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Rewards for contributors: White House expected to release 'Lincoln Bedroom' list

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With the Whitewater land investigation now out of the way, White House operatives are turning their attention toward cleaning up some of the debris left by the numerous accusations and lengthy investigations surrounding President Clinton's 1996 re-election effort.

The administration has pledged to release a list of names of the campaign donors who were granted an overnight stay in the White House's famed -- and now somewhat infamous -- Lincoln Bedroom for their generosity. The release could occur on Friday.

The president's push for a second term brought a tangled web of probes into his and the Democratic Party's campaign fund-raising practices. The allegations of fund-raising improprieties still haunt Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, who is looking to take Clinton's place in the residential wing of the executive mansion. The release is expected to put some of the complaints to rest.

The White House pledged to release a list of overnight White House guests after new questions arose over first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign for Senate in New York. The administration has acknowledged that donors to Mrs. Clinton's campaign have stayed overnight at the White House, but said the stays were not awarded in exchange for a donation.

The Lincoln Bedroom, which served Abraham Lincoln as a refuge and office, rather than a bedroom, became synonymous to some critics and observers with the lowest form of campaign politicking. High-rolling donors to the Democratic Party, many said, neither earned nor did they deserve such access to a national landmark.

Republicans and independent watchdog groups decried the practice -- going as far back as the months leading up to the 1996 election -- saying the president's choice to allow campaign contributors to slumber on such hallowed ground soiled the institution of the presidency, and the sanctity of the White House.

The bedroom was one of a number of related fund-raising gaffes, which many Republicans denounced as intentional and willful manipulations of campaign finance laws.

Among those: Gore's attendance at an illegal fund-raiser held in a sprawling California Buddhist temple -- Gore continues to insist he didn't know it was a fund-raiser; the infiltration of improper Chinese and Indonesian campaign donations to the Democratic National Committee; and a series of social "coffees" hosted by Clinton at the White House.

But the biggest question on the mind of many is: Whose names could be on that list of Lincoln Bedroom guests?

Entertainment luminaries grabbed some well-earned shuteye

CNN, in conjunction with the Campaign Study Group, assembled a list of overnight Lincoln Bedroom guests in 1997. The list was compiled after Clinton was sworn in for his second term and the Republican-controlled Congress launched multiple probes into how Clinton secured the means to propel his re-election effort.

Lincoln Bedroom
The Clinton administration will release a list of campaign donors who were granted overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom  

Those guests, the survey concluded, contributed a total $5.2 million to the DNC between 1995 and 1996 -- and may have given significantly more.

Among the biggest donors were investor Dirk Ziff, who gave an estimated $411,000; movie producer Stephen Spielberg, who donated an estimated $336,000; retired businessman William Rollnick, who gave some $235,000; and Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman, who contributed about $225,000.

CNN found 24 overnight White House guests who gave $100,000 or more to the DNC.

Also on the list were David Geffen, Spielberg's partner in the entertainment company Dreamworks SKG; Barbra Streisand; Olan Mills, known for his chain of photography studios; and Peter May of the DWG Corp.

Still, the Lincoln Bedroom's role may not have changed since it was first used by the nation's first Republican president. While he used it as an office -- his ghost is still said to walk the nearby halls -- he often met there with friends and campaign contributors who sought government patronage jobs as rewards for their political support.

Lincoln was elected in part by outspending opponent Stephen Douglas 2-to-1, waging the first-ever $100,000-campaign in U.S. history, with heavy backing from the emerging railroad industry.

CNN's Judy Woodruff contributed to this report.

 
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Thursday, September 21, 2000


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