Revelations by The New York Times last Friday that China’s People’s
Liberation Army had contributed at least $100,000 to the Democrats’ 1996
election campaign require nothing less urgent or dramatic than immediate
impeachment hearings. But don’t hold your breath.
Though Speaker Newt Gingrich’s reaction was encouraging, his comments
left open the door for President Clinton to do what he and his political
team do best — spin, change the subject, blame the messenger, impugn
the critics, play the victim, stonewall.
“If the president does not act quickly and decisively, my presumption
is that we have a genuine breach of national security for corrupt
political purposes,” Gingrich told the Times. “If the president won’t
share the information with the Congress on these matters, then he and
his administration are guilty. They can’t use defense-attorney
techniques and blatant obstruction to block matters of national
security.”
He also rightly called for Clinton to put a hold on his planned trip
next month to China until he “clears this up.”
That’s called putting the ball in Clinton’s court. It doesn’t belong
there. It belongs in Congress. Clinton has already demonstrated his
concern for the Constitution, the security of the United States, the
interests of his country and the rule of law. It’s time for the nation
to put its affair in order. We simply cannot do that with Clinton in the
presidency.
The only question left unanswered by the Times report is whether
Clinton personally had knowledge of the source of these funds. At best,
it is a moot point.
Have you ever heard of a large campaign contribution for which the
donor did not want the recipient to know the source? It is simply
inconceivable that the Chinese did not want Clinton to know.
If he didn’t know, he is guilty of gross incompetence and ignorance
— a security breach of historical proportions. Yet, certainly he was
aware of the large influx of illegal foreign money– mostly from Asian
sources — into the campaign. His FBI was aware of a plot by the Chinese
to influence the outcome of the elections. And Clinton himself placed
the conduits for these funds — John Huang and Johnny Chung — into
positions of authority, sometimes over the objections of his own top
aides who said they were not qualified.
Now Chung has admitted the source of some of these funds was
Communist Chinese military intelligence. These are “unlaundered” funds.
They came direct through Chung. It is likely a lot more came to the
campaign indirectly through the Riadys in Indonesia and other sources.
Clinton even had his picture taken with Col. Liu Chaoying, a
lieutenant colonel in the Chinese army, at a private, $25,000-per-couple
fund-raising dinner in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of Gen. Liu
Huaquing, a top Communist Party official and one of China’s
highest-ranking military and political leaders.
In a sense, it’s even more dangerous if Clinton didn’t know the
source of the funds. He certainly knows now — which leaves him open to
blackmail by a foreign power with nuclear weapons targeted on American
cities. It goes without saying that officials in Beijing could pull the
plug on the Clinton presidency with one press conference in which they
boast that they successfully bought the last American election. More
likely they will not do that. They will do their bargaining in private,
knowing full well they hold a political gun to the president’s head.
But I think it’s absurd to suggest Clinton didn’t know where the
money came from. All you need to do is study his dramatic policy shifts
toward China. Remember, during the 1992 presidential campaign, it was
Clinton who criticized President Bush for being too soft on Beijing.
Yet, since he has taken office, he has been responsible for coddling the
world’s greatest long-term military threat to the United States. More
recently, he personally again overrode his own Justice Department’s
recommendations and permitted Loral Space and Communications and the
Hughes Corp. to sell missile-guidance technology that threatens the life
and safety of millions of Americans.
It is safe to say that no U.S. president in history has ever acted so
recklessly in the interests of a foreign enemy.
So what do we do about it? Or, more precisely, what does the Congress
do?
Even the Clinton administration’s most fervent defenders are left
nearly speechless by the latest disclosures.
“If what’s reported is true, it’s very troubling,” admitted Rep.
Henry Waxman, D-CA, the point man in the Clinton stonewalling effort on
Dan Burton’s committee investigating campaign finance abuses. “This
would be the first solid evidence that the Chinese government was
implementing a plan to influence our elections.”
Duh. Thank you, Mr. Waxman. With the defend-the-president-at-any-cost
crowd back-pedaling and off-balance, it’s time for Gingrich and Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott to stop pussyfooting around and get down to
protecting this nation’s vital security interests.
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