NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN. In the 1990s, a number of irregularities and allegations of illegalities were found in the RNC and among Republican candidates. Campaign records made available in August 1997 showed that Whitman received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from dozens of lawyers at firms that do legal work for the state. Riker Danzig, a member of a firm whose employees gave $27,600 to Whitman, was the general counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. He also served as bond counsel to the state for its controversial pension bond sale in July. Additionally, employees working for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority gave $10,000 to Whitman. In March 1997, this agency was slapped with a lawsuit after making the decision to finance a $330 million road and tunnel in Atlantic City.

NEW YORK GOVERNOR GEORGE PATAKI. In 1998, one of Pataki's aides testified before a grand jury investigating whether a fund-raiser for Pataki's 1994 gubernatorial campaign raised money from donors in exchange for government favors. Federal investigators probed whether Pataki fundraiser Yung Soo Yoo, a convicted felon and one-time South Korean spy, promised contributors early parole for family members and other state government favors and whether Pataki's campaign staff knew of Yoo's activities. Prosecutors also subpoenaed financial records from the campaign and the state Republican Party. Yoo gave Pataki $15,000 in 1994 and 1995, and raised thousands more from other Korean-Americans. Pataki's campaign eventually returned the $15,000 and several other contributions.

In 1997, the state Republican Party in New York turned over $3.1 million to the campaign account of Governor Pataki. In preparation for the 1998 gubernatorial election, the GOP raised over $5.5 million in the first half of 1997. Pataki took advantage of the loopholes in New York's finance laws, so supporters could legally give more "laundered" money to the state committee than to an individual candidate. Pataki was able to amass a total of $9 million in his war chest.

Twelve individuals or organizations contributed a total of $695,000 to the state Republican Party in the first half of 1997. Along with unspent contributions from previous years, State law limits individual contributions to $28,000 over a four-year period to statewide candidates, but allows donations of up to $69,000 annually to party committees, which can transfer unlimited amounts to candidates.

TEXAS GOVERNOR GEORGE W. BUSH. In the 1994 gubernatorial race, Bush received $25,000 in funds immediately after the RNC received a $1.6 million loan payment from the NPF. The NPF funds came from a $2.1 million loan backed by Ambrous Young.

THE VIRGINIA GOP. Officials of the Virginia Board of Elections stated that the RNC and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) broke state campaign finance laws by not disclosing the source of more than $660,000 they have funneled into the state in 1996. Not only did the RNC refuse to disclose the original donors of the money, it failed to file with the elections board until months after its initial donations.

CONGRESSMAN JAY KIM. In the fall of 1997, the House Ethics committee first stonewalled the investigation into California Congressman Kim's acceptance of over $250,000 in illegal campaign funds. Furthermore, any further charges against Kim did not include any violations which may have occurred before he was sworn in as a member of the House in January 1993.

After futile efforts to evade violations of illegal campaign finance laws, Kim finally pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors in September 1997. Kim received illegal donations from foreign and corporate sources. He and his wife illegally had laundered large corporate contributions through their own bank accounts to pass them on to their campaign as personal loans. In addition they knowingly accepted donations from individuals who were reimbursed by their foreign employers. An illegal contribution from a New Jersey corporation accepted by Kim and hidden in his personal bank account was funneled to Kim by a convicted felon who has raised money for New York GOP politicians Al D'Amato and George Pataki. Yung Soo Yoo, a former Korean Central Intelligence Agency operative and top fundraiser for D'Amato and Pataki, channeled a $12,000 corporate contribution to Kim, where it was deposited in Kim's personal bank account. Yoo admitted being a spy for the government of South Korea in the 1970s, and was convicted in 1984 of a $4 million bank fraud in the United States, and he has been tied to other GOP lawmakers including Senator Jesse Helms, New York Governor George Pataki, former President Bush, and Senator Al D'Amato for whom he was a top fund-raiser.

Five South Korean companies were fined $1.6 million for their role in the illegal contributions and Kim's campaign treasurer was convicted in April 1997 of accepting and concealing illegal campaign contributions. In August 1997 Kim pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor crimes of receiving the illegal campaign contributions. He was ordered confined to a 17 mile radius outside of Washington D.C. and could only travel from his rented room and Capitol Hill. He was fitted with an electronic bracelet to monitor his moves. He never was invited by colleagues to appear at GOP functions. While in his home district of Diamond Bar, California, he was sentenced to two years of house arrest.

THE RIADY FAMILY. The Riadys contributed $2,000 to the Republican Party. $1,000 of that amount was designated for Senator Robert Dole in his 1988 unsuccessful presidential campaign by Aileen Riady, the wife of James Riady. In addition Huang contributed $500 to Dole's 1992 campaign co-chair, Republican Senator D'Amato, in 1992.

MATT FONG. While the GOP accused the DNC of receiving donations from communist China, it may have been the Republicans who maintained closer ties with the PRC. The California state treasurer and the 1998 senatorial candidate, Fong received $50,000 from Ted Sioeng who worked for a conservative think tank Additionally, Fong pocketed another $50,000 from Panda Estates Investments which is a Sioeng family-controlled company. Fong claimed that he never solicited that amount from Sioeng in April 1995 and did not know about the contribution until later. However, documents indicated that Sioeng spoke to Fong about the donation. A close friend of Fong picked up the check and later received several thousand dollars from the think tank in connection with the donation. In 1996, Fong quickly returned $100,000, of which half came from Sioeng.

In September 1997, Fong was deposed by Senate investigators and swore that Sioeng had given him two contributions in April 1995. However, Fong did acknowledge that he told Sioeng how to fill out the checks and how they would be collected. The two checks bore the name of Sioeng who claimed that the donations came from Sioeng's daughter, a Los Angeles businesswoman, and that her donations to Fong were legal. She contributed $2,000 to attend a fundraiser for Fong's California state treasury bid in 1994, and his campaign ended in $300,000 in debt. Fong reportedly received a commitment from Sioeng that he would eliminate his campaign deficit.

Fong claimed that he never solicited that amount from businessman Ted Sioeng for a controversial GOP thinktank in 1995 and did not know about the contribution until later. However, documents indicated that Sioeng spoke to Fong about the donation. A close friend of Fong picked up the check and later received several thousand dollars from the think tank in connection with the donation. In 1996, Fong quickly returned $100,000, of which half came from Sioeng.

In September 1997, Fong was deposed by Senate investigators and swore that Sioeng had given him two contributions totaling $50,000 April 1995. However, Fong did acknowledge that he told Sioeng how to fill out the checks and how they would be collected. The two checks bore the name of Sioeng who claimed that the donations came from Sioeng's daughter, a Los Angeles businesswoman, and that her donations to Fong were legal. She contributed $2,000 to attend a fundraiser for Fong's California state treasury bid in 1994, and his campaign ended in $300,000 in debt. Fong reportedly received a commitment from Sioeng that he would eliminate his campaign deficit.

In addition, Fong's wife Paula, a RNC fund-raiser, earned a $10,000 commission on the donation. There was no evidence that any of the money that went from the Sioeng family to Fong had anything to do with the PRC, but it was the GOP which originally claimed that the Democrats were the culprits. Records also indicated that Paula Fong received $6,500 from the conservative National Policy Forum.

RNC CHAIR HALEY BARBOUR. In 1996, Haley Barbour toured several Asian countries. Even though he announced on November 7, 1996 that he had never been involved in fund-raising overseas, Barbour spoke at Hong Kong and Tokyo receptions which were sponsored by Republicans Abroad, whose organizers said that they were asking for contributions from American citizens living in Asia. Robert Connelly, owner of a Japanese business, attended the Tokyo reception and stated that RNC chair Barbour did mention the need for party money.

Republicans Abroad stated that they received contributions from a number of Japanese guests. Charlotte Kennedy Takahashi, former chair for Republicans Abroad in Japan, stated that the event attracted nearly 100 people, both American and non-American citizens, both of whom made contributions to the RNC. The Tokyo dinner was a $250-a-person reception which netted over $10,000.

However, the Republicans contended that they were legal contributions, since their organizers stayed with the group in Japan, and the money was used to only cover the cost of the dinners. Joan Shepherd, chairwoman for Republicans Abroad, admitted that the purpose of the receptions was to bring in contributions for the RNC. Over a span of 15 months, Shepherd stated that Republicans Abroad raised over $46,000. An FEC report stated that in 1995 and 1996 Republicans Abroad raised $162,301.

The largest donor to the GOP in 1996 was the American Defense Institute which runs a voter turn-out program for military personnel who tend to vote Republican. The group received over $1 million, have of which came from Philip Morris and which was solicited by Barbour.

MICHAEL KOJIMA. Kojima, while owing over $100,000 in child support to three ex-wives, contributed over half a million dollars to the GOP. According to a CBS report, the money donated to the RNC by Kojima was not his own, but instead was laundered foreign money from Japanese businessmen. Kojima asked Japanese businessmen for $175,000 each to attend a fund-raiser with former President Bush in 1992. At least five of the foreign businessmen gave Kojima money to attend the fund-raiser with Bush.

Kojima contributed over $600,000 to the RNC and was reimbursed for at least part of the $600,000 by the Japanese businessmen. After these contributions to the GOP, Kojima sat next to then-President Bush at a 1992 fundraiser. Subsequently, he had several other meetings with Bush, then-Vice President Dan Quayle, and other American officials in Washington and Tokyo.

Despite the money trail the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee refused to investigate the contributions from Japanese businessmen. Thompson claimed that they are outside the scope of the campaign finance hearings.

ROGER MURDOCH. Murdoch was able to use American subsidiaries of his Australian- based news corporation to give $835,859 to the GOP in the 1996 election year. The Senate committee raised questions about the legality of Murdoch's contributions, since an American subsidiary may make contributions only from net profits and not from net revenue. Even though Murdoch's American subsidiaries had enough revenue to cover the donations, it is unclear if Murdoch actually reported any taxable income from his American operations. Executives at Murdoch's News Corporation stated that their corporation has paid little or nothing in United States federal income tax. If this is true, then Murdoch's donations would be illegal.

ROBERT DOLE. In October 199,7 Empire Sanitary Landfill pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with its scheme to funnel $129,000 in illegal campaign contributions to 10 political candidates. The company agreed to pay an $8 million fine, the highest penalty ever for a campaign finance violation. Empire's fine was more than the $6 million fine assessed against Dole finance vice chairman Simon Fireman. Empire created an elaborate scheme to circumvent prohibitions on corporate giving to candidates by funneling its contributions through employees or individuals associated with the company. Dole's 1996 presidential campaign was the largest beneficiary of the Empire scheme, receiving $80,000 in illegal contributions from Empire in April and May of 1995. Other GOP recipients of the laundered funds from Empire include Senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter. Specter sits on the Senate committee investigating campaign finance abuses.

Many television ads, which were run by the RNC in 1996, were actually produced by Dole's presidential campaign and run solely to boost his candidacy. In a June 5, 1996 memo, then-RNC chair Barbour wrote to RNC staffers that the issue ad budget was controlled by Scott Reed, Dole's campaign manager. Barbour wrote: "I will reach out to Scott Reed to ask him to consider whether the Dole campaign would want us to ... reduce other spending, such as the issue advocacy television advertising by $800,000." Dole's media consultant Don Sipple wrote that Barbour and Reed needed to coordinate strategy on issue ads attacking the President. Sipple stated: "As per our discussion Wednesday evening, it is my view that what we run should have significant force that Clinton and the Democrats are compelled to respond." Sipple went on to discuss possible subjects for the new ads.

ROGER TAMRAZ. In addition to making tens of thousands of dollars in donations to the DNC, Tamraz was also a major contributor to the Republican Party. According to the RNC, he gave nearly $35,000 to the RNC between 1984 and 1987 during the Reagan and Bush years. In exchange for his contributions, then-RNC chairman Frank Fahrenkopf recommended that Tamraz receive a presidential appointment to a special Mideast oil or banking panel. Fahrenkopf wrote that Tamraz was a strong supporter of the administration. Tamraz stated that he received two thank-you notes from President Reagan.

CONGRESSMAN DAN BURTON. The Indiana congressman was chair of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Burton's counsel was former United States Attorney for Maryland, Richard Bennett. In his unsuccessful 1994 race for attorney general of Maryland, Bennett himself was forced to return $17,500 in contributions after it was revealed that the donor had violated state campaign finance laws.

RICHARD DEVOS. In 1997, Amway president Richard DeVos led RNC donors by contributing $1 million. This was the second largest donation to the RNC, the largest being $1.5 million by the Amway Corporation in 1994. Also in 1997 Congress passed a bill which provided approximately $100 million in tax credits for Amway.

DeVos' million dollar contribution to the RNC in April 1997 paid off twice. Gingrich and Lott inserted a special provision into the tax bill that would ease tax treatment of two Asian affiliates of Amway, effectively making it easier for shareholders to invest in the Asian companies. The provision did not appear in either of the House or Senate tax bills when they were passed. In addition, hidden carefully in a Senate bill to fund the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a nine-line provision that targets another one of DeVos' interests. Although the provision does not specifically mention Amway or DeVos, it can only apply to one case. It would stop the FTC from continuing its battle to block the merger of two Grand Rapids, Michigan hospitals. DeVos held a seat on the board of directors of one of the hospitals.

GOP BREAKFASTS. In July 1997 top donors to the GOP were asked to buy $10,000 lifetime memberships in the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle. Donors were invited to an exclusive three-day summer retreat with GOP senators at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Marina Del Rey, California. According to brochures which have been sent out, contributors to the RNC were promised meetings with lawmakers, including national meetings, special briefings, exclusive receptions and private photo opportunities with senators, top Republican leaders and celebrities who joined in the Inner Circle gatherings. The events on the weekend of July 18 at the California hotel included a "Life Member Yacht Cruise" and a continental poolside breakfast.

THE NATIONAL POLICY FORUM (NPF). In 1998, a spokesperson for the Republican Party stated that the RNC was returning a $25,000 contribution to Young Brothers Development which had made the donation to the Florida state Republican Party in 1991. Young Brothers put up a total of $2.2 million in collateral for a loan to the National Policy Forum (NPF), an arm of the RNC. Richard Richards, a former chair of the RNC, was an executive officer at Young Brothers which had no financial assets in the United States.

The NPF used most of that money to pay off the its debts in the last days of the Congressional elections in 1994. RNC chair Barbour signed a fund-raising letter in which he told donors that the NPF was established as an issue development subsidiary. In 1994 the NPF's president, Michael Baroody, told Barbour that he was resigning because it was too difficult to maintain differences between the forum and the GOP. Baroody warned Barbour that both the RNC and the NPF jeopardized the forum's tax-exempt status. At a later date the IRS denied tax-exempt status to the NPF.

A rift among leadership in the RNC developed during the July 1997 Senate hearings. When subpoenaed to testify before the Senate committee in July 1997, Richards stated that Barbour stressed the need for $2.1 million in foreign loans to help elect 60 Republicans to Congress in 1994. Richards affirmed that the contributions originated in Hong Kong. He stated that it was Hong Kong corporate money. Richards also confirmed that millionaire Hong Kong businessman Ambrous Young, who had renounced his American citizenship, coordinated the financing of the loan. Young wanted to influence American foreign policy in with China and wanted to strengthen ties between Taiwan and the mainland. He believed that the RNC would allow the NPF to help write the Republican Party platform. Richards stated that Barbour declared that the RNC was owed $3 million by the NPF and that he needed a loan in the final weeks before the November 1994 elections. Richards even presented a note of caution which he had sent to Barbour in October 1996 when Barbour was accusing Clinton and the DNC of illicit fund-raising.

On the other hand, Barbour contended that the money was generated by the NPF, and that the funds should not be returned since it was an independent group. Barbour stated that Young was not the guarantor of the NPF loan. In addition Barbour refused to publicize the names of the donors to the NPF.

In May 1997, the RNC finally die return $102,400 to Young Brothers Development. The RNC admitted that some of their contributions were from foreign sources and were illegal. In August 1997, the NPF refused to fully comply with subpoenas issued by the Senate committee. Although the NPF produced some documents, its lawyers stated that it will not comply with what it considers "an overly broad subpoena" and its representatives refused to answer some questions during their depositions.

NPF capers moved to Tennessee where the state GOP received $56,000 from the RNC. Just six days previously, the RNC received $1.6 million loan payment from the NPF. The money from the NPF was backed by Hong Kong's Young Brothers Development.

TRIAD MANAGEMENT SERVICES. Triad Management Services, a conservative consulting firm, billed itself as a privatized Republican national coalition. The agency had ties to Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback, one of the members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Triad may have acted illegally during the 1996 campaign when it acted as an intermediary during the 1996 election campaign. It coordinated political activity by tax-exempt groups and by laundering money from wealthy donors through PACs to GOP congressional candidates. Triad founder Carolyn Malenick admitted that GOP candidates occasionally funneled their donors to Triad which in turn advised the donors to contribute to PACs that were likely to support the candidate. Triad also coordinated attack ads run by tax-exempt groups against Democratic candidates.

Triad paid for over $5 million worth of attack advertisements by funneling money through tax-exempt groups, coordinated its campaign activities with Republican congressional candidates. According to one of Triad's attorneys, the agency sent consultants to do political audits for about 250 GOP campaigns to identify races where Triad could be effective. In the final days of the 1996 election, tax-exempt non-profit organizations poured millions of dollars into attack ads, phone banks, and mailings which benefited Republicans in 34 key congressional races. Among the tax-exempt groups that paid for the massive media blitz were Coalition for Our Children's Future, Citizens for Reform, and Citizens for the Republic Education Fund. At least two of the groups were directly run by Triad Management Services: Citizens for Reform as well as the Citizens for the Republic Education Fund.

Triad was active in dozens of 1996 House and Senate races. Its efforts were instrumental in electing congressmen from such states such as Kansas, Alabama, Montana, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. Big Triad funders reportedly included Pennsylvania businessman Robert Cone, former head of Graco Children’s Products, and possibly a foundation connected to the family that controls Koch Industries, a billion dollar privately held oil and gas company.

In October 1997, the Republican-dominated Senate Governmental Affairs Committee abruptly canceled scheduled hearings which were intended to explore alleged illegalities by Triad. Many of Triad's secret donors as well as possible improprieties had already been exposed, leaving an investigation into Triad's activities vulnerable to the Republicans. For example Dan Gerawan, a California fruit grower, donated approximately $100,000 to Citizens for Reform which was used in attack ads to defeat Democratic congressional contenders in 1996.

Before the Republicans terminated the investigation, many suspicious actions regarding Triad had been uncovered. Triad officials met with GOP candidates to determine how to best help them win. For example, Carolyn Malenick, president of both Triad and the tax-exempt Citizens for the Republic Education Fund, met with GOP congressional candidate John Thune to discuss his campaign. A month before Citizens for the Republic Education Fund launched an ad campaign attacking Thune's opponent, another Triad employee visited Thune's campaign and wrote a memo about what Thune needed to win the race. The memo read: "If there is anything we can do to help, it would probably be in the area of 501(c)4 education." Using Citizens for the Republic Education Fund to "help" Thune in his election campaign was a violation of federal law prohibiting the use of tax-exempt groups for partisan political purposes.

In coordinating the conservative PAC community, Triad funneled tens of thousands of dollars into several GOP PACs which included Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles’ Republican Majority Fund. According to FEC data, several Triad clients donated heavily to Nickles’ PAC. Triad was accused of orchestrating a money-laundering scheme using PACs -- including Nickles’ -- to funnel money to GOP candidates. Donors with ties to Triad gave Nickles's PAC at least $18,250. Nickles met with Triad founder Malenick and Pennsylvania businessman Robert Cone. Shortly thereafter, Cone donated $600,000 to Triad, making him one of the group's largest financial supporters. Cone also gave a total of $1.2 million to two tax-exempt groups that were run by Triad: Citizens for Reform and Citizens for the Republic Education Fund. Campaign records showed that, in addition to funding Triad’s attack advertisements, Cone and his family contributed at least $387,000 to state and federal Republican candidates, party committees, and PACs during the 1996 campaign.

Ben Ginsberg, a former general counsel of the RNC, represented secret trusts that also contributed to Triad groups. The Koch family, which owned the Kansas-based Koch Industries, gave heavily to tax-exempt groups linked to Triad, using one of the trusts represented by Ginsberg. Senate investigators sent Charles Koch a letter in October 1997, asking to speak with him about their inquiry, but he has failed to respond. According to FEC records Koch brothers and Koch PAC contributed directly to more than a dozen of the candidates supported by three tax-exempt groups they had funded.

Koch Industries was investigated by a congressional committee for allegedly stealing oil from Osage native American reservations and federal property by intentionally taking more oil than it paid for. In a report that led to a grand jury probe, the committee concluded that Koch Oil, the largest purchaser of Indian oil in the country, illegally and deliberately stole the native Americans’ oil. No one was indicted, and Nickles nominated Koch to a federal judgeship.

Congressman Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota stated that in early 1996, he gave Triad the names of several potential Minnesota donors. One Minnesota businessperson, Robert Cummins, gave Citizens for the Republic Education Fund $100,000. Citizens for the Republic later ran an advertisement in Gutknecht’s district which helped him win his race. According to a former Triad employee, Triad officials discussed key issues in Gutknecht’s race with the congressman or his campaign. Even Gutknecht acknowledged meeting with a Triad official during his campaign.

Leslie Brorsen, Nickles’ top aide, met with Malenick and Cone about promoting the group’s operations in late 1995. Nickles also appeared in a promotional video for Triad, in which the group sought donors for what it called “a privatized Republican national coalition.”

In the last weeks of the 1996 campaign, Citizens for the Republic Education Fund spent $200,000 on negative ads attacking Brownback’s opponent, Jill Docking. Clients of Triad were advised by Triad to contribute to Brownback’s campaign, and Triad provided campaign advice to Brownback for his 1996 Senate race. Brownback took $31,500 from PACs that was apparently funneled through the committees by his in-laws in an effort to skirt legal limits on contributions to his 1996 campaign. Brownback’s in-laws contributed a total of $32,500 to seven PACs which gave a total of $31,500 to the Brownback campaign during the same period in the days immediately following the in-laws’ contributions. One of the PACs sent its contribution to Brownback to “Sam Brownback for Senate, c/o Triad Mgmt Svcs. Inc.” at Triad’s address.

AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM (ATR). Not all the money designated for non-profit organizations was funneled through Triad. In October 1996, the RNC gave $4.6 million directly to Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, an anti-tax group with a long history of promoting GOP candidates, and $650,000 to the National Right to Life Committee, an anti-abortion group with a PAC and an issue ad operation that rarely supports Democrats. The RNC tapped big time donors and steered more than $1 million in contributions to outside groups. These included ATR and the National Right to Life Committee. ATR made four million phone calls and sent out 19 million pieces of literature. FEC documents showed that RNC Deputy Finance Director Joanne Coe passed on checks for $100,000 each to these two organizations via Carl Lindner of the American Financial Group.

ATR received $4.6 million from the RNC in the final weeks of the 1996 campaign. ATR then used the money in 150 congressional districts, making four million phone calls, and sending 19 million pieces of political mail. ATR also ran attack ads against New Jersey Senate candidate Bob Torricelli. Bank records showed that four days after a $2 million transfer from the GOP, ATR paid $280,000 to buy time for the anti-Torricelli ad. ATR also paid $500,000 for phone banks and direct mail less than two hours after the RNC gave ATR the same amount.

In August 1997, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) run by Grover Norquist, a close friend of Gingrich, refused to comply to the Senate committee's subpoenas to turn over evidence regarding alleged illegal finances.

THE COALITION FOR OUR CHILDREN’S FUTURE. The non-profit group, Coalition for Our Children’s Future, is a conservative organization which rolled in thousands of dollars to help Republican candidates in close Congressional races in the 1990s. Its tax exempt status permitted it to conceal its donors’ identities, who had been lobbied by Barbour and Gingrich. In November 1995, Barbour encouraged an audience to contribute to the coalition, so that it could run attack advertisements which “some people feel uncomfortable in doing.” In July 1997, the RNC and the coalition ran nearly identical 30-second attack ads that used the same announcer, video footage, and similar scripts. The Coalition for Our Children’s Future also used funds to help defeat California Democratic Congressman Cal Dooley.

The Coalition for our Children’s Future, which ran $5 million worth of issue ads in 1995-1996 and received $500,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee in September 1995, had especially close ties to the GOP, according to published reports detailing the conclusions of Democrats on the Senate committee that investigated campaign finance abuses. The panel’s minority described the coalition as a “campaign” for the RNC, which supervised its creation, chose its board members, and helped raised its funds. Republican members of Congress even raised money for the group, which later aired ads in their districts; an arrangement that completely eluded Federal Election Commission scrutiny.

FOREIGN DONATIONS. In the 1994 elections, the Texas state GOP received foreign contributions, including over $33,000 in the last two weeks of the 1994 elections. Governor George W. Bush's spokesman, Ray Sullivan, stated that any campaign finance abuses are the responsibility of the RNC. He further stated: “If it is determined that any of the millions of dollars accepted by the national party was improper, they should make good on them.”

The RNC never returned $700,000 in overseas money. The RNC took no action in regard to Ambrous Tung Young, who helped to arrange a loan to the NPF. The forum then defaulted on the loan, resulting in a $700,000 loss to Young.

In 1995 and 1996, the RNC received over $2.4 from American subsidiaries of 16 foreign-owned corporations. Some included the British company of Brown and Williamson, which contributed $400,000, and Australia’s News Corporation, which tossed in $351,500.

In 1997, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) recently sent a fund-raising letter to a Japanese diplomat, inviting him to become a member of the NRSC’s “Presidential Roundtable.” The letter stated that Republican senators needed his help in shaping the party’s agenda. The GOP received a $5,000 donation, and members of the Presidential Roundtable were entitled to meet with Republican senators.

CONTINUED GOP FUND-RAISING. Rather than to propose legislation to limit or totally outlaw soft money, the GOP decided to go the opposite direction. In July 1997, RNC chair Jim Nicholson announced that there should be more disclosure as a solution to improve the current campaign finance system. According to the New York Times the RNC “concluded that, if anything, candidates should spend more money on campaigns.” They called for opposing spending limits, opposing public financing of campaigns, preserving political action committees and continuing to allow parties to raise and spend soft money.

By the fall of 1997, the RNC brought in $24 million, more than double of what they raised for the 1992 Congressional elections. The RNC outraised the Democrats who brought in $12 million. half as much as the RNC, in this same time slot. The RNC claimed they it would conduct an internal audit of contributions received between 1994 and 1996.

In December 1997, the RNC had some problems identifying one particular $200,000 donor. The RNC listed “information requested” as the employer/occupation for Pat Robertson, who gave $200,000 on October 21, 1997.

GOP EFFORTS TO KILL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM. Despite all the adverse publicity which has been given to fund-raising, the Republican-dominated Congress brought a screeching halt to finance reform beginning in 1997. The bipartisan McCain- Feingold bill was designed to ban unlimited and unregulated soft money, a large percentage of which has been used to pay for “attack” advertisements. After the bill was tabled for almost a year, Senate majority leader Lott injected a poison pill whereby union workers would have to approve their union’s donations to DNC coffers. Obviously, this was unacceptable to the Democratic Party. The GOP opposed McCain-Feingold because the RNC has historically taken in much more in soft money donations than has the Democratic Party. The bill was voted down by 52 of the Senate’s 55 Republicans, while only two Democrats opposed the legislation.

Lott maintained that there was “no consensus” on the issue. The Democratic supporters of the bill accused Lott of destroying it by campaign finance leap reform rigging debate, barring any amendments other than his own, and then blocking a vote on that measure when Democrats and Republican defectors appeared ready to defeat it. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell led the floor fight against the bill for two weeks. He declared: “McCain-Feingold is dead. This effort to put the government in charge of political discussion is not going to pass now, is not going to pass tomorrow, is not going to pass ever.”

In February 1998, McCain-Feingold died despite the fact that a majority of Senators -- 51-48 -- voted for the bill. Since the GOP filibustered, cloture rule required 60 percent vote to pass the legislation and thus fell nine votes short of passing the Senate.

In the House, only a handful of Republicans and nearly all Democrats supported the legislation. Gingrich moved quickly and tried several strategies to squelch any such legislation. He was able to prevent debate from going to the House floor. However, his ploy encouraged the bill’s supporters to embrace a procedural device which would have let them debate a variety of campaign finance bills on their own terms. Gingrich imposed a procedural barrier which required any reform legislation to pass by a two-thirds -- not a mere majority -- vote. After receiving a great deal of criticism, Gingrich changed courses and declared that he would allow a full House vote later in May.Gingrich imposed a procedural barrier which required any reform legislation to pass by a two-thirds -- not a mere majority -- vote. After receiving a great deal of criticism, Gingrich changed course and declared that he would allow a full House vote in May. The GOP rejected the Delay-Doolittle Amendment. This legislation would have negated the provision of the Shays-Meehan bill which would have outlawed anonymous and independent groups to use party money in campaign advertisements which appeared as merely an “issue discussion.” In actuality, the GOP hoped to funnel their contributions -- significantly more than of the DNC -- into partisan party advertisements.

Reform opponents tried every poison pill -- from amendments sure to fail to parliamentary tricks to legal procedures to derail Shays-Meehan. Republican members of the House attached three “poison pill” amendments on one day in order to assure the defeat of the bill. First, the GOP added an amendment which would have banned bilingual voting material. Second, they tacked on a provision which would have required candidates to raise at least 50 percent of contributions within their home state. Third, they added a provision which would have tripled the amount of money that individuals are allowed to donate to candidates.

GOP leaders finally relented to an open debate on the issue in May. However, they made Shays-Meehan open to dozens of amendments, then forced it to compete with 10 other substitute amendments to the original bill. Whichever of the 11 substitute amendments got the most votes -- and at least a majority -- would prevail. In the mean time 586 amendments were initially added to the bill. Subsequently, some amendments were dropped, but the entire bill resulted in 258 additions. It was “death-by-amendment.”

In August, the House finally passed Shays-Meehan on a vote of 252-179. Sixty-one Republicans joined 190 Democrats and one independent in voting for the measure. The bill was then sent to the Senate where it was killed by a GOP-led filibuster.

McCAIN-FEINGOLD. In the mean time, a bipartsian campaign finance reform bill was sent to the House by Democratic Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. Their bill would terminate all soft money donations. McCain-Feingold passed the House with several Republicans crossing over to vote alongside Democrats.

Immediately, conservative Senate Republicans moved to water down the restrictions contained in the bill. GOP members discussed ways to place some restrictions on soft money without eliminating donations completely and increasing the maximum hard money contributions. Nebraska Senator Charles Hagel proposed increasing the existing ceilings on hard money contributions to candidates, tripling the $1,000-per-donation limit on direct contributions to federal candidates and automatically adjusting them for inflation in future years. Hagel's second proposal would limit the soft money contributions to $60,000 in any calendar year. The Senate approved two noncontroversial amendments to the bill -- requiring candidates to make public all campaign contributions within 24 hours and requiring that candidates report all evidence of corruption.

Presuming that they did not have enough votes to kill Mc-Cain-Feingold, GOP Majority Leader Trent Lott chose to filibuster. This delay tactic prevented a vote on McCain-Feingold off, at least temporal. Senate Democrats voted to attempt to overcome the required 60 votes mandated to bring the bill to a vote. Only two Republicans crossed party lines and voted along side Democrats but failed to break the filibuster by a 53-47 vote. McCain-Feingold was dead.

Three new Republican Senators supported the soft-money ban -- Sam Brownback of Kansas, Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas, and William Roth Jr. of Delaware. However, two previous Republican supporters voted against the overhaul proposal: John Chafee of Rhode Island and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Their aides said they thought the measure had become too narrow. In all, eight Republicans voted with the Democrats against the filibuster on soft money.