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Huang Denies Overseas Contributions

Ex-fund-raiser makes a rare public appearance in New York

NEW YORK (AllPolitics, June 16) -- In a rare public apperance, former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang has denied he was a conduit for moving money from overseas governments into Democratic coffers during the 1996 presidential campaign.

"I don't know if foreign governments have" given money, Huang said, according to an article in today's Daily News. "If there is money, I haven't seen it."

Huang, who has avoided talking to reporters for months, made a rare public appearance Sunday at a banquet for veterans from a Taiwan military academy.

In his remarks, Huang remained bullish on the need for Chinese-Americans to participate in politics by making contributions. He said Chinese-Americans don't have the numbers to wield much influence, "but we can participate by giving money. Money is the milk of politics."

The Daily News reported that he also told his listeners, "If you are a doctor, you can only cure one person at a time. But if you enter the policy making level, you can affect 10,000 people."

After his speech, Huang told the newspaper he would testify at congressional hearings if subpoenaed, but he declined to discuss allegations against him. About half of the $3 million in disputed donations that Democrats say they will return was raised or donated by Huang.

His aggressive fund-raising has led to separate investigations by the Justice Department, the Commerce Department and Congress into whether overseas money played a role in last year's elections.

Huang is a former Commerce Department employee, and last week, Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.) said investigators have evidence that Huang passed classified U.S. government information to his former employer, the Lippo Group, which is based in Indonesia but has dealings with China.