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“WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H2779-H2780 on May 15, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, this morning I discussed 6 individuals that were involved in the activities of the 1996 campaign in raising money for the Democratic National Committee. As a member of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, we have been looking at the activities of Webster Hubbell, John Huang, Charlie Trie, James Riady, and Mark Middleton, as well as Pauline Kachanalak.
The White House has stated on a number of occasions that it is fully cooperating with our committee subpoenas, but that is simply not true. The White House has given us some documents, but they consist mostly of highly censored items; the fancy word is redacted. It means they have blackened out everything on the page but perhaps one word, and we have dozens of copies of that, maybe hundreds. We asked for copies of correspondence involving these people. We get back newspaper clippings, blank pieces of paper and other irrelevancies.
Mr. Speaker, the White House claims that it needs more time to comply, but our first subpoenas with served on March 4; that is over 2 months ago. Moreover, the first request for documents pertaining to one key player, John Huang, were made by former chairman Bill Clinger on October 31, 1996, before the election.
Mr. Speaker, that is roughly 6 months of stalling by the White House, and the question has to be asked: What are they hiding? And why does the Whitehouse not want us to see any information about these 6 individuals?
Mr. Speaker, the first of these players is well known to all of us. Web Hubbell worked with Mrs. Clinton at the Rose law firm in Arkansas. After the 1992 election, Hubbell became the Number 3 man in the United States Department of Justice. In March 1994 Hubbell suddenly resigned from the Justice Department. In December of 1994 he plead guilty to tax evasion and defrauding his clients of nearly a half a million dollars, and he served a year and a half in jail. We have recently discovered that key people in the White House, such as former chief of staff Mack McLarty and Erskine Bowles, current chief of staff, solicited employment for Hubbell after his resignation which garnered him at least a half million dollars including $100,000 from a company run by the Riady family. We have also recently read in published reports that the President's personal lawyer and a close friend from Arkansas knew that Hubbell's problems were of a criminal nature. In contrast, the Clintons have maintained that they knew nothing about the seriousness of the charges against Hubbell until he plead guilty in December.
Is there a connection between top administration officials orchestrating an effort to get Web Hubbell lucrative employment and Hubbell's refusal to cooperate with the independent counsel's Whitewater investigation? In the words of a prominent New York Times columnist, A.M. Rosenthal, quote, it would not take a particularly suspicious mind, let alone a prosecutor's to see high paying jobs as hush money to keep a defendant silent, unquote from the May 6 issue of the New York Times. Mr. Hubbell has invoked the fifth amendment and refuses to cooperate with the committee.
Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve a full airing of this issue in open public hearings. Who are the Riadys and why are we seeking to obtain documents concerning them from the White House? Mochtar Riady and his son James controlled the $5 billion Lippo group empire. Lippo was John Huang's employer. Lippo has very strong ties to many countries in Asia including China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Banking tycoon, James Riady, has known the President since the late 1970s when he was working in an Arkansas bank. James Riady cemented his friendship in the 1992 Presidential elections by giving at least $700,000 to the Democratic National Committee, its State affiliates, the inaugural committee and other soft money venues.
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After the 1992 election, James Riady returned to Indonesia, but kept up his visibility with the President by visiting the White House at least 20 times in the next 4 years. James Riady was present at the following crucial meetings at the White House:
On June 23, 1994, James Riady was present at the meeting with the President and John Huang. Soon after, John Huang was appointed to the Commerce Department in a key position by the President. That same day, James Riady had lunch with Mr. Hubble.
Mr. Speaker, we need the information to clarify these relationships and see if criminal activity has occurred, and I hope in the following days to get into more detail on each of these individuals.
Soon after, Hubbell is hired by one of the Riady-controlled Lippo companies and paid $100,000.
According to published reports it is at this same time that Webb Hubbell stopped cooperating with the independent counsel.
On September 13, 1994, James Riady is again at the White House meeting with the President and John Huang. At this meeting, it is decided that John Huang will leave his job at the Commerce Department and become vice chairman of finance at the Democratic National Committee.
What role did the Riadys play in the decisionmaking at the White House? Was the money they paid Webb Hubbell a factor in his decision not to cooperate with the independent counsel and to what degree was the President involved?
The American people have a right to know.
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