Bring it on. If the evidence and your argument is compelling I can tell you right now that I will gladly join you in your lone fight. I mean that with all sincerity. I'm not here to be popular and I've taken unpopular positions in the past.
RandFan, I'm back. If you're still interested ...
I'm going to start with ChinaGate and the Campaign Finance scandals.
I assert the activities of the Clintons in these two scandals show that the Clintons have qualities we shouldn't want in a Secretary of State or her co-Secretary (Bill). I think they demonstrate a willingness on their part to sell access to restricted US technology and secrets in exchange for campaign contributions (if not bribes). And they show a willingness to violate US law where foreigners are concerned. And a willingness to coverup wrong doing by themselves and those around them.
And what is my proof for this assertion?
Well let's start with the Cox Committee, a bipartison group consisting of 5 Republicans and 4 Democrats, that published a 700 page report called the Cox Report. The committee's conclusions were unanimous ... that US national security vis a vis Communist China was gravely harmed by the actions and inaction of the Clinton administration. They concluded that China literally got away with America's crown jewels, for example, computer codes containing data on 50 years of US nuclear weapons development and a 1000 nuclear tests, nuclear warhead simulation technology, advanced electromagnetic weapons technology, missile nose cone technology, missile guidance technology, space-based radar technology and other classified information which the Clinton Administration (not the Cox committee) determined could not be made public. All of which were stolen or given away during the Clinton watch ... not before it ... not after it ... during it.
Surely you will agree this is a serious matter. In just a few years, China’s nuclear technology jumped from 1960s quality to being a peer competitor of the US.
Now President Clinton's response at the time was to try and cover up this theft, not investigate it. His response was to punish those who blew the whistle on this, not praise them. His response was to hinder investigations rather than encourage them. His response was to invite "friends" with strong Chinese connections to White House fundraisers. His response was to use people like John Huang, Charlie Trie, Johnny Chung and James Riady, all of whom had strong ties to the Chinese government and military, to raise millions of dollars in illegal campaign money ... from China. His response was to sign waivers that allowed certain companies who gave large campaign contributions to transfer what was, up until that time, restricted technology to Communist China.
Why don't more people know about this scandal? Or care? Because the DOJ helped cover it up. And more important, because the Clinton friendly media helped cover it up or make it seem unimportant. The night the summary of the Cox Report was released, ABC, NBC and CBS devoted just seconds to it. The night the full report was released, ABC, NBC and CBS did a total of 5 stories on it and only ABC led with it. That compares with their treatment of the Iran Contra committee, the night it's report was released ... when all three networks led with the story and EACH did five segments on it ... devoting over half their broadcast time to its significance. You might almost think the networks didn't consider Chinagate important.
The morning after the report was released, ABC spent a total of 3 minutes discussing the Cox Report (compared to over 8 minutes discussing the dangers of professional wrestling). CBS spent 7 minutes on the topic. CBS also spent 7 minutes interviewing a high school principal about security measures against school shootings and 5 minutes talking with William Shatner about his new Star Trek book. NBC's coverage was less than 5 minutes, even though they called it "a huge and devastating spy scandal". NBC spent 11 minutes discussing a wrestling accident. In comparison, these networks spent most of their morning programming on Iran Contra the morning after that committee released its report. You might almost think the networks didn't consider Chinagate important.
And the evening news the day after the report release? Whereas Iran Contra was still the focus of mainstream news programs and would be for weeks after the report was released, NBC said nothing more about the Cox Report. ABC did one story ... about how suspected Chinese spy Wen Ho Lee would never be prosecuted. And CBS had Eric Engberg call the Cox Report findings too incomplete to be taken seriously. And that was basically the end of mainstream news coverage of this "huge and devastating spy scandal" ... one that was to have sweeping national security consequences which we are still trying to resolve. You might conclude the mainstream media didn't think it important.
But I think the real story is they were protecting Clinton and the democrat party. In contrast to the Iran Contra Scandal where they spent weeks and weeks blaming Reagan and Republicans, with little actual hard evidence of wrong doing, their approach in Chinagate, with its mountains of evidence, was to immediately ignore or dismiss the findings and spread the blame ... to Republican administrations, of course.
Let me give you an example to prove what I mean.
Do you know there is an FBI transcript of a call to Johnny Chung from Chinese operative Robert Luu in which Luu credits the source of Clinton and DNC campaign contributions to the "princelings" ... that is, the children of People’s Liberation Army officers in front companies. He said in the call, "Chairman Jiang agreed to handle it like this. The President over here also agreed." Well it happens that Clinton and Jiang were meeting when the call took place. And did any of the mainstream networks report this FBI monitored conversation and give it's implications ANY coverage whatsoever? No. They gave it absolutely zero attention. RandFan, you can't convince me that if they'd had similar proof that Reagan conspired with the Ayatollah on spinning the Iran Contra scandal, they wouldn't have spent hours and hours of air time discussing the matter. This was mainstream media bias pure and simple, and the reason you and most others seem to know so little about what actually happened during the Clinton administration.
You want another example? The day after the Cox Report was released, reporter Carl Cameron revealed that "FBI counter-intelligence sources" "told Fox News about two more previously undisclosed open investigations into Chinese nuclear espionage at the national labs during the Clinton administration. Sources say both the Argonne National Labs in Illinois and Idaho and the Sandia National Lab in New Mexico have been compromised and that both weapons secrets and detonation technology have been passed to China since 1993." Cameron then noted that 80 House members led by Republicans Cliff Stearns and J.D. Hayworth had demanded the resignations of National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and Attorney General Janet Reno over their handling of Chinagate. A major story, wouldn't you agree? Yet ABC, NBC and CBS gave it ZERO coverage. ZIP. NADA.
In fact, reading news reports at the time, you might begin to think Carl Cameron was the only real journalist out there. Again, just a few weeks after the Cox Report was released, he reported that "The President appointed his long-time friend and fundraiser Charlie Trie of Little Rock to a trade commission to deal with Hong Kong and other Asian nations. Trie has pleaded guilty to fundraising violations and is cooperating with investigators, but in 1997 FBI surveillance observed Trie’s employees destroying evidence in the campaign fundraising investigation. At the time, the Justice Department sent two officials to Little Rock to get search warrants and intervene. But on the eve of Senate hearings into campaign finance abuse, the Justice Department pulled back on the warrants and the search of Trie’s office and frustrated FBI agents watched as more documents were destroyed." Did ABC, NBC or CBS tell the public about this? No.
And I could go on giving you example after example of the media, the Clinton DOJ and various members of the Clinton administration helping to cover up what happened in Chinagate. So that YOU wouldn't know.
And the above was only part of the problem. During the Clinton years, China acquired a wide array of other US military-related technology and the Clinton Administration actively helped them do this. Such as making it possible for China to purchase hundreds of super computers. I wish to note in particular that Clinton, overruling the State and Defense departments, switched the authority for licensing satellites, computers and other high technology items from the State Department to the Commerce Department. As I've noted in Ron Brown threads here at JREF, this is important because Ron Brown's signature by itself then became the conduit for providing access to formally restricted technologies of all types. Is it just a coincidence that a "friend" of Charlie Trie met with Ron Brown after attending a "coffee" with Bill Clinton, the same day that Clinton signed a waiver allowing Loral to transfer missile and satellite related technology to China? Is it just coincidence that Bernard Schwartz, the CEO of Loral, was the single largest legal contributor to the DNC that year (giving over $500,000 ... $400,000 more than he'd given in any previous year)? Isn't it curious that Ron Brown died under clouded circumstances just as he was planning to turn state's evidence on this activity and other campaign finance related illegalities? It that rumor? No. There is sworn testimony from Brown confidants that we was about to do just that. Because he was facing a lifetime in jail had he been convicted of all the crimes he was about to be charged with by a special prosecutor.
Now what were the motives for the Clinton Administration acting the way it did ... disregarding U.S. national security is such a grievous fashion? The Cox report did not answer this but the answer should be obvious. Campaign cash. China gave the Clinton campaign and DNC campaign organizations millions and millions of illegal dollars during this period. Through multiple channels. This isn't rumor. This isn't supposition. This isn't wild allegation. This is established fact. Fact that came out because 27 people were prosecuted in the “Chinagate” scandal and 22 were convicted, including John Huang (who is now acknowledged to have been a Chinese agent), Johnny Chung, Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie and James Riady.
To grasp the seriousness and scope of Chinagate, consider that over a hundred people fled the country just to avoid questioning in the matter. Clinton even met with one of these people while traveling abroad during the time they were being sought by the FBI. Consider that despite efforts by the Reno DOJ to hinder investigations, 22 people were STILL convicted. That obstruction can be seen in the fact that a tiny organization called Judicial Watch learned more about Chinagate and Campaign Finance Gate than Reno's DOJ.
The Cox Report revealed that FBI surveillance caught Chinese officials trying to keep Johnny Chung from divulging any information that would damage Hughes Electronics. Johnny was one of the few to turn state's evidence (after Waxman, the top democrat on the committee, futilely tried to get him to plead the 5th). Among other things, Chung testified that in 1996 the head of China's military intelligence, General Gee Shengdi, gave him $300,000 for Clinton's campaign. He said he was told by the General that other people were also receiving money "to do good things for China". The FBI assigned dozens of agents to protect him (in fact, they arrested an armed man who tried to kill Chung at his office). And as mentioned earlier, Chung participated in a FBI wiretape that clearly suggests there was an agreement between Clinton and the Premier of China on how to coverup Chinagate.
All told, Chung gave the Clintons $366,000. which eventually they claimed they returned. Some of that money passed directly through Hillary's office and through her Chief of Staff's (Maggie William's) hands. Recall that Maggie was mentioned earlier in regards to obstructing the Foster investigation. After Chung presented Maggie with a check for $50,000 in illegal contributions (which was also illegal because the money was handed over inside the White House), Chung met with the first lady, whose first words to him were "Welcome to the White House, my good friend." Chung was such a "good friend" that he was in the Whitehouse on 57 different occasions. So I ask you RandFan, how could Hillary not have known what was going on? Of course she knew.
And by the way, in 1997, after Chung's donations had been discovered and supposedly returned by the Clinton and DNC campaign committees, even as Loral was being investigated by a federal grand jury, guess who stepped in and donated the exact same amount ... $366,000 ... to the Clintons and DNC? The CEO of Loral, Bernard Schwartz. It really doesn't take a PhD to figure this out, RandFan.
And what about some of the other "friends" of the Clintons involved in Chinagate?
Like Charlie Trie. He ran the Fu Lin restaurant in Little Rock, a favorite hangout of the Clintons during Bill's time as Arkansas governor. But he also owned Daihatsu International Trading, which had satellite offices in Washington and Beijing. Over the years, Trie donated about $220,000 to the DNC and another $460,000 to Bill's Legal Defense Fund. Trie visited the White House more than 23 times ... perhaps as many as 37 times. He received an appointment to the Commission on U.S.-Pacific Trade and Investment Policy, an act which required an executive order by Clinton to expand the commission's size.
Trie participated in trade missions to China and admitted to illegally funneling foreign money to the democrats. (Note there is sworn testimony that Hillary was the mastermind behind the selling of trade mission seats in exchange for campaign cash.) Is it a coincidence that Trie arranged a White House fundraising "coffee" for Wang Jun, head of China's most powerful arms export company, just four days after the administration granted Wan Jun's company import permits to ship weapons and ammunition to a Detroit company with ties to China's PLA? In September of 1995, Hillary Clinton attended a "women's conference" in Beijing. Wang Jan claims Hillary Clinton invited him to a meeting while she was there.
Note that Charlie Trie fled the country when his involvement in Chinagate became known. He eventually returned and in 1999 pled guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws by making political contributions in someone else's name and causing a false statement to be made to the Federal Election Commission. In return, he received assurances that he would serve no prison time. We have photos of him standing next to the Clintons in the White House. In fact, at a February 1995 DNC dinner held in honor of fundraisers, Trie sat at the First Lady's table. But just a year later, Hillary, when pressed to recall her involvement with Trie, according to a Senate committee report, did not recognize his name. You don't have to be a PhD to know what was going on, RandFan. You just have to be a skeptic.
Now Charlie Trie was a member of the Four Seas Triad, a crime syndicate with ties to Red China's military and intelligence communities. Another member of that Triad was the owner of a hotel in Southern Mainland China. His name is Ng Lapseng. On six separate occasions from June 1994 to August 1996, he passed through customs in San Francisco declaring suitcases full of cash ... in the cumulative amount of $333,000. What a coincidence that two days after Ng entered the US in June 1994, he met at the White House with Mark Middleton, one of Clinton's top aides. After that meeting, Ng went to a DNC dinner with Bill and Hillary. He was seated at their table and gave the Clintons $175,000 in cash. In July of 1994, he returned to the United States and two days later again met with Mark Middleton at the White House. After words, he attended birthday party hosted by the DNC for President Clinton. At the party he gave Clinton $42,000 in cash. Neither of these contributions was ever reported to the Federal Election Commission. What does that look like to you, RandFan?
Ng Lapseng visited the White House 12 times and he was often in the company of Charlie Trie. In fact, Trie received as much as $1.4 million in wire transfers from Ng, which became Trie’s main source of income. Some of the money given to Trie clearly ended up in Clinton and DNC coffers, too. And by the way, in addition to having ties to China's communist government, Ng Lapseng also ran a prostitution ring that trafficked in women. Yet, Hillary had no problem having her picture taken with him in front of the DNC symbol (
http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/NgLapSeng.jpg ).
Mark Middleton, according to Johnny Chung, was one of those identified by General Gee Shengdi as receiving money ... $500,000 dollars. Middleton took the 5th when questioned about this and the Reno DOJ let him skate. He was the highest Clinton Administration official to plead the 5th in Chinagate. In 1999, the Washington Times reported that "Mr. Middleton, a longtime Clinton confidant who raised more than $4 million during the 1992 election, was called to appear before the House Government Reform Committee". In his opening statement, Chairman Dan Burton of the Committee on Government Reform noted that "We checked Mark Middleton's bank records. They show that he received over $1.75 million from Asian businesses." According to committee documents, Middleton received at least $275,000 in retainer fees for unspecified work from July 1995 to April 1997. The money came from the Riady family. In 2001, Burton still wanted to review the Janet Reno DOJ documents explaining why she chose to not prosecute Middleton. President Bush invoked executive privilege to prevent that. You really have to wonder what's going on inside our government and inside our two major political parties. And now inside Obama's administration.
James and Mochtar Riady, Indonesian billionaires and ex-employers of John Huang, were longtime friends and financial supporters of Clinton. James Riady donated more than $475,000 to the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton Inaugural Fund and various Democratic candidates. Moctar's gardener managed to contribute $450,000 directly to Bill Clinton in a single check. James Riady visited the White House over a dozen times. His visits were scheduled through Mark Middleton. Authorities said the Riadys had a long relationship with Chinese intelligence. Clinton, while out of the country, met privately with them ... at a time when they were avoiding US authorities that sought to question them. Clinton tried to arrange a "Justice" Department deal for James Riady, Mochtar's son, to protect him from prosecution but it didn't go through before Bush took over. Nevertheless, Riady still got a "deal" from Bush.
Riady also was close to Webster Hubbell, who was one of Hillary Clinton's fellow partners at the Rose Law Firm back in Little Rock. Hubbell eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion. Hubbell's phone logs included a large number of calls from James Riady. After Hubbell promised to cooperate with Starr, the Lippo Group made payments to him for "consulting" work totaling between $100,000 and $250,000. Oh what a web they wove.
John Huang was an important figure in both scandals. He left Lippo with $780,000 in severance pay (plus a new Mercedes) to work for Commerce side by side with Ron Brown (yes, that name again). Phone records show he had made at least 261 calls from his Commerce office to Lippo Group headquarters in Indonesia. And he made others from the Washington offices of Stephens, Inc., an investment firm that Clinton's 1992 presidential run. A former Stephens secretary testified before the Senate that Huang often left his office with classified files without bringing all of them back. Additionally, he made multiple visits and telephone calls to the Chinese embassy. Yet when all this came out, the Clinton DOJ under Reno never even deposed him.
That task was left to little ol' Judicial Watch. And in those depositions, John Huang invoked the 5th Amendment over 2000 times. Did the mainstream media notice? Did the Clinton DOJ get curious about what Huang was hiding? No. Even though John Huang was labeled a "Chinese agent" by people in the CIA, FBI and Congress, he was still given a Top Secret clearance by the Clinton White House
without a background check. Did the mainstream media notice? Did the Clinton DOJ investigate? No. Even after he was given a grant of immunity in the Judicial Watch case to force him to testify ... he still invoked the 5th! And still the DOJ showed no interest in questioning him. That should make you wonder. And the connection to Hillary? Nolanda Hill told ABC News it was Hillary, not Brown, who pushed for Huang's recruitment into Commerce. And by the way, where did Huang go after he left Commerce in December 1995? He became the DNC's vice chairman of finance ... raising over 3 million dollars from Chinese connected companies ... like Wang Jun's Poly Technologies.
By the way, John Huang pled guilty in 1999 ... to an unrelated federal charge that during 1992-94, before taking his Commerce Department job, he'd made an illegal $2,500 contribution to the unsuccessful 1993 Los Angeles mayoral campaign of Michael Woo and a $5,000 contribution to a Democratic fundraising operation, the California Victory Fund. In return, he was granted immunity from prosecution for his Clinton fundraising activity. The Clinton's were good at covering their tracks. And the mainstream media went right along with the coverup.
Ira Sockowitz also worked for Commerce and knew John Huang. In May 1996, he moved to the Small Business Administration (SBA). Three days later, Commerce approved a SCI clearance (above Top Secret) for him. Sockowitz then visited Commerce and removed 136 secret documents (many of them dealing with China). He told his old secretary that he was gathering personal items. Commerce said he violated his clearance by not returning the files. He claimed he needed them for his SBA job, but the SBA disputed that claim. Sockowitz left the SBA in November of 1996 under a cloud and the Justice Department immediately stopped investigating ... without ever interviewing Sockowitz or his boss. See what I mean about the DOJ not wanting to investigate matters related to Chinagate? And isn't it a coincidence that Ira Sockowitz was the point man at the Ron Brown crash site.
John Podesta, Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1998 to 2001, was also in the thick of things. In 1998, the House National Security Committee asked the Undersecretary of Commerce William Reinsch to produce the 1995 satellite waiver memos he'd written on the Loral waiver, mentioned earlier. These memos were among the documents found in Sockowitz's safe at SBA. Reinsch promised during the hearing that he would produce them, but never did. Reinsch was also asked to turn over all documentation on secret meetings and classified briefings given to the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP). CSPP members Tandem, Digital, Compaq, Unisys, AT&T and Cray Super computers were all invited to travel with Ron Brown on his trade trip to Beijing. Now the CSSP had ties to Podesta. Starting in 1994, the CSPP was represented by the brother of John Podesta. And John was at the time in charge of Clinton administration oversight of super-computer and encryption policy. How convenient. One document found in Brown's files (through the FOIA) after he died is a briefing memo prepared for Ron Brown by William Reinsch that notes the CSPP was interested in "computer" and "encryption" exports. The CSPP executive director in 1994 and 1995 was Ken Kay, who was an employee of Podesta Associates. In fact, the official CSPP reports issued in January 1995, also found in Brown's files, note that Podesta Associates was running the CSPP lobby effort. Mr Kay and the CSPP lawyer, Charles Levy, donated thousands of dollars to DNC candidates according to Federal Election Commission records. Talk about a conflict of interest. Note that Ken Kay, the CSPP and the Podesta brothers all denied any wrongdoing. However, in 1997, John Podesta found it necessary to obtain a presidential waiver from Clinton to resolve the potential legal conflict of interest.
Even under the Bush administration, the coverup continues. I mentioned that James Riady got a deal from Bush? That's right. He got a slap on the wrist in exchange for a plea bargain where he agreed to tell the truth in all matters. In a California courtroom, during his sentencing, he stated for the record that his millions in illegal contributions were never returned even though the DNC and Clinton had publically claimed they were. When the judge asked the prosecutor if this was true, the prosecutor said "yes, to the best of our knowledge". Was this reported in the mainstream media? No. In fact, we've never heard another word about it. You really have to wonder what is really going on inside our government these days.
The only good thing I can think of is that under the Bush administration, Loral Space and Communications Corporation and Hughes Electronics Corporation, named in the Cox Report, were both successfully prosecuted for violating US export control laws, resulting in the two largest fines in the history of the Arms Export Control Act. However, those fines were slaps on the wrist compared to the damage they actually did to national security.
After the Cox Report came out, an FBI agent named Charles LaBella spent months looking into the connections between campaign contributions, foreign influences and administration actions. He met resistance. FBI agent Ivian C. Smith wrote a letter to Freeh, dated August 4, 1997, expressing "a lack of confidence" in the Justice Department's willingness to conduct a thorough investigation. Smith and three other career agents testified before the Senate that the Justice Department had impeded their inquiry. FBI agent Daniel Wehr stated that lead U.S. Attorney Laura Ingersoll told the agents they should "not pursue any matter related to solicitation of funds for access to the president."
Never the less, what LaBelle found was published in a 100 page memo he prepared for Attorney General Janet Reno ... the infamous La Bella Memo. La Bella said to Reno: " [A] pattern [of events] suggests a level of knowledge within the White House --
including the President's and First Lady's offices -- concerning the injection of foreign funds into the reelection effort." The memo argued that an independent counsel should be appointed to carry on the investigation. But Janet Reno, who was clearly controlled by the Clintons, rejected that recommendation and also refused to release the memo to the public or Congress. She rejected the recommendation despite the fact that FBI-Director Freeh testified that the public knows only about one per cent of what the FBI knows about the Chinagate scandal. I think she rejected it because of that fact. So the American public would never learn the other 99% of this tale. In any case, what we do know is already enough to know that Clinton committed what many would call treason. What do you think, RandFan?
Tell me, have you ever heard of Presidential Decision Directive 24? It's the directive approved by Clinton in 1994, that Jamie Gorelick (you know who she is, right?) used to erect the "Chinese Walls" that everyone complained about after 9/11 as being partially responsible for 9/11. As a result of PDD24, intelligence information could not be shared between agencies but had to travel up a chain of command established by Clinton and Gorelick through the Justice Department, which Clinton controlled via Reno. I say it is no coincidence that PDD24 was signed just as the FBI and the CIA were both turning up evidence related to fundraisers and the Chinese. It prevented them from comparing notes.
PDD24 allowed the Clinton administration to effectively trap any information that was deemed harmful to it and the Democratic Party. As a result of PDD24, Congress and the CIA did not learn until 1997, after the 1996 election, that the FBI had collected extensive evidence in 1995 linking illegal democratic Party donations to China. According to leaked classified CIA documents, between 1994 and 1997, the CIA learned that China made massive tranfers of missile, nuclear and air defense technology to Iran and Pakistan. Technology acquired from the US thanks to the Clinton administration's policies. But PDD24 prevented the CIA from telling the FBI about it. Meanwhile the White House fundraisers continued.
In 1994, the McDonnell Douglas Corporation transferred military-use machine tools to the China despite Defense Department objections. Is it coincidence that McDonnell Douglas was a client of the law firm where Gorelick worked for 17 years? In 1995, General Electric, another former client of Gorelick’s, assisted China's nuclear program. In 1995, the CEO of Hughes Electronics, another client of Gorelick's old firm, got satellite export controls switched from the State Department to the Commerce Department then gave sensitive data and equipment to the Chinese, which a later Pentagon study would conclude allowed China to develop intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
And I could go on and on and on with examples like this ... be it the transfer of advanced, encrypted, fiber-optic communications systems, ... or global positioning systems, .... or upgrading the PLA's military air defenses. Across the board, the Clintons committed treason by making such technologies accessable to a communist regime who's head of defense was at the time openly saying war that with the US was inevitable. I'm really curious to hear what you would call it, RandFan, if that wasn't treason?
In early July 1995, the CIA briefed Leon Panetta, Clinton’s Chief of Staff, and National security advisors Anthony Lake and Sandy Berger (yes, Mr. secret documents in the pants Berger) about China's nuclear espionage. And all three claimed that they neglected to tell Clinton. Do you really believe that claim, RandFan? Before answering, consider the fact that President Clinton and Hillary visited CIA headquarters together in July 1995. According to a CIA press release, the president received intelligence briefings from CIA Director Deutch. Do you really believe Clinton wasn't told about the leaks? Note that Deutch was pardoned by Clinton in 2001 ... for mishandling classified documents.
When Wen Ho Lee became the prime espionage suspect at Los Alamos National Lab and the FBI requested the DOJ authorize a wire tap of him, Janet Reno refused ... even though ALL other 2686 requests between 1993 and 1997 had been granted. Reno cited civil liberty concerns. Do you really believe that excuse, RandFan? Or was Reno obstructing an investigation into Chinagate?
And even as Lee became the focus of the FBI and DOE counterintelligence agents, he was put in charge of a nuclear program requiring an even higher security clearance ... and he hired a Chinese national to be his assistant (who soon disappeared). After Lee was finally fired, Clinton was asked about espionage at the lab. He said, “I can tell you that no one has reported to me that they suspect that such a thing has occurred.” Do you honestly believe such lies, RandFan?
Clinton was indeed told about the Chinese espionage. First, Sandy Berger admitted that he briefed Clinton in 1998. Later Sandy had to amend his statement and admitted that he had briefed Clinton in 1997. Still later Berger was forced to admit that he had briefed Clinton in 1996. You don't have to have a PhD to know what was going on here, RandFan. They were all covering for Clinton. Clinton denied knowledge of Chinese espionage because at the very same time he was authorizing technology transfers to the Chinese in exchange for millions in campaign cash. And Hillary was helping him do this.
And the Chinese were very grateful. As Bill left office, Lippo (a company that was involved in the illegal contributions) offered him a position on its board of directors. As he left office, a Chinese garment company offered Bill millions to be its “image ambassador.” Between 2001 and 2005, Bill received over $4.5 million in speaking fees related to China. And the money keeps pouring in. Not just from China, but from foreign interests all over the world. Even his brother Roger was rewarded. Congressional investigators found $200,000 of Chinese money in a bank account controlled by Roger Clinton. And don't forget Norman Hsu. With all of this information out there and readily available to anyone who takes the time to look (and I've only covered a small portion of the incriminating facts), how can ANYONE think the Clintons are not corrupt? How can ANYONE think they are not a threat to national security? How can ANYONE think them honest? How can ANYONE think making Hillary Clinton Secretary of State would be a good idea? Knowing the above, wouldn't you agree with me, RandFan, that making Hillary Secretary of State would be utterly foolish on Obama's part?
