Thursday, July 10th, 1997 -- In this year's Super Bowl of political maneuvering, Salem "Captain" Senator Fred Thompson came away empty handed yesterday during the second game of what promises to be an extended play-off season in the campaign finance scandal championships. Co-captaining the Witch team was Warlock Richard Sullivan, the baby-faced former fund-raising chief of the Democratic National Committee.
Thompson, after months of get-tough posturing, fell all over himself as he introduced Sullivan to the world. Sullivan, self deprecating and stammering all the way, looked like the kind of guy you'd trust with your 16 year old daughter even though she was the spitting image of Pamela Anderson. Thompson's best quote was at the start of the hearings, when he said that Sullivan, who for some unknown reason is studying for his bar exam, would be a credit to the legal community.
Here are the mind-boggling items that came out yesterday under mushroom-like grilling from the GOP:
1. Sullivan did not deny that President Clinton wanted John Huang hired as a fund-raiser at the DNC. He didn't admit it either. The President later said he had called the DNC to recommend Huang.
2. Harold Ickes, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, called the DNC twice to urge Huang's hiring.
3. Sullivan said he never engaged in, or was aware of any effort to, raise political money from foreign sources.
4. Sullivan said the Republican National Committee had a more sophisticated operation for checking on the legality of political contributions.
5. An effort by Senator Pete Domenici to get Sullivan to admit White House coffees were illegal fundraisers went sour as Sullivan reiterated the line that the coffees were merely rewards for prior supporters or lures for potential donors.
6. Sullivan deflected another pass by Senator Domenici when asked about Democrat fund-raiser Johnny Chung. Sullivan told Domenici that he had "reservations" about Chung himself when Chung suggested bringing five Chinese nationals to White House in exchange for a big donation.
Six attempts, six dropped balls.
Senator John Glenn, wily devil that he is, kept up his pass interference reminding Republicans and the viewing audience that RNC documents show that ex-RNC Chairman Haley Barbour was the one mining for "foreign" money all along. Copies of RNC memos actually underscore Barbour's hope that his "sort-of" think tank, Policy Forum, would act as a laundry for foreign money flowing to the RNC, most prominently that from the Young Brothers of Hong Kong and Beijing.
For the final yawn of the day, Senator Thompson announced that Attorney General Janet Reno was opposed to granting any immunity to John Huang for testifying before the committee. Of course, remarked the Senator, the Committee does not have to follow Reno's advice and ordered that Senate lawyers continue to negotiate with Huang's people over the terms of his appearance.
Surprise, surprise! Reno must know that White House is nervous about Huang being pinned down in what promises to be the highlight of the hearings. Thompson is worried that Reno will rain on his parade. Don't be surprised if Huang is indicted on FEC and Hatch Act charges earlier than expected -- although I'll be.
Richard Sullivan insinuated yesterday that Huang was a truly loyal American and that Huang felt so strongly about getting President Clinton re-elected that he was willing to give up his higher-paying job at the Commerce Department in order to take a lowly fund-raising position at the DNC. Sullivan, in a stuttering effort, also explained that Huang was trying to amalgamate the Asian-American community -- not the community of Asia.
Somehow, I think Thompson believed him.
© 1998, 1997, American Politics Journal Publications Inc.