Department has seriously misinterpreted the law governing political contributions by foreign nationals.

Prosecutors' Approach to Huang Signals Shift in Probe
October 2, 1998
Granting John Huang immunity would mark a major reversal for the Justice Department.

Much of Hsia Case Thrown Out
September 11, 1998
A federal judge delivered a harsh setback to Attorney General Janet Reno's campaign finance investigation, throwing out much of the government's case against Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia.

Clinton Faces New Campaign Probe
September 3, 1998
President Clinton is the subject of a new Justice Department probe to determine whether an independent counsel should investigate allegations that he personally violated campaign spending laws during his 1996 reelection effort.

Preliminary Probe Ordered in Ickes Case
August 29, 1998
Attorney General Janet Reno took the first step toward seeking an independent counsel to investigate whether Harold Ickes, one of the principal architects of President Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, lied to the Senate about political favors he performed to enlist support from the Teamsters union.

Reno Relaunches Gore Investigation
August 27, 1998
Attorney General Janet Reno ordered a preliminary investigation into whether Vice President Gore lied to Justice Department officials looking into the campaign finance scandal.

Panel Votes to Hold Reno in Contempt
August 7, 1998
A House committee voted to hold Attorney General Janet Reno in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over Justice Department memos subpoenaed in a dispute over her failure to appoint an independent counsel to investigate 1996 campaign fund-raising abuses.

Reno Unmoved in Senate Grilling
July 16, 1998
Attorney General Janet Reno testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, deflecting pointed questions from frustrated Republicans about the inquiry into 1996 campaign finance abuses.

Businesswoman Charged With Illegal Donations
July 14, 1998
Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak and her sister-in-law were charged with funneling foreign contributions to the Democratic National Committee and other U.S. political committees, the sixth and seventh indictments from the Justice Department campaign finance task force.

Chung Alleges DNC Sought Illegal Funds
June 20, 1998
Democratic contributor Johnny Chung has told Justice Department investigators that top Democratic National Committee officials knowingly solicited and accepted improper donations from him.

Justice Dept. Investigates Satellite Exports
May 17, 1998
The Justice Department's campaign finance task force has begun to examine whether a Clinton administration decision to export commercial satellites to China was influenced by contributions to the Democratic Party during the 1996 campaign.

Chung Ties Chinese Funds to Democrats
May 16, 1998
Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung has told Justice Department investigators that a Chinese military officer who is an executive with a state-owned aerospace company gave him $300,000 to donate to the Democrats' 1996 campaign.

Chung Makes Deal With Prosecutors
March 6, 1998
Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung, who delivered a $50,000 campaign contribution to the White House and escorted Chinese businessmen to a presidential radio address, agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department's investigation of finance abuses in the 1996 campaign.

Fund-Raiser Makes Plea of Not Guilty
February 20, 1998
Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia proclaimed her innocence a day after a grand jury charged her with laundering illegal contributions from a California Buddhist temple to the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection effort and other Democratic campaigns.

Trie Enters Plea of Not Guilty
February 6, 1998
Presidential friend Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie entered a plea of not guilty on federal charges that he funneled illegal foreign contributions to the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection effort in order to buy access to top Democratic Party and Clinton administration officials.

Indictment Secured in Fund Probe
January 29, 1998
The Justice Department secured its first indictment in the investigation of alleged fund-raising abuses during the 1996 presidential campaign, charging Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, an Arkansas friend of President Clinton's, with funneling illegal foreign funds into Democratic coffers.

The Probe's Path: A Timeline
December 3, 1997
Key events in the investigation, from March 3 to December 2.

Reno Concedes Problems in Funds Probe
October 16, 1997
Attorney General Janet Reno acknowledged that the Justice Department investigation of the campaign finance scandal has been plagued by internal tensions and organizational problems.

Basic Conflict Impeded Justice Probe of Fund-Raising
October 3, 1997
The justice task force was plagued by a disagreement over its mandate that was so fundamental it may have crippled its efforts from the start.

Reno Is Now Probing Clinton's Fund-Raising
September 21, 1997
The Justice Department has taken the first step in a process that could lead to the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate allegations that President Clinton made illegal 1996 fund-raising telephone calls from the White House.

Reno Moves to Expand Fund-Raising Inquiry
September 17, 1997
Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered a major shake-up and expansion of the task force investigating allegations of illegal fund-raising.

Reno Formally Rejects Independent Counsel
April 15, 1997
Attorney General Janet Reno rejected Republican demands for an independent counsel to investigate reports of illegal fund-raising by the 1996 Clinton reelection campaign.

Clinton and the Democratic National Committee

Overview: At the heart of the allegations of fund-raising improprieties sit Bill Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. The DNC eventually returned $2.8 million in illegal or inappropriate contributions. But in a Sept. 23, 1997, Post story, John F. Harris wrote that President Clinton said that he and Vice President Gore "believed we were acting within the letter of the law" when raising funds for the 1996 campaign. See Clinton Defends Fund-Raising.

FEC Lets '96 Campaigns off on 'Issue Ads'
December 2, 1998
The Federal Election Commission voted unanimously against demanding multimillion-dollar repayments from President Clinton and his 1996 Republican rival, former senator Robert J. Dole, for allegedly misusing party funds during their presidential campaigns.

Audits Fault Clinton, Dole on '96 Party Ads
December 2, 1998
Federal Election Commission auditors have concluded that both President Clinton and former senator Robert J. Dole illegally financed nationwide television advertising blitzes during the 1996 presidential campaign and should repay millions of dollars in federal matching funds.

Reno Decides Against Independent Counsel To Probe Clinton, Gore
December 3, 1997
Attorney General Janet Reno announced that she had decided against seeking an independent counsel to investigate telephone fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Gore, declaring that the final determination was hers alone and that she was not influenced by politics or any outside pressure.

Clinton Defends Fund-Raising
March 8, 1997
President Clinton said he was forced to chase contributions by a system that is "out of whack." He urged the public not to assume the worst about his motives and those of big-money donors.

President Had Big Role in Setting Donor Perks
February 26, 1997
President Clinton and top aides were intimately involved in orchestrating a broad campaign fund-raising operation during his first term and explicitly authorized the use of the White House as a tool to woo or reward big donors, according to internal documents.

For DNC Donor, 'Resistance' Was Overcome
September 9, 1997
Democratic fund-raisers made sure that oil financier Roger Tamraz, a major DNC contributor, was admitted to four White House functions in spite of concerns about his business dealings.

Democrats Return $1.4 Million in Questionable Donations
June 28, 1997
Democratic National Committee officials announced they had returned another $1.4 million in illegal or inappropriate donations, raising the total to $2.8 million.

Unfolding Story Swelling Like a Sponge
April 6, 1997
A look at key elements of the campaign finance controversy.

Gore in the Spotlight

Overview: 1997 was a bad year for Vice President Al Gore, who saw his squeaky-clean reputation tarnished by accusations that his enthusiasm for fund-raising crossed ethical and legal boundaries. In an Oct. 4, 1997, Post story, Ceci Connolly wrote that the investigation into campaign finance abuses has put Gore in a position that he – unlike Clinton – is not at all used to. See Vice President Is Thrust Into Unfamiliar Role.

Justice Dept. Looks Again at Gore
August 21, 1998
A former aide's handwritten notes on a Democratic National Committee memo have raised questions about Vice President Gore's longstanding contention that he did not directly solicit money for President Clinton's 1996 campaign.

Under Intense Scrutiny, Gore Hits the Money Trail
March 25, 1998
As Vice President Gore turns his attention to the next presidential campaign, he is precariously balanced between the imperative to raise megabucks and the new reality that every check and every event poses the potential for a public relations fiasco.

Gore's Ties to Hsia Cast Shadow on 2000 Race
February 23, 1998
Now that Maria Hsia's career as a Democratic fund-raiser is scheduled to be the subject of the first trial to arise from the 1996 presidential campaign, Republicans can hardly hide their glee over the prospect that the presumed Democratic front-runner in the 2000 race for the White House might find his name bandied around a courtroom.

News Analysis: Gore and Cash Calls, a Question of Intent
September 11, 1997
Vice President Gore's solicitation of regulated money from a federal building may constitute a violation of the law, potentially a crippling blow to Gore's presidential ambitions. But anybody who investigates the case will have to show Gore's "intent" to break the law to have any chance at a successful prosecution.

Reno Holds Power Over Vice President's Prospects
September 9, 1997
Long before Vice President Gore gets a chance to face voters in the year 2000, he finds himself in the precarious position of being judged by an electorate of one: Attorney General Janet Reno.

Justice Dept. to Probe Gore Fund Calls
September 4, 1997
The Justice Department has launched a review of Vice President Gore's solicitation of campaign contributions by telephone from his White House office to determine if they warrant a full-scale investigation that could lead to appointment of an independent counsel.

Gore Donors' Funds Used as 'Hard Money'
September 3, 1997
More than $120,000 in campaign contributions personally solicited in 1995-96 by Vice President Gore for a "soft money" account not covered by federal law instead went into a "hard money" account subject to federal election limits.

Documents Detail Gore's Calls for DNC
August 27, 1997
Between late November 1995 and early May 1996, Vice President Gore spoke by telephone with at least 46 people from his White House office, each time seeking a contribution of between $25,000 and $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee, according to documents in the possession of Senate investigators.

Gore: Calls Broke No Law
March 4, 1997
Vice President Gore asserted he had broken no laws but said he would no longer make telephone solicitations from his office.

Gore Was 'Solicitor-in-Chief'
March 2, 1997
Vice President Gore played the central role in soliciting millions of dollars in campaign money for the Democratic Party during the 1996 election.

Campaign Finance Legislation

Overview: Congress has ducked major campaign finance legislation for more than a decade. The controversy over abuses during the 1996 presidential elections created a sense of urgency. But campaign finance remains the most partisan of issues (see the introduction to this special report). In a Sept. 27, 1997, Post article, Helen Dewar described the floor debate on the issue, during which Senators used rare passion and eloquence to describe the sharp divisions among them. See Senators Debate Campaign Finance.

Campaign Reforms Pass House
Sept. 15, 1999
The House approved a bipartisan bill to overhaul campaign finance laws by cutting off the flow of unregulated contributions to political parties and curbing attack ads by advocacy groups.

Campaign Finance Issue Divides Abortion Foes
Sept. 14, 1999
The National Right to Life Committee has made the defeat of efforts to curb money's influence on politics one of its top priorities, and its unlikely crusade has caused deep rifts in the antiabortion movement.

GOP House Moderates Push 'Soft Money' Plan
May 6, 1999
House Republican advocates of tighter campaign finance rules may have to choose between sticking with their leadership or joining Democrats in trying to force an early vote.

High Court Refuses Campaign Spending Case
November 17, 1998
The Supreme Court refused to take up the controversial issue of campaign spending limits, quashing what proponents of campaign finance reform saw as their best hope in years of reducing the influence of money in politics.

Campaign Finance Bill Buried for Year
September 11, 1998
The Senate again blocked action on legislation to tighten the nation's campaign finance laws, dooming its last flickering chance for passage this year.

House Passes Finance Limits for Campaigns
August 7, 1998
The House overwhelmingly approved legislation to stop the flow of unregulated "soft money" to political parties and crack down on attack ads by special interest groups, putting new pressure on hostile Senate Republicans to approve the plan.

House Approves a Bill on Campaign Finance
August 4, 1998
The House gave initial approval to the most far-reaching of several campaign finance proposals due to come before, putting the measure on track for final passage by the House, and an uphill fight in the Senate.

Campaign Reform: Death by Debate?
July 13, 1998
Even for Congress, the House's Bipartisan Campaign Integrity Act of 1997 stands as a tour de force of parliamentary esoterica.

Reform Plans May Lead to Lengthy House Debate
May 21, 1998
Rival camps in the fight over campaign finance legislation got the official go-ahead to launch a free-for-all debate in the House that could last well into summer.

Campaign Bill Gains in House
April 23, 1998
House Republican leaders abruptly reversed course and agreed to votes in May on major campaign finance legislation, retreating in the face of a bipartisan rebellion that threatened their control of the House on the increasingly volatile issue.

House Rejects GOP Campaign Finance Bill
March 31, 1998
The House emphatically rejected the Republican leadership's campaign finance bill as angry Democratic and GOP critics decried the voting process as a "fraud" and "sham" that barred consideration of their bipartisan plan to curb fund-raising abuses.

Campaign Finance Bill Dies in Senate
February 27, 1998
Legislation to overhaul the nation's scandal-ridden campaign finance system died in the Senate after supporters failed to end a Republican filibuster against the measure.

Campaign Finance Resurfacing in Senate
February 20, 1998
Campaign finance reform returns to center stage in the Senate, with its advocates battling the odds to break through formidable obstacles that have stymied action for the past two decades.

News Analysis: Will the Public Force Action on Campaigns?
October 13, 1997
Republicans won the latest battle over campaign finance reform, but the war slogs on – with no end in sight as long as money pours into the system, reformers try to control it, both sides perceive political gain and the public tunes out on the whole thing.

Campaign Finance Overhaul Blocked
October 8, 1997
Legislation sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) could not attract the 60 votes to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster, emboldening its foes to claim that it is finished.

Campaign Reform�s Uphill Fight
October 7, 1997
The McCain-Feingold bill, aimed at staunching the flow of unlimited "soft money" to political parties, is a slimmed-down version of legislation pushed unsuccessfully nearly every year of the past decade. Details changed, but it always tripped over one hurdle or another.

The Man Who Makes Money Talk
September 7, 1997
A profile of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the leading foe of campaign finance reform.