There is enough written about how China has managed to get into US politics by supporting people at the local level, who will eventually rise in the system. We saw evidence of it in Virginia this year, which has yet to become a criminal case, with the governor and the Clinton Foundation. It involves a Chinese official who was made a resident alien so his contributions would come from a "US source". The case of Ng Lap Seng, the Macau billionaire was never fully investigated but widely reported in the press in 2012. These instances reminded me of someone, Charlie Trie, who apparently was being investigated for soliticing money from the Chinese government to support Bill Clinton. Both John Huang and Charlie Trie, two that were being investigated, were funneling money to the Clintons were both Clinton appointees to government positions. How these individuals passed background checks is something else again. There is enough similarity between the two cases that we don't have to guess about the Chinese-Clinton association. China may be doing the same thing with Republicans too, but the evidence hasn't risen to the level of this investigation in 1997. If we ever wondered how other governments managed to influence ours, it is plain. They buy our love.
This is from a statement signed by members of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight in 1997:
" The committee has amassed considerable evidence relating to the activities of former senior DNC official and Clinton appointee John Huang, and former Clinton appointee Charlie Trie. We are, however, at the very beginning of this investigation. I have no allusions that our task will be an easy or a quick one. This is going to take some time.
This committee's hearings will cover many subjects, because the reported abuses of campaign laws and misuse of Government resources are vast. Our initial focus has been on how political parties took or raised contributions from foreign sources. I am gravely concerned about foreign governments, foreign companies or foreign nationals trying to influence our electoral process and also our foreign policy.
Of equal concern, however, is the possibility that the United States is perceived by other countries as so corrupt that they would believe that they could tamper with our democratic process to further their own agenda. At the end of the day, the individuals who are involved must be held accountable.
It was not, ''the system,'' which solicited millions of dollars in illegal contributions. The system did not rent out the Lincoln bedroom. The system didn't withhold subpoenaed records. The system is not responsible for individuals ignoring the campaign finance laws that we already have. It is individuals who are responsible for these actions. It is individuals who must be held accountable. The administration and others are using, ''the system,'' as an excuse to change the subject. We are talking about existing laws being broken here.
Although the Clinton White House is extremely adept at spin control and damage control, it claims to be hopelessly incompetent when it comes to locating records subpoenaed by this committee, the Senate committee, or its own Justice Department. As the Washington Post asked yesterday, quote, Can anyone believe this is on the up and up? end quote. You simply could not make up some of the more outlandish actions taken by this, 'anything goes White House.'
If this sounds familiar, it is what passes for politics in this country.
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