Committee wants more answers from Huang

Just-released reports generated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recounting its investigative interviews with John Huang have redoubled the conviction of Republican investigators on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee that the Justice Department's campaign finance investigation has been disastrously inadequate.

In August, Huang pleaded guilty to a charge of felony conspiracy, became a cooperating witness, and has recently been immunized for testimony before the committee.

"We're not satisfied by Huang's explanations," committee spokesman Mark Corallo told HUMAN EvENTs. "There are a lot of things the committee is not satisfied with related to this investigation,

Committee Republicans are also unhappy with extensive redactions that were made by the Justice Department in the FBI reports before they were turned over to the committee last week.

"There were too many redactions:' said Corallo. "Too much information was withheld, obvious lines of questioning weren't pursued and the use of the Stephens office is a perfect example of that."

The Senate Government Reform Committee said in its March 10, 1998, report on fundraising abuses in the 1996 federal elections, "An obvious question regarding Huang's access to classified information is whether he mishandled or improperly disclosed any of it."

"None of Huang's coworkers noticed anything unusual or inappropriate in his handling of classified information," said the report. "That said, the committee has found that Huang had ample opportunity to mishandle that information if he chose to do so, including significantly a secret office across the street from Commerce at Stephens, Inc., to which he frequently repaired.

"That access combined with Huang's unusually frequent contact with Lippo officials worldwide while at Commerce at a minimum raises the threshold question of whether Huang passed along classified information to those who should not have received it. The committee is unable to answer the question to its satisfaction. On this key question, as on so many others, it would have been extremely helpful to receive testimony from Huang himself."

Now, committee investigators have the beginnings of that testimony in the form of the FBI reports and, says Corallo, are not satisfied that the bureau pursued the question adequately.

The FBI reports handed over to the committee summarize what investigators learned from Huang during interrogations between November 1998 and April 1999. The interviews were conducted in Los Angeles by FBI agents accompanied by supervising attorneys from the Justice Department.

Million-Dollar Limo Ride

Before joining the Department of Commerce in July 1994, Huang had worked for subsidiaries of the Lippo Group, an Indonesian conglomerate owned by Bill Clinton's friends, the Riady family. Lippo is involved in joint ventures with China Resources, a company owned by the Chinese government.

The Senate committee's report noted: "Intelligence officials have confirmed in the press that the Chinese intellgence establishment is heavily involved in the operation of China Resources, and that China Resources selects overseas business partners in part on the basis of their value as potential intelligence gatherers."

James Riady pledged $1 million to Bill Clinton for his 1992 campaign during a limousine ride with Clinton, Huang told investigators.

After he began working at Commerce, Huang continued to contact associates at Lippo-more than 400 times, according to the Senate committee report.

During his time at Commerce when he was getting classified briefings from the CIA, Huang routinely used an office maintained by Arkansas-based Stephens in the Willard Hotel across the street from the Commerce building. Huang's secretary, Janice Stewart, testified that she had "never heard of Stephens, Inc. " In his FBI interviews, Huang said he never shared any classified information with anyone.

In its report, the Senate Committee tried to put together a spreadsheet comparing the timing of all Huang's intelligence briefings with all of his known communications from the Stephens office. The committee reported, however, that after January 1995 Stephens, Inc., had changed its long-distance service and the committee was not able to obtain the records from this new service. The CIA continued to provide Huang with briefings until December 1995.

The Senate report highlighted three instances in particular when it believed "Huang's communications from Stephens D.C. to Lippo ... took place in close proximity to his intelligence briefings." "On Oct. 5, 1994 at 9:00 a.m., John Dickerson [the CIA liaison at Commerce] briefed Huang," reported the committee on the most proximate correlation. "At 5:49 p.m. on the same day, a fax was sent from Stephens D.C. to Lippo Ltd. in Hong Kong. At 4:20 p.m. the next day, a fax was sent from Stephens D.C. to the Director of Lippo Bank in Indonesia."

The FBI summarized Huang's explanation of these visits: "Huang admitted using the Stephens, Inc., office near the Department of Commerce on numerous occasions but denied ever using Stephens facilities to pass on any information he obtained at the DOC or to receive instructions from the Riadys or anyone else."

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Nov 12, 1999
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