Solari Action Network

[Catherine]

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,99302,00.html


Marc Rich and then-wife Denise in a 1986 photo
Web Exclusive | Nation-Politics
The Marc Rich Case: A Primer
George Bush may wish Bill Clinton would just ride into the sunset, but the pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich just won't let it happen. To help you make sense of the mess, here's a TIME.com Q&A
By JESSICA REAVES
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHOR
Fortune.com: Living Rich
CNN: Senators Hear Details of Clinton's Last-Minute Pardon of Rich
Posted Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001
President Clinton's eleventh-hour pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich has sparked a firestorm of controversy, launching investigations in both houses of Congress and igniting fierce protest from both Democrats and Republicans. The U.S. House and Senate have issued a rash of subpoenas calling for witnesses as well as financial records, as the House Government Reform Committee continued its hearings and the Senate Judiciary Committee geared up for its own proceedings.

Thursday, the controversy took another step forward — no, we're not at impeachment yet, but it's been suggested — when federal prosecutors in New York officially opened a criminal investigation into whether Rich did indeed buy his pardon with his ex-wife Denise's pointed largesse to the First Couple and the Democratic party.

That prompted Dan Burton, chairman and lead Clinton-hunter on the House Government Affairs Committee's ongoing investigation into the matter, to put on hold his request to the Justice Department to give Denise Rich immunity in exchange for her testimony. Rich has already declined to testify, citing her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

As with almost everything relating to the former president, the Marc Rich pardon case raises a lot of questions. Some answers will surface only after all the Capitol Hill witnesses are heard and the U.S. Attorney's office does its thing. Others, happily, we can answer here and now.

First of all, what does it mean to be "pardoned" by the President?

In legal terms, a pardon in an exemption from punishment for a criminal conviction. Presidential pardons are granted unilaterally and cannot be reversed.

So what's the point of all these hearings?

Some are calling the inquiries a field day for die-hard Clinton-haters. But most see this as a source of bipartisan outrage. Republicans and Democrats alike were dumbstruck by the Rich pardon. The federal prosecutors who indicted Rich are especially livid, particularly because, by definition, Rich appears to be ineligible for a pardon: He never took responsibility for his actions or served any sentence.

The congressional panels were called to investigate the path to Rich's pardon — which, as various documents seem to indicate, did not follow usual channels. In testimony Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, U.S. pardon attorney Roger Adams says when the White House sent over Rich's name for pardon consideration — only a few hours before the President was due to leave office — there was never any mention of Rich being a fugitive. There is also suspicion that donations made to Clinton campaigns and to the Clinton presidential library by Rich's ex-wife, Denise, could be a quid pro quo for the pardon.

There are other questions looming: Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, asked whether Clinton even had time to sign all of the paperwork required to seal Rich's pardon before he left office — raising the possibility that the pardon may not be valid. Specter has also floated the idea of a constitutional amendment giving congressional oversight to presidential pardons.

Will Clinton be brought in to testify about the pardon?

It doesn't look like it. Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has indicated he's interested in having Clinton appear to "clear the air," but says he doesn't believe the former president should be forced to testify.

How does President Bush feel about the Rich pardon inquiries?

Bush has been quoted as saying he thinks "it's time to move on," and by all accounts has little interest in pursuing any investigation that keeps his predecessor in the national spotlight.

What was Marc Rich's alleged crime?

In 1983, Rich was indicted in federal court of evading more than $48 million in taxes. He was also charged with 51 counts of tax fraud and with running illegal oil deals with Iran during the hostage crisis.

So does the pardon mean that if Rich leaves Switzerland (where he's been living for 17 years and seems quite happy to stay) and comes back to the U.S., that he won't face any legal proceedings at all?

Possibly. He's free of any criminal charges in connection with the case, but Rich can still be charged in civil court on, say, tax evasion charges. In fact, when Clinton finally signed off on Rich's pardon, the President stipulated that Rich waive the statute of limitations normally placed on as yet unspecified civil charges.

Rich has been living in Switzerland for almost 20 years now. Is he still a U.S. citizen?

That's one of the major questions connected with this case. And the answer, legally, anyway, appears to be yes. While Rich's lawyers can't seem to decide if their client is a citizen — sometimes he is, sometimes he isn't — and Rich himself reportedly considers himself a citizen of Israel and Spain, a federal appeals court ruled in 1991 that Rich had not actively renounced his U.S. citizenship, and therefore he was subject to U.S. law.

Why does his citizenship matter?

If Rich is, in fact, still a U.S. citizen, he's liable for taxes, no matter where he lives. So the IRS wants to know if Rich filed taxes for 17 years he spent abroad — and the congressional panel is investigating whether Rich's money made it back to Bill and Hillary Clinton; non-citizens are not permitted to make political contributions.

What does Denise Rich have to do with all this?

Marc Rich's socialite ex-wife has donated an estimated $1 million to Democratic causes, including $70,000 to Hillary Clinton's successful Senate campaign and $450,000 to the Clinton presidential library fund. She also lobbied heavily for Marc's pardon. Investigators want to know if Denise's contributions led to a direct quid pro quo exchange for her ex-husband's pardon. Clinton has denied any connection, saying he relied solely on the information provided by Jack Quinn (former White House counsel and Rich's current lawyer) when he was weighing the pardon request.

What happens to Denise Rich now?

Last week, when she was called to testify before the congressional panel, she took the Fifth (the amendment to the Constitution that allows potential witnesses to decline testimony out of fear that they might incriminate themselves). Now the same House panel wants to offer Rich immunity in order to discuss her ex-husband's case. House Republicans want approval from Attorney General John Ashcroft before granting immunity. Ashcroft is currently "considering" the request.

What about Washington Democratic fund-raiser and socialite Beth Dozoretz, whose name has come up in connection with the case?

Beth Dozoretz, fund-raiser and FOB, was, according to TIME, skiing when she heard that Clinton was "impressed" by Rich's case for a pardon. Dozoretz eagerly told skiing partner Denise Rich about the development, who called Marc Rich's supporters in Israel, then Washington. Dozoretz is also a big contributor to the Clinton presidential library fund. As in Denise Rich's case, congressional investigators want to know if there's a trail leading straight from Dozoretz's bountiful checkbook to Clinton's signature on Marc Rich's pardon.

[Catherine]

http://www.slate.com/id/1007089/

Bill Clinton, Chump
Jacob Weisberg
Posted Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001, at 4:54 PM ET


Why did Bill Clinton pardon Marc Rich? The most damning interpretation, offered by congressional Republicans and conservative commentators, is outright corruption: Clinton was either rewarding or anticipating massive contributions to his presidential library in Little Rock from Rich and/or his ex-wife, Denise Rich. The most forgiving views are that Clinton was either pursuing a foreign policy objective, granting a favor to then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, or that he simply goofed, acting on impulse without really understanding the facts of the case.

None of these explanations, or even a combination of them, it seems to me, comes close to fully encompassing the sheer folly of the act. Criminal quid pro quo bargains, often suspected, seldom actually occur in politics. The Rich pardon wasn't likely to help Barak either in selling a peace accord to the Israeli public or in winning re-election. And we know that Clinton did get some sound political advice, from his close friend Bruce Lindsey among others, about the risks of pardoning Rich.

Continue Article

Moreover, Clinton had to be thinking about how the Rich pardon might be seen. As we often heard during the last few years, Bill Clinton was intensely focused on strengthening his presidential "legacy." In many ways, his hard work since 1998 had allowed him to transcend the Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment. Then, with a single stroke of the pen, Clinton turned an aura of forgiveness and national appreciation into a tsunami of disgust. Even longtime defenders voiced their revulsion at what he had done. This reaction, if not the depth and longevity of the scandal, was entirely predictable. Rich was a wealthy fugitive from American justice with a spot on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list. He hadn't admitted guilt, been punished, or demonstrated contrition. Clinton had to realize that pardoning him was a sure-fire way to generate public outrage.

What does come a bit closer to making sense of the Rich pardon is one of Bill Clinton's less legendary character flaws: gullibility. Clinton is, to be sure, a brilliant man and a shrewd politician with a keen sense of where the interests of others lie. But throughout his career, he has often shown himself to be a poor judge of character. A naturally trusting fellow with a deep craving for approval, Bill Clinton is, to be blunt, a bit of a sucker. More precisely, he's an easy mark for a certain type of hustler. Once convinced that someone is his friend, Clinton drops his guard and ignores crucial signals of intended exploitation. After it becomes clear that such a friend has taken advantage of his trust, Clinton feels bitterly betrayed. But he's hardly savvier the next time someone with dubious motives shows up at his doorstep.

This figure of the genial swindler, the manipulative charmer appears again and again in Clinton's biography. First there was the bald man in the ice cream suit, James McDougal. When McDougal, who described himself as a "con artist," offered to make him some easy money, Clinton neglected to question either McDougal's motives or his abilities. Another example is Gennifer Flowers circa 1991. Even as he suspected that his former mistress would sell him out, Clinton unburdened himself into her tape recorder. Yet another is Dick Morris, who promised Clinton political salvation, helped to deliver it in 1996, then turned on his client. Looking at these episodes, you have to wonder why Clinton didn't exhibit the natural instinct of self-protection.

The latest "friend" to take advantage of Clinton's naiveté is Jack Quinn. As a former White House counsel, a man privy to personal and presidential secrets, Quinn had Clinton's trust. When he arrived to ask his former client for a favor on behalf a current client, Clinton did not suspect that Quinn might be abusing their relationship. As a result, Quinn royally fleeced him. Abusing his rare access, he acted not as a Clinton loyalist but as a Washington hired gun. He got what he wanted and left Clinton holding the bag.

Quinn was quite shrewd in the way he did his work. In letters and direct discussion, he presented Clinton with one side of the Rich case, highlighting the arguments that he knew would appeal to the president. He played on Clinton's own sense of victimization by telling him that Rich was a victim not just of prosecutorial excess but of the special prosecutorial excess of Rudy Giuliani. Quinn misled Clinton into believing that Rich was not technically a fugitive from justice. He orchestrated pleas for sympathy from Rich's ex-wife and daughter as well as from other public figures he thought Clinton would respond to. Meanwhile, Quinn did his best to prevent the president from getting the other side of the story. He used his knowledge of how the White House worked to make sure that the pardon office at the Justice Department didn't get involved until the 11th hour.

Today, Clinton is said to feel deeply betrayed by Quinn. To which one can only respond, why did you trust him? There's an old expression that says you can't bullshit a bullshitter. But sometimes the opposite is true: Someone who isn't trustworthy neglects to mistrust others. This seems to be the case with Clinton. Manipulative but not cynical, he assumes that other gregarious sweet-talkers mean no harm. Faced with someone who wants him to do something, he assumes the best of motives, not the worst. And that leaves the door wide open for a lushly connected influence peddler like Jack Quinn.

Some on the right have focused on Hillary Clinton's role in the Rich pardon, assuming that any corrupt deal with Democratic contributors must have involved her as well. But the evidence thus far suggests that Sen. Clinton wasn't involved in the decision. Indeed, in the fascinating trove of documents subpoenaed and released by the House Government Affairs Committee, there is some insightful e-mail reporting on the views of Denise Rich and her friend Beth Dozoretz, a Clinton friend and Democratic Party fund-raiser who pushed for the pardon. In one message, Rich's New York lawyer passes along a warning from Denise Rich and "her friend" (Dozoretz) not to approach the first lady or even discuss the case in front of her. The two thought involving Hillary would backfire. In this, Rich and Dozoretz were probably showing shrewd character judgment. Unlike her husband, Hillary Clinton is deeply suspicious by nature (especially when it comes to busty blondes engaged in late-night tête-à-têtes with her husband). For Sen. Clinton, once burned is twice shy. She does not assume that people who have helped her in the past have her best interests at heart.

There are institutional mechanisms that exist to protect a president from the kind of mistake Bill Clinton made in the Rich case--in this case a Justice Department pardon office, a White House counsel's office, and lots of formal and informal White House advisers. So what explains the way Clinton's personal credulity prevailed over the systemic checks? I think the answer lies in the former president's familiar impulse to self-destruction. This impulse is not omnipresent, but rather emerges according to a pattern. Clinton struggles mightily to recover from a deep setback, such as the loss of Congress in 1994 or impeachment. Then, just when he seems to have regained the public support he lost, he brainlessly throws it away again. Then he begins the process of painstaking reconstruction once more.

With Clinton at low ebb, the cycle is shifting again. You saw it yesterday, when Clinton walked through Harlem, rallying die-hard loyalists as he declared his intention to abandon the pricey digs in Midtown Manhattan and set up his post-presidential shop on 125th Street instead. Clinton rises, falls, and comes back again, and again and again. Why not be more careful and sensible in the first place? Forgive the pop-psych speculation, but I would suggest that Clinton's last screw-up was of a piece with his self-dramatizing, barely voluntary departure from the White House. At some level, he doesn't want the country to put him behind it or "move on." It's as if he'd rather have our attention for screwing up than not have our attention at all.

Photograph of Marc Rich from AFP/Corbis.

Jacob Weisberg is editor of Slate and co-author, with Robert E. Rubin, of In an Uncertain World.

[Catherine]

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0510/S00322.htm

Linda Minor: Scooter Libby’s Client, Marc Rich
Monday, 31 October 2005, 12:40 pm
Opinion: Linda Minor
www.sandersresearch.com
Inside Track
Sophists and Other Scoundrels
Part 2: Scooter Libby’s Client, Marc Rich

By Linda Minor
October 28, 2005
See Original Version With Illustrations Here: http://www.sandersresearch.com/Sanders/NewsManager/ShowNewsGen.aspx?NewsID=1102
“The man attacking my integrity and reputation – and, I believe, quite possibly the person who exposed my wife’s identity – was the same Scooter Libby who, before he came into the new administration, was one of the principal attorneys for Marc Rich, ex-fugitive. Rich is the commodities trader who was convicted of having traded petroleum with Iran in violation of sanctions imposed on that country by the United States after the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran and the taking of more than a hundred American hostages by supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini.”
- Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV, The Cult That’s Running the Country”
They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.
Steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king.

- Bob Dylan, “Sweetheart Like You,” Infidels, 1983

Amidst rumors that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is close to indicting White House officials in the Plame leak case are reports that Scooter Libby was Judith Miller’s source of information. Part One of this series explored Libby’s “handler,” Leonard Garment, a Brooklyn attorney who ushered Libby into three different law firms. As an attorney in one of those firms, Libby represented his wealthiest and most mysterious client—Marc Rich. As only one of a myriad of Rich’s attorneys, Libby, nevertheless, worked for the metal and oil trader for a period of eighteen years. Understanding Marc Rich is essential in understanding Scooter Libby and the financial network which invaded Iraq.

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Strategic Metals

Craig Copetas, Marc Rich’s biographer, labels his subject one of the “Metal Men,”[1] and attempts to trace Rich’s mysterious background. The Belgian Reich family fled Europe during World War II, assisted by a Jewish placement agency, and changed their surname to Rich. Marc’s father, David Rich, seems to have engaged in an assortment of secretive businesses—jewelry distribution in Kansas City, Missouri; importing burlap at Melrose Bag in the Bronx, New York; expanding into Sidec Overseas, S.A. and a diversified agricultural import company trading with Bolivia. All of this industry centers around the metal trade, Bolivia being a prime source of silver, zinc, antimony, lead, cadmium, tungsten, gold, and tin since the sixteenth century. In 1976 Bolivia added lithium, a necessary ingredient in nuclear weapons, to its stock of strategic minerals.

While his father was busy trading, young Marc was quietly attending school and going to summer camp. He graduated from the private “Rhodes School” in mid-town Manhattan in 1952, just ten years before a future commerce secretary, Ron Brown, would receive his diploma there.[2] An advertisement for the school in 1917 (see insert) sported photographs of selected members of its illustrious faculty, which included former Harvard and Columbia professor Adolphe Cohn; Alexis I. du Pont Coleman, a scion of the gunpowder and chemicals family that owned Dupont; and Dr. Jose F. de Fernandez, recruited from New York’s Jesuit St. Francis Xavier College. Those years at Rhodes constitute the sum total of Marc Rich’s formal education, apart from a year or so of study at New York University. He dropped out of college in 1954 to begin his trading career at Hamburg-based Philipp Brothers.

Philipp’s London office first opened in 1908. A New York branch appeared in 1927, just nine years before Rich’s boss, Ludwig Jesselson, arrived there from Germany. Philipps Brothers also had close connections to Spain and to Bolivia. David Rich—allegedly in connection with his burlap bag business—traveled frequently to La Paz and even set up a bank there, the American Bolivian Bank. The physical commodities business, according to John K. Castle, “tends to be based… in Brazil, Colombia and the Ivory Coast.”[3] It is difficult to trade physical commodities without arranging for their transportation from one place to another at a certain time.

Marc’s twenty years at Philipp Brothers was spent “buccaneering between North and South America, Africa and Europe…Copper was king at the time, and Rich was one of the metal’s crown princes…He went on to learn tungsten under the direction of Henry Rothschild and Steven Dale, a former British commando who was the tungsten expert….”[4] Rich’s reward was a posting to the Philipp Brothers office in Madrid as manager in 1967. He used this outpost as a base through West Africa and the Middle East, and he gained contacts through his seat on the European management committee in Zug, Switzerland.

Goldfinger

In 1960 Jesselson, assisted by his friend Andre Meyer of Lazard Freres, merged the firm with Minerals & Chemicals (Minorco). A second major change occurred in 1967—about the time Rich was arriving in Madrid—when Andre Meyer convinced Jesselson to merge with Engelhard Industries, owned by “Meyer’s friend and sometime business partner Charles Engelhard, the legendary inspiration for Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger.”[5] Engelhard (sometimes called “The Platinum King”) also processed gold and other precious metals and lived in northwestern New Jersey’s aristocratic hunt country alongside Treasury Secretaries Douglas Dillon and Nicholas Brady—two partners in the Dillon, Read investment bank. Both Dillon, Read and Lazard Freres, as well as being favored investment arms of Rockefeller corporations and banks, were also heavily involved in investments in the State of Texas, whose favorite son (Lyndon Johnson) had been in control of the Presidency since November 22, 1963.

Engelhard’s wife was the daughter of a Brazilian diplomat. Her daughter, whom he adopted, married Samuel Pryor Reed, grandson of armaments tycoon Samuel F. Pryor. As Percy Rockefeller’s agent at Remington Arms in 1914, Pryor had a key position in mobilizing American industry, supervised by the War Industries Board, to manufacture and sell weapons to the Allies in World War I. (See “Who ‘Created’ Condi Rice?”—which explores how Eugene Meyer, Jr. and Bernard Baruch used the War Finance Corporation and the War Industries Board “to administer minerals and materiel into a massive war machine.”) It was this war profiteering which first brought Samuel Bush (George H.W. Bush’s grandfather) into government operations—as explored in “Money and Gunpowder, Part Two—A Place for Cannons”.[6]

Liquefying the Metals Trade

The metals Marc Rich brokered prior to 1973 were strategic ones, from the aspect of national defense. Originally, such trading had to be done in the field, as it necessarily involved physical delivery of the metal at a specific location and time. Eventually, however, futures contracts were devised for most metals, allowing financial trading to take place at the commodities exchange. Before 1973, oil had never been traded on the futures markets. Things began to change in March of that year when President Nixon imposed price controls on oil. As reported in Time Magazine on March 19:

“Inflation seems once again to be getting out of hand, despite repeated assurances from the President and Treasury Secretary George Shultz that Washington retains ample authority to crack down on price boosters. There was even more concern last week after the Government reported that in February the unadjusted wholesale price index jumped 1.9%, the biggest monthly rise in 22 years. With that, in an obvious attempt to regain its credibility, the Administration reached for its vaunted ‘stick in the closet’ and re-imposed direct controls on the nation's 23 biggest oil companies.”
Little mention was made of the price controls on oil, however, as food prices continued to soar through the summer. Marc Rich, however, knew that Middle Eastern oil producers were fuming because the dollar devaluation in 1971, combined with the price controls, had resulted in a net loss of income to them. At that point, through trading contacts with the royal Pahlavi family of Iran, Rich began to ship Iranian oil to Spanish refineries. He bought $150 million worth of crude oil at $5 above spot, only to be forced to sell by his bosses in New York, who panicked before the embargo set in.[7]

Virtually all the trading done at Phibro (as Philipp Brothers was called after the Minorco merger) was extremely secretive. Minorco, S.A. (Luxembourg) was then the international trading and investment arm of the Oppenheimer mining interests—trading in diamonds, gold and other precious materials. Engelhard and Harry Oppenheimer were bosom buddies, who first met in South Africa. Just as Engelhard played a vitally strategic role in maintaining a predictable level of necessary metals for the United States’ needs for coinage and national defense purposes, the Oppenheimer family had long performed the same functions for the British Empire.

Diamonds are Forever

Prior to the diamond discoveries in South Africa in the 1860’s, the supply of that precious gem was feared to be in danger of depletion. Author Edward Jay Epstein relates:

“According to the records of the British East India Company, Jewish traders controlled virtually the entire world diamond traffic by the end of the eighteenth century. The Brazilian fields, however, were becoming rapidly depleted of diamonds, and no more diamonds were coming out of India. Just as it appeared that the world might run out of diamonds, the South African mines were discovered in the eighteen-sixties. The ten leading Jewish merchants in London, fearing that the market would be flooded with South African diamonds, quickly formed a syndicate to buy up all of the production from these new mines. A number of the merchants in this syndicate had also acquired large stock holdings in the De Beers monopoly itself. One of the merchants who took the lead in arranging the deal with Cecil Rhodes was Dunkelsbuhler. Dunkelsbuhler brought into his London company a sixteen year old apprentice from Friedberg, Germany.”[8]
Ernest Oppenheimer, son of a cigar merchant, was that young boy sent to South Africa as a buyer for Anton Dunkelsbuhler in 1901. “German by birth, British by naturalization, Jewish by religion, and South African by residence," he became the “prototype of the multinational businessman.”[9] Oppenheimer created Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) of South West Africa in 1917 by first setting up Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa in London with some assistance from his brothers and the House of Morgan. He offered to give each major German investor shares in Anglo-American in exchange for their holdings in the “forbidden zone” in Namibia, which he held in a South African corporation. With this leverage he convinced De Beers to trade him a share of stock and a seat on the board in exchange for an interest in his properties. By 1929, he and his cousins had become a powerful force in the diamond monopoly. With support from Lord Rothschild, whose bank still owned a large block of stock in De Beers, he was named chairman and added De Beers to his Anglo-American Company.

In order to maintain the monopoly, even though demand for diamonds during the depression was nil, Oppenheimer closed his mines but continued to buy from whatever source was presented to the company. By 1937 De Beers had stockpiled some 40 million carats, about a 20-years supply. Threatened with bankruptcy, he decided to create a market himself. He first found industrial applications for poor-quality diamonds in manufacturing--diamond grinding wheel—which became an indispensable tool for mass production. Oppenheimer sent his son Harry to New York City to work with Madison Avenue strategists on a campaign touting the four “C’s” of diamond perfection—cut, color, clarity, carat—helping sales to increase more than 50 percent in two years. A new custom was declared—diamond engagement rings—with the slogan “a diamond is forever.”

The Gold Fix

London first became the world gold center in 1671 when Moses Mocatta arrived from Amsterdam. His bank, called Mocatta & Goldsmid, would begin operation in 1684, a mere ten years before the Bank of England was established. Mocatta would act as broker for buying and selling foreign gold that arrived at the Bank of England. Great Britain first adopted a formal gold standard in 1816. Nathan Mayer Rothschild had his first bullion dealings with the Bank of England in 1824; then Pixley & Abel began operating in 1852, followed the next year by Samuel Montagu & Company. Germany and the U.S. adopted the gold standard early in the 1870’s. Most countries, however, suspended gold payments once World War I commenced, and the gold standard collapsed. At war’s end in 1919 London became the center for “fixing” the price of gold twice a day in a formal meeting at the Rothschild offices in New Court, St. Swithins Lane in London.

Britain, devastated by economic depression, abandoned the gold standard in 1931, though the United States kept the price of gold fixed at $20.67 per ounce until 1933, when America prohibited gold exports, ended convertibility of dollars into gold, and mandated that all gold held by citizens be exchanged for dollars. In January 1934 the price of gold was devalued to $35 per ounce, and the gold standard resumed. London continued its fixings until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, when they were suspended for almost fifteen years. The task of keeping the sterling price of gold at $35 per ounce became increasingly more difficult as the market grew. As early as 1961 the Bank of England had to occasionally sell from its reserves on the fix to hold the $35 per ounce. This led to the creation of the gold pool—an alliance between central banks—to maintain the $35 level. The pool worked well until 1965, when private buying of gold began to exceed mine supply, forcing central banks to sell reserves into the market to hold the price steady.

A run on gold in March 1968 resulted in suspension of gold selling in London for two weeks—reopening with prices thereafter fixed in dollars rather than sterling. The gold price, free to float, was set twice a day, morning and afternoon. London’s action was followed two years later by President Nixon, who in August 1971 repudiated the United States’ obligation to redeem its dollars in gold. By the end of 1974, gold had soared from $35 to $195 per ounce.

Gold is a stabilizing influence in global trade, useful in maintaining a level of confidence in the government’s ability to ensure the value of investments both at home and abroad. The author previously mentioned the importance of gold in an article called “Snatching the Gold.” The strategic value of other metals was discussed in “Who “Created” Condi Rice?” These two articles are part of an ongoing project by this author to describe the historical trail that has been taking America and the rest of the world into a new world order—a centralized order where local control no longer exists. Implicit in this new world order is the recognition of one absolute truism:

Power comes from controlling vital and strategic commodities. The countries which are the sources of those commodities must, therefore, be dominated and not allowed to exercise any form of independence or nationalism.
A Citizen of the World

Marc Rich fits snugly into this new world order. Jack Quinn, Rich’s lead attorney in charge of obtaining a pardon from President Clinton, explained the crime for which Rich was convicted on CNN’s Larry King program:

“This case arose out of a complicated series of oil transactions that occurred during the time when we had price controls on oil. And, in essence, what happened was that Marc Rich and major United States oil companies, including Arco, had linked domestic transactions to foreign transactions in an effort, admittedly, to circumvent those price controls. I think they were trying to do so lawfully. But what they tried to do was to find a way to get the real value out of a price of oil.”[10]
For years Howard Safir, working for Rudy Giuliani as his New York City police commissioner and later as chief of operations for the U.S. Marshals Service, had been tracking Rich down from one country to another. Safir told Larry King: “He was hard to get because he had a great deal of influence in a lot of countries, and we were pretty much restricted to just a few countries where we could apprehend him. He had a Bolivian passport, he had a Spanish passport. The Israelis were very clear they weren't going to help us apprehend him. So it was very difficult to get him, plus he had a lot of money….You know, Marc Rich is one of those people who considers himself a citizen of the world, inconvenienced by the petty laws of nations. And the message that this sends is outrageous.”[11]

Such “world citizenship” makes perfect sense, of course, to those persons who make their livelihood from global trade—what can best be termed the merchant adventurer class which brought us slavery, tobacco, rum, spices, and last but not least, opium. Part of the author’s research is to explore the genealogies of various members of this class of merchant traders from one generation to another to see how their accumulated knowledge and interrelationships have been used to take control of governments throughout the world and to indoctrinate others through advertising techniques and propaganda.

Keeping that purpose in mind, we can look back in our analysis of Condi Rice and notice how every aspect of her life has been managed by persons who sought to control the same type of strategic minerals traded by Marc Rich—copper, silver, gold and oil. As we indicated at that time, it was no accident that Condi was chosen for the position she holds. She fits a politically correct profile, has impressive looking educational credentials and is extremely malleable. She does what she is told and no more.

Scooter Libby fits that same mold, and he is working for the same people. Further research may reveal who hides behind that curtain.

Foot Notes:
[1]A. Craig Copetas, Metal Men: How Marc Rich Defrauded the Country, Evaded the Law, and Became the World’s Most Sought-After Corporate Criminal (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001).
[2]Steven A. Holmes, Ron Brown: An Uncommon Life (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2000). According to Holmes, the school was a favorite preparatory academy for sons of middle-class black families.
[3]The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 1984.
[4]Copetas, Metal Men, 80.
[5]Judith Ramsey Ehrlich and Barry J. Rehfeld, The New Crowd: The Changing of the Jewish Guard on Wall Street (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1989), 197.
[6]This series will be continued as time permits. Interested readers are encouraged to read George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography—by Webster G. Tarpley & Anton Chaitkin—for more detail about the Pryor family’s link to the Bush network, which revolves around the Brown Brothers Harriman investment bank, Rockefeller banking and oil interests, and investments of the Payne and Whitney families.
[7]Mark Honigsbaum, The Observer, May 13, 2001.
[8]Edward Jay Epstein in The Rise and Fall of Diamonds: The Shattering of a Brilliant Illusion (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982). (This book appears online at Epstein’s website.) Epstein adds: “Until the early part of the eighteenth century, the entire world's supply of diamonds came from India. The caravans that brought them across Arabia traded these rare stones to Jewish traders in Aden and Cairo for gold and silver. The traders then resold them to Jewish merchants in Venice, Lithuania, and Frankfurt. It was a natural enterprise for the Jews scattered throughout central Europe: Since they were moneylenders, they had to concern themselves with assessing, repairing, and selling gems that had been offered to them as collateral for loans. They also had close connections with the Jewish trading centers in the Ottoman Empire through which all the Indian diamonds passed…. When the Jewish diamond merchants and workers were forced by the Inquisition to flee from Lisbon and Antwerp, they resettled in Amsterdam. Since cutting factories required no equipment except for hand tools, which were portable, the Jews instantly transformed Amsterdam into the diamond center of Europe. By the middle of the seventeenth century, Jewish diamond merchants helped finance the Dutch East India Company, which organized its own trade route to India. So Amsterdam then replaced Lisbon as the port of entry in Europe for India's diamonds. Just as the fields in India began to cease yielding diamonds, more were discovered in 1725 in Brazil. The Dutch maneuvered to gain control of this traffic, but now they had to contend with the rise of British sea power. By the mid eighteenth century, the British had almost completely taken over the trade in diamonds, both from India and Brazil. As the trading center for uncut diamonds shifted from Amsterdam to London, so did the Jewish diamond merchants…. The Jewish traders sent the diamonds to cutting factories that had been re-established in Antwerp, and from there, the jewels were sold to all the royal courts of Europe. To select and evaluate these diamonds, the courts chose Jewish gem experts, who became known as ‘Court Jews.’
[9]Ibid.
[10]Transcript of Larry King February 8, 2001 broadcast at CNN website.
[11]Safir indicated as well that in 1986 Rich “had a lawyer from East Germany offer $225 million for him and Pinky Green if the prosecutions were wiped out.”

© Sanders Research 2005

ENDS

[Catherine]

http://www.freerepublic.com/china/24.htm





DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OVERVIEW



January, 1993

President Clinton takes office.

Clinton signs Presidential Decision Directive 2 (PDD 2) that approved a National Security Council (NSC) decision-making system that enlarged the membership of the NSC. The new membership of the NSC included the Treasury Secretary, the U.S. Representative to the U.N., the Asst. to the President for National Security Affairs, the Asst. to the President for Economic Policy, and the Chief of Staff to the President. Although not a member, the Attorney General would be invited to attend meetings pertaining to his jurisdiction. The President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense are members of the NSC as prescribed by law. The CIA director and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also attend its meetings.

February, 1993

Bomb explodes in garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people die. The FBI eventually arrests a group of Arab men led by Ramzi Yousef for the crime. Yousef is convicted in 1994.

March, 1993

Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno decide jointly to fire all U.S. attorneys at Justice Department effective immediately.

April, 1993

Former chairman of the Rose Law Firm, Joseph Giroir, incorporates the Arkansas International Development Corporation to bring Mochtar Riady's Lippo Group together with American companies looking to do business in Indonesia and China.

Clinton gives Mochtar Riady's son James Riady and Lippo employee John Huang tour of White House on the same day over 80 people die at Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. This is their fifth visit in only a week. Janet Reno would later take responsibility for the deaths.

James Riady escorts governor of Jakarta, Indonesia to East Wing of White House. White House officials provide no details of the meeting.

May, 1993

The White House fires the Travel Office staff following a review by White House Associate Counsel William Kennedy III, a former member of the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock. Kennedy attempted to involve the FBI and IRS in a criminal investigation of the Travel Office without first consulting the Justice Department.

July, 1993

Clinton fires FBI Director William Sessions at the behest of Reno. This is the first and only time in American history that a president would fire the head of the FBI.

The FBI obtains a warrant to search the Little Rock office of David Hale.

White House Counsel, boyhood friend of Bill, and former Hillary Rose Law Firm partner, Vince Foster, is found dead at Ft. Marcy Park in Virginia.

According to a Secret Service officer, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, Clinton aide Patsy Thomasson, and First Lady Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, Maggie Williams, visit Foster's office during the night. Ms. Williams removes some of Foster's folders.

Two days after Foster's death, Nussbaum again searches Foster's office. He continues to deny Park police and Justice Department investigators access to the office. In 1996, it is learned Nussbaum removed documents related to the Whitewater investigation.

August, 1993

Clinton appoints Paula Casey, a longtime associate, as U.S. Attorney for Little Rock.

September, 1993

Paula Casey turns down a plea bargain attempt from the attorney for David Hale. He had offered to share information on the "banking and borrowing practices of some individuals in the elite political circles of the state of Arkansas".

Hale is indicted for fraud.

Treasury Department General Counsel Jean Hanson warns Bernhard Nussbaum that the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) plans to issue criminal referrals asking the Justice Department to investigate Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. The referrals are said to name the Clintons as witnesses to, and possible beneficiaries of, illegal actions. Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker is also said to be a target of the investigation. Nussbaum passes the information to Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey.

October, 1993

Lindsey informs Clinton about the confidential RTC referrals.

Clinton meets with Jim Guy Tucker at the White House.

Nine new criminal referrals on Madison Guaranty are forwarded to U.S. Attorney Paula Casey. Casey rejects the first of the referrals six days later.

November, 1993

Associate Attorney General and former Rose Law Firm partner Webster Hubbell recuses himself from the Whitewater case.

William Kennedy writes a note at a meeting between Clinton and his lawyer, David Kendall, that said, "vacuum Rose Law files".

Paula Casey recuses herself from any more dealings with the Madison Guaranty case.

RTC investigator Jean Lewis is removed from the probe.

Clinton meets with Jim Guy Tucker again in Seattle.

December, 1993

The Los Angeles Times and The American Spectator magazine both report allegations made by Arkansas State troopers about Clinton's sexual infidelities as governor of Arkansas.



January, 1994

Janet Reno appoints Robert Fiske as an independent counsel to investigate Whitewater.

February, 1994

Acting head of the RTC, Roger Altman meets with Bernard Nussbaum and other top White House aides to give them a "heads up" about the Madison Guaranty probe. Washington RTC attorney April Breslaw meets with investigator Jean Lewis.

FBI arrests CIA agent Aldrich Ames for being a Russian spy.

Altman recuses himself from the Madison investigation.

March, 1994

Clinton aides Mack McLarty, Erskine Bowles, Mickey Kantor, and others have a series of meetings to arrange financial aide for Web Hubbell who is under investigation for bilking his Rose Law Firm partners.

Bernard Nussbaum resigns as White House counsel. Lloyd Cutler is named to replace him.

Web Hubbell resigns as associate attorney general.

May, 1994

Paula Corbin Jones files a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton.

June, 1994

Lippo pays Web Hubbell $100,000 for unknown work. Hubbell was under pressure to cooperate with the Whitewater investigation.

James Riady visits the White House five times throughout the month. Ng Lap Seng also pays a visit after declaring $175,000 in cash at the San Francisco airport two days before.

Independent counsel Robert Fiske concludes Foster's death was a suicide and clears the White House and Treasury Department of obstruction of justice charges over their contacts with the RTC.

July, 1994

John Huang leaves the Lippo Group and joins Clinton's Commerce Department. He receives top secret security status without getting a proper background check.

Whitewater hearings open in Congress.

August, 1994

A three-judge panel removes Robert Fiske as independent counsel for conflicts of interest and names Kenneth Starr to replace him.

Chinese Gen. Xu Huizi is secretly invited to a meeting with Defense Secretary William Perry at the Pentagon. Gen. Xu was the tactical leader of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown heads a trade mission to China. He is joined by Joseph Giroir and Bernard Schwartz. Schwartz is president of Loral Space and Communications.

Madison investigator Jean Lewis is placed on administrative leave.

Roger Altman resigns as Deputy Treasury Secretary.

Treasury Department General Counsel Jean Hanson resigns.

September, 1994

Donald Smaltz is named as independent counsel to investigate Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.

October, 1994

Abner Mikva replaces Lloyd Cutler as White House Counsel.

Mike Espy resigns.

December, 1994

White House 'Task List' is written.

Web Hubbell pleads guilty to defrauding his Rose Law Firm partners and says he will cooperate in the Whitewater investigation.

Travel Office Director Billy Dale is indicted on charges of embezzlement.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sanctions the Riady family's Lippo group for failing to adhere to money-laundering regulations governing large money transactions.

February, 1995

Arkansas banker Neal Ainley is indicted on five felony counts relating to Clinton's 1990 gubernatorial campaign. Later he pleads guilty to lesser charges and agrees to cooperate with the independent counsel.

April, 1995

Murrah building in Oklahoma City is bombed. The death toll eventually reaches 168.

May, 1995

David Barrett is appointed independent counsel to investigate Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros for making false statements to the FBI.

July, 1995

Department of Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary informs CIA Director John Deutch and White House Chief of Staff Leon Penetta of China's possible theft of America's top nuclear weapon designs. All three neglect to inform the president.

Daniel Pearson is named independent counsel to investigate Commerce Secretary Ron Brown for shady business dealings.

Ken Starr indicts Jim Guy Tucker and Jim and Susan McDougal for bank fraud and conspiracy relating to Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan.

September, 1995

Reno denies accusations by Colombian government officials that U.S. agents played role in violent attack against a lawyer who represented Colombian president on drug charges.

Clinton, John Huang, James Riady, Bruce Lindsey, and Joseph Giroir meet at the White House and decide Huang should be moved from the Commerce Department to the Democratic National Committee.

James Riady escorts Indonesian minister for production to White House lunch with former White House aide Mark Middleton.

President Clinton attends a White House meeting with Leon Panetta, Deputy Defense Secretary John White, and Carmen Perez, the Vice President of Long Beach, California harbor and former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee about plan to turn Long Beach Naval Station over to city of Long Beach free of charge. Long Beach officials had already planned to lease the base to China's state-owned shipping company, COSCO.

FBI arrests Intel Corporation employee and Argentine national William Gaede for stealing Pentium chip secrets and passing information on to China, Iran, and Cuba.

White House Counsel Abner Mikva resigns. Jack Quinn is named as his replacement.

November, 1995

Convicted Miami drug trafficker Jose Cabrera gives $20,000 to the DNC.

After only two hours deliberation, a jury finds former Travel Office Director Billy Dale, not guilty of embezzlement.

CIA briefs National Security Advisor Anthony Lake about possible theft by China of America's top nuclear weapon designs. The president is still not informed.

December, 1995

Cabrera gets picture taken with Vice President Al Gore at fund-raiser.

Cabrera gets picture taken with Hillary Clinton at White House Christmas party.

January, 1996

Cabrera is busted in Miami smuggling three tons of cocaine.

Ron Brown, pending indictment for shady business dealings, hires hotshot Washington lawyer Reid Weingarten to defend him.

John Huang leaves Clinton's Commerce Department to join the DNC as a senior fund-raiser.

Web Hubbell, is questioned at Congress' Whitewater hearings about the $700,000 payment he received from DNC donors -- including Indonesian billionaire Mochtar Riady. Hubbell refused to explain what work he did for the money. Both the FBI and CIA suspect Mochtar Riady (Who was born in China) and his son, James Riady, are Chinese agents.

In late 1995 and early 1996, Department of Energy intelligence analyst Notra Trulock discovered evidence Chinese acquired American nuclear designs. He took his findings to the FBI. A team of FBI and DOE officials traveled to three weapons labs (Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and Los Alamos) and pored over travel and work records of lab scientists who had access to the relevant technology. By February they had narrowed its focus to five possible suspects. The main suspect, Wen Ho Lee, would be identified by early 1997 -- but kept in his position with top-secret security clearance until March 1999.

Justice Department lawyers inform Elizabeth Mann, a recent Chinese immigrant who is the Arizona executive of American-based Communist Chinese corporate giant COFCO, that she is a target of a grand jury investigation for failing to report income by using foreign bank accounts opened in the name of fictitious offshore entities. Janet Reno's Justice Department would later have the investigation into her finances terminated.

February, 1996

FBI and DOJ announce the arrest of an army employee of the National Security Agency for selling top secret information to the Soviet Union -- from 1965-1974.

A People's Liberation Army (PLA) space launch vehicle crashes destroying the Loral Space and Communication satellite it was carrying. The satellite launch had been previously approved by Bill Clinton in a special order. Chinese officials keep American investigators away from crash scene. When they are finally allowed access, they find the highly militarily sensitive encryption chips are missing even though their encasing is intact. (Encryption technology denies outsiders access to, or control over, American satellites in space). Loral and Hughes Electronics' engineers give away missile secrets to China in the ensuing investigation. Loral executive Bernard Schwartz is top contributor to Clinton 1996 re-election campaign and joined Ron Brown on numerous trade flights to China. He was also on Clinton's short list of potential nominees for the defense secretary position being vacated by William Perry. A Justice Department investigation into the illegal transfer of missile technology is thwarted in early 1998 after President Clinton signs a waiver legally allowing the same type of technology transfer the companies had been accused of doing illegally.

March, 1996

Reno's Justice Department requests a wiretap on computer network at Harvard University which later led to charges against Argentine resident Julio Caesar Ardita for breaking into Harvard computers and sensitive U.S. government files.

Deal to turn Long Beach Naval Station over to COSCO is finalized. The deal eventually falls through in late 1998 after Congress passes a bill forbidding the transfer.

Reno extends Ken Starr's mandate to include investigating the Travel Office firings.

Alleged Chinese spy and friend of Bill since late-1970s Arkansas Charlie Trie attends meeting with Buddhist Master Suma Ching Hai and followers in New York. Sect members donate money for Clinton's defense fund.

Energy Department learns China stole U.S. neutron bomb technology.

April, 1996

Ron Brown dies in a plane crash en route from Bosnia to Croatia. 34 others perish as well. Many are Commerce Department employees. Commerce oversaw the satellite launches in China. Brown's body would later be discovered to have a suspiciously round hole in his head. No autopsy would be performed. The plane did not have a "black box". No safety investigation would be performed over the accident. Calls for an independent counsel to investigate Brown's death are ignored by Janet Reno.

Mickey Kanter is named as Brown's replacement.

FBI arrests Navy enlistee Kurt Lessenthien for attempting to sell top secret information to an unnamed foreign government. Lessenthien was a machinist mate on nuclear submarines.

Deputy National Security Advisor Sandy Berger is informed about Chinese nuclear and neutron bomb espionage at U.S. weapons labs.

Al Gore attends a fundraiser with John Huang and Maria Hsia at a Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles.

Charlie Trie donates $640,000 to Clinton legal defense fund.

Former CIA Director William Colby goes missing.

May, 1996

William Colby found dead only 20 yards from his canoe, which had been discovered eight days prior.

Chinese company Poly Technologies, headed by Clinton coffee guest Wang Jun, is busted trying to smuggle 2,000 machine guns and shoulder launched missiles into U.S. The equipment was to be sold to drug gangs. The weapons were shipped into Berkeley, California harbor by way of a COSCO ship.

Navy Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda commits suicide by shooting himself in the chest.

FBI office in Laredo, Texas is bombed.

June, 1996

The FBI briefs Janet Reno and representatives of the NSC about Chinese attempts to influence the 1996 presidential elections.

In late spring 1996, federal examiners discover the Central Bank of China funneled tens of millions of dollars into a maze of accounts controlled by Nan Nan Xu (Pronounced Shoo), a Chinese executive of Far East National Bank in California.

Filegate surfaces. At first, the White House claims only 34 FBI files of Republicans ended up in their hands. Later it is learned close to 1000 did. Travel Office documents reveal former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum requested FBI report on ousted Travel Office Director Billy Dale -- seven months after his dismissal.

The FBI formally opens a criminal investigation into the theft of the W-88 design. The inquiry makes little progress over the rest of the year.

Janet Reno extends Ken Starr's mandate again. This time to investigate Filegate.

A senator sends a note to FBI Director Louis Freeh saying his staff discovered IRS documents were included in the FBI files that found their way into the White House. Recently released report by FBI General Counsel Howard Shapiro made no mention of IRS documents. Shapiro would later give the White House "the heads up" about information pertaining to the Filegate investigation and an advanced copy of former-FBI agent Gary Aldrich's book, Unlimited Access, that detailed drug use and loose security in the first years of the Clinton administration. After leaving the FBI, Shapiro would become the attorney for Terry Lenzner, a private investigator hired by the Clintons, and Charles Bakaly, spokesman for independent counsel Ken Starr. Bakaly resigned from Starr's office in March 1999 after leaking information.

U.S. barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia are bombed.

July, 1996

TWA flight 800 explodes after take-off in New York. Shortly after, Senator Orin Hatch tells the press he is almost 100% certain the plane was blown up by sabotage days after receiving a briefing by Louis Freeh.

White House aide Anthony Marceca pleaded the Fifth before Congress over questions about FBI files.

An unnamed White House official tells press a second series of tests by FBI showed no trace of explosives in TWA crash. Prior test did show explosives residue. Clinton sends Navy to assist in wreckage search. U.S.S. Oak Hill acts as command post. Clinton also sends Federal Emergency Management Director and friend of Bill from Arkansas, James Lee Witt, to New York to assess the situation. The FBI eventually claims a fuel tank leak caused the explosion.

Secret Service agent Arnold Cole testifies past illicit drug use by White House employees found during background checks.

Bomb explodes at Olympic Park in Atlanta. Two people die. Security guard, Richard Jewell, who found the bomb, is publicly named as the FBI's main suspect. Jewell is later cleared of any responsibility. The crime is still unsolved.

August, 1996

Chinese General Ji Shengde gives DNC moneyman Johnny Chung $300,000 to funnel in Clinton/Gore re-election campaign.

Former FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene tells Congress White House appointees used illegal drugs as late as inauguration day in 1993.

September, 1996

Clinton and Reno announce a $1 billion anti-terrorism plan. Many of the plan's details are kept from the public allegedly for national security reasons.

Susan McDougal refuses to answer questions about Clinton's previous sworn testimony. She had been granted immunity to do so. Judge Susan Webber Wright holds her in contempt of court. She eventually spends two years in jail.

October, 1996

Press reports John Huang gave illegal donations to the Democratic National Committee. Later that same day, Huang visits the White House for two and a half-hours.

Reno refuses to release photos of drug trafficker Jose Cabrera with Al Gore and Hillary Clinton to ABC News citing the Privacy Act. They are finally released when Cabrera grants permission.

CIA sends "statement of fact" report to White House and State Department that detailed China's assistance in building a missile plant in Pakistan. The report is ignored.

John Huang is suspended from his job as a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee.

November, 1996

Clinton re-elected.

Louis Freeh goes to Saudi Arabia to continue investigation into Dharan bombing.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher resigns. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Madeleine Albright is named as his replacement.

Reno rejects calls by Senator John McCain and public interest group Common Cause to investigate Democratic National Committee fundraising.

Reno says she'll investigate ethics complaint against independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Connecticut judge Francis Mandanici accused Starr of being political because he had previously worked for Republican administrations.

Congress rejects White House and Justice Department requests for "roving wiretap" authority.

CIA agent Harold Nicholson arrested for selling secrets to Russia.

December, 1996

Reno rejects request for an independent counsel to investigate abnormal immigration surge just prior to elections.

A White House press conference announcing the new cabinet is interrupted by newly appointed Commerce Secretary Bill Daley after he faints and falls off a platform.

FBI agent Earl Pitts arrested on charges of being a Russian spy.

Saudi officials refuse FBI requests to interview suspects being held for Dharan bombing.

The Pentagon, headed by newly appointed Defense Secretary Bill Cohen, sponsors a visit by Chinese Gen. Chi Haotion to Sandia National Laboratory. Energy Department officials are not told in advance of the scheduled visit and Gen. Chi does not receive a proper security clearance. Gen. Chi was in operational command of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Chinese immigrant Chang-Lin Tien leads Clinton short list to replace Hazel O'Leary as head of Energy Department.

A North Carolina soldier is found not guilty of passing secret passwords to a Chinese national living in U.S.

Jack Quinn resigns as White House Counsel. He is replaced in early January by Charles Ruff.

Commerce Department official and DNC fund-raiser Melinda Yee throws away government documents about U.S. trade missions after a judge ordered they be turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

January, 1997

Frederico Pena becomes new Energy Secretary.

Previously approved counterintelligence program at Energy Department is quietly put on back burner.

February, 1997

FBI Director Louis Freeh is sent to Saudi Arabia again by Clinton to investigate bombing in Dharan. Saudi officials eventually execute the bombing suspects without allowing Freeh the opportunity to interrogate them.

White House Counsel Charles Ruff attempts to access FBI intelligence about Chinese attempts to influence American elections while Freeh is away. He uses Jamie Gorelick at Justice Department as an intermediary. FBI officials warn Freeh who then blocks Ruff's request for information. Ruff claims he wanted to inform Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about the situation before she headed to China later in the month.

Clinton allegedly learns about the Chinese plot to influence American elections for the first time.

Albright goes to China. Albright has yet to be told about Chinese espionage by NSC head Anthony Lake or his deputy Sandy Berger. Clinton allegedly has yet to be informed either.

Ken Starr decides to step down from OIC and take teaching position at Pepperdine University. He changes his mind a few days later.

March, 1997

Notra Trulock learns of new espionage evidence. He attempts to contact Secretary Pena but is not given an appointment to see him until July.

Clinton claims he was never briefed about FBI information on Chinese attempts to influence 1996 election. White House officials claim FBI ordered National Security Council aides not to allow information up the chain of command. FBI denies doing so. Janet Reno claims she tried to inform Anthony Lake at NSC but could not find him. She also says she did not tell Clinton herself because she felt it was the job of the NSC. Sandy would then replace Lake as head of NSC a day later.

Louis Freeh tells Congress his investigation into campaign finance irregularities is not focusing on individual criminal acts, but on a possible conspiracy involving a foreign government.

Al Gore goes to China.

The FDIC again sanctions Lippo Bank for bad loans and financial losses.

April, 1997

Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick resigns.

Janet Reno decides against appointing an independent counsel to investigate Chinese attempts to influence American election.

FBI issues classified report that recommends background checks on foreign visitors to nuclear labs be reinstated. The Energy Department ignores the recommendations for 17 months.

May, 1997

White House announces it will appeal to the Supreme Court a previously sealed lower court ruling that government lawyers must turn over to Ken Starr notes taken during conversations with Hillary Clinton. The White House claimed "executive privilege" allowed them to withhold the notes.

Suspected spy Wen Ho Lee is promoted to a position at the Energy Department that required an even higher security clearance than he already had. Lee would also be allowed to hire an assistant. He chose a Chinese national living in the U.S..

Reno's Justice Department repeatedly refuses FBI requests to tap Wen Ho Lee's phone and gain access to his computer over the next few months. When the FBI finally gained access to Lee's computer in March 1999, they discovered Lee had downloaded all of America's nuclear research information gathered over the last 50 years.

The FBI identifies DNC and RNC fund-raiser Ted Sioeng as a Chinese spy. Sioeng is a friend of John Huang.

Former Sandia and Los Alamos lab employee Peter Lee gives top secret information on anti-submarine radar technology away to Chinese nuclear-weapons experts. Reno and Navy Department would later refuse FBI requests to allow open-court testimony about the technology even though doing so would kill the FBI's espionage case against him.

The Supreme Court rules unanimously that a sitting president can be sued for actions done prior to taking office.

June, 1997

Clinton calls for renewal of MFN status for China.

The Supreme Court refuses to hear the White House's appeal in regards to the notes about Hillary.

July, 1997

Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese control. Madeleine Albright attends ceremonies.

Sen. Fred Thompson opens hearings into Chinese influence of America's 1996 president and congressional election campaigns.

Secretary Pena finally meets with Notra Trulock who has new information about ongoing espionage at labs. Pena sends him to Sandy Berger after their meeting.

Trulock briefs Berger.

Berger finally briefs Clinton on China's nuclear espionage campaign.

Starr releases unsigned report claiming former White House Counsel Vince Foster, whose corpse was found in Ft. Marcy Park in 1993, committed suicide. Three judge panel forced Starr to attach addendum to report by D.C. resident Patrick Knowlton. Knowlton had claimed FBI falsified his testimony in regards to whereabouts of Foster's car on the day of his death. Knowlton said he never saw it in parking lot at Virginia park. The FBI claimed he said he did.

Federal examiners give evidence China's Central Bank funneled upwards of $90 million into California bank owned by Nan Nan Xu to Justice Department. Reno ignores the information.

August, 1997

Berger goes to China. Before leaving he assigns NSC aide in charge of proliferation, Gary Samore, to assess espionage situation. Samore would later claim that while espionage had taken place Trulock's briefing was only a worse-case scenario.

Reno decides not to investigate Starr over ethics complaint filed by Francis Mandanici. Justice Department Counsel Michael Shaheen denies Starr's assertion that they found no conflict of interest, however. Shaheen said they would have investigated Starr had he been an employee under the direct control of the Justice Department instead being an independent counsel.

A federal grand jury indicts former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy for illegally soliciting gifts and obstructing justice.

Ron Brown's son, Michael Brown pleads guilty to illegally giving money to Sen. Ted Kennedy's 1994 campaign for Senate.

September, 1997

Louis Freeh concludes there is not enough evidence to arrest Wen Ho Lee but there is no longer any reason to keep him in a position with such high security clearance. The Energy Department ignores his recommendation and keeps Lee on the job for another year and a half.

Eric Holder named as new Deputy Attorney General. The position had remained vacant since April.

Janet Reno appoints Charles LaBella to head her campaign finance investigation.

Wen Ho Lee's Chinese assistant leaves. He has since disappeared.

October, 1997

Reno decides not to appoint an independent counsel to investigate Gore for illegal fundraising.

L.A. Times reports DNC officials traveled to Asia in 1991 to seek campaign donations. A document by Melinda Yee, Commerce Department official and DNC fund-raiser, said "(John) Huang offered to host event in Hong Kong" and that "(Maria) Hsia will identify key donor during Taiwan visit".

Judge Susan Webber Wright dismisses suit brought against Starr by Mandanici.

FBI hires Donald Kerr, a nuclear physicist who previously headed Los Alamos National Laboratory, to run its crime lab.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin has private 90-minute meeting with Clinton, Berger, and Albright in White House residence quarters. This is the first state visit by a high-ranking Chinese official in over ten years. They fail to discuss China's espionage against U.S. labs. Albright still has not been told of information by Berger or Clinton.

Sen. Thompson suspends his Senate hearings into the campaign finance scandal.

November, 1997

Louis Freeh separately interviews both Clinton and Gore about campaign fund-raising.

Reno learns FBI "overlooked" intelligence dating back to 1991 that showed Chinese government efforts to influence American politicians.

Michael Brown receives 3 years' probation and a $3,000 fine in a plea bargain with Reno's Justice Department.

Louis Freeh writes memorandum to Reno calling for an independent counsel to investigate campaign fundraising scandal. Reno ignores request.

Janet Reno faints while on a visit to Mexico.

December, 1997

Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell, a deputy medical examiner at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, says an autopsy should have been performed on Ron Brown due to a suspiciously-looking round hole found in his head. Cogswell says the hole could have been made by a bullet from a .45 caliber gun.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry and other unnamed White House officials tell the press that Louis Freeh is terrible at his job and they think he should resign.

Reno rejects calls for an independent counsel to investigate former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary for accepting money from Johnny Chung and Al Gore for fund-raising calls placed in White House.

Reno ignores Congress' requests for a copy of the Freeh memo.

Assistant FBI Director James Kallstrom retires. Kallstrom had headed the investigation into the TWA-800 crash.

Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Henry Cisneros is indicted.

Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp are subpoenaed by Paula Jones' lawyers.

DNC Chairman and Colorado Gov. Roy Romer says he will resist subpoenas for information on campaign financing from Rep. Dan Burton's committee.

Staffer for independent counsel Smaltz criticizes Reno for slacking in prosecution in Former Agriculture Secretary Espy inquiry.

Clinton names Chinese-American Bill Lann Lee as acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Acting heads of Executive Branch departments do not require congressional approval.

L.A. Times reports DNC operative Antonio Pan laundered 10s of thousands of dollars from China to the DNC.

Arkansas based Tyson Foods Inc. pleads guilty to giving Mike Espy $12,000 in illegal money.

January, 1998

Monica Lewinsky files a false affidavit in the Paula Jones lawsuit that stated she never had a sexual relationship with the president.

Reno rejects calls for an investigation into the death of Ron Brown.

Congress learns Navy Secretary John Dalton had meetings with DNC moneyman Johnny Chung.

Reno secretly expands Ken Starr's mandate to include possible obstruction of justice and witness tampering charges in the Paula Jones lawsuit.

Clinton denies he ever had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky during his deposition in the Paula Jones suit.

Lewinsky story breaks in the press.

February, 1998

Charlie Trie returns from China and surrenders himself to the FBI.

Janet Reno calls for an independent counsel to investigate Clinton's Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt for his role in rejecting a Native American Indian tribe's casino application that was opposed by major Democratic financial contributors.

Maria Hsia is indicted on charges of disguising illegal campaign contributions given to Al Gore at the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple near Los Angeles.

March, 1998

Johnny Chung is charged with funneling illegal contributions to the Democratic National Committee.

Jim McDougal dies of a heart attack in prison. Later it is learned he was denied his heart medication.

Former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey appears on 60 Minutes and alleges President Clinton sexually assaulted her in the Oval Office in 1993.





SOURCES



Mystery Leg Belonged To Woman - CNN Interactive - 8/30/95

Reno Denies U.S. Role In Colombian Attack - CNN Interactive - 9/29/95

Defense Complains Against FBI - CNN Interactive - 10/1/95

Ames' Damage Called 'Mind-Boggling' - CNN Interactive - 10/31/95

Whitewater Notes Galvanize GOP - CNN Interactive - 12/22/95

Ex-Intel Engineer Held For Theft - CNN Interactive - 12/25/95

First Lady In Spotlight Of Dual Controversies - CNN Interactive - 1/8/96

Hillary Grilled For 4 Hours - CNN Interactive - 1/26/96

A Crucial Time For U.S. - China Relations - CNN Interactive - 2/5/96

Whitewater Testimony Sought - CNN Interactive - 2/5/96

U.S. Planning Sanctions Against China - CNN Interactive - 2/21/96

U.S. Officials Call Espionage Case Grave - CNN Interactive - 2/23/96

Democrats Block Whitewater Probe - CNN Interactive - 2/29/96

Long-Awaited Whitewater Trial Begins - CNN Interactive - 3/4/96

Taiwan Says China Fired 3 Missiles - CNN Interactive - 3/7/96

U.S. Navy Ships To Sail Near Taiwan - CNN Interactive - 3/10/96

Two U.S. Officials In Plane Crash In Balkans - CNN Interactive - 4/3/96

Commerce Secretary Among 33 Feared Lost In Crash - Associated Press - 4/4/96

Crash Investigators Begin Somber Task On Croatia Hillside - San Francisco Chronicle - 4/5/96

Navy Man Arrested On Spy Charge - CNN Interactive - 4/23/96

Colby's Body Found In River - CNN Interactive - 5/6/96

President Clinton's Whitewater Testimony - Associated Press - 5/9/96

Sanctions Averted, China Says It Upholds Nuclear Treaty - CNN Interactive - 5/11/96

Navy's Top Officer Dies Of Gunshot, Apparently Self-Inflicted - CNN Interactive - 5/16/96

Explosion Damages Building Housing FBI - CNN Interactive - 5/20/96

Clinton Suggests Go-Slow Approach On Missile Defense System - CNN Interactive - 5/22/96

Legal Brief Stirs Up President's Critics - CNN Interactive - 5/22/96

McDougal, Tucker Guilty Of Conspiracy In Whitewater Trial - CNN Interactive - 5/28/96

White House Surrenders Documents, Avoids Contempt - CNN Interactive - 5/30/96

White House Requested Travel Worker's FBI File - CNN Interactive - 6/6/96

Senator Says Aide Saw IRS Records In FBI - CNN Interactive - 6/25/96

Travel Papers Surrendered - CNN Interactive - 6/25/96

Massive Bomb Rocks U.S. Military Complex - CNN Interactive - 6/26/96

More Intrigue Over FBI Files Flap - CNN Interactive - 6/28/96

The Secret Missile Deal - CNN Interactive - 6/30/97

Who's Got Access? - CNN Interactive - 7/17/96

Questioning Marceca - CNN Interactive - 7/18/96

U.S. Senator Convinced TWA Crash Caused By Sabotage - CNN Interactive - 7/19/96

Second Test Shows No Sign Of Bomb Residue - CNN Interactive - 7/23/96

Did Hillary Help Livingstone? - CNN Interactive - 7/25/96

Clinton Appointees Used Drugs Up To Inauguration - CNN Interactive - 8/4/96

Susan McDougal Vows To Go To Jail Monday - CNN Interactive - 9/5/96

Reno Defends Billion-Dollar Anti-Terrorism Plan - CNN Interactive - 9/12/96

U.S. Navy Analyst Charged With Spying For Russia - CNN Interactive - 9/25/96

The Indonesian Connection Raises Questions - CNN Interactive - 10/11/96

Cocaine Smuggler Posed With Hillary - CNN Interactive - 10/23/96

Huang's White House Visits - CNN Interactive - 10/31/96

D'Amato Backs Down - CNN Interactive - 11/7/96

No IC Will Probe Campaign Spending - CNN Interactive - 11/8/96

Justice Rejects Request For DNC Probe - CNN Interactive - 11/12/96

New Huang-Lippo Contacts - CNN Interactive - 11/13/96

Former CIA Station Chief To Fight Charges - CNN Interactive - 11/20/96

Justice: No Again - CNN Interactive - 12/4/96

U.S. Gets New Info On Saudi Bomb - CNN Interactive - 12/6/96

Out With The Trash - CNN Interactive - 12/6/96

Gore-Huang Ties - CNN Interactive - 12/13/96

Erskine's Choices - CNN Interactive - 12/18/96

Clinton: Wang's White House Visit 'Inappropriate' - CNN Interactive - 12/20/96

Soldier Found Not Guilty Of Espionage - CNN Interactive - 12/23/96

FBI Spy Suspect Pleads Not Guilty - CNN Interactive - 12/30/96

Chinese Involvement? - CNN Interactive - 2/13/97

New Fund-Raising Questions - CNN Interactive - 2/16/97

Chinese Firm To Lease Abandoned U.S. Base - Associated Press - 3/9/97

FBI Warned 6 On Hill About China Money - Washington Post - 3/9/97

Clinton Questioned On Possible China Link - CNN Interactive - 3/10/97

White House Knew Clinton Supporters Were Hiring Hubbell - CNN Interactive - 3/11/97

Intelligence Trail - CNN Interactive - 3/13/97

Reno On The Hot Seat - CNN Interactive - 3/13/97

Text Of Anthony Lake's Withdrawal Letter To President Clinton - CNN Interactive - 3/18/97

FBI Confirms China Money Probe - CNN Interactive- 3/20/97

FBI Denies White House Chinese Intelligence - CNN Interactive - 3/25/97

This Prez Donor Is A Real Pistol - New York Daily News - 3/26/97

Reno Formally Rejects Independent Counsel - Washington Post - 4/15/97

A Chinese Spy? - CNN Interactive - 5/12/97

The Riadys' Persistent Pursuit of Influence - Washington Post - 5/27/97

China Buying U.S. Computers, Raising Arms Fears - New York Times - 6/10/97

Mystery Woman - ABC News Primetime Live - 6/18/97

The Secret Missile Deal - TIME - 6/30/97

Lippo's Man In The Back Room - TIME - 7/21/97

Wu's White House Visits - CNN Interactive - 7/30/97

Asian Businessman Visited White House 10 Times - USA Today - 7/30/97

Investigators Told Not To Probe Trie - CNN Interactive - 7/31/97

Claims Against Air Force In Ron Brown Crash - United Press International - 8/19/97

Donor Says Money Opened White House Door - USA Today - 9/18/97

Ex-NSC Aide Describes Pressure To Help Donor - Washington Post - 9/18/97

Suit Against Starr Dismissed - CNN Interactive - 10/3/97

Democrats Reportedly Traveled To Asia To Seek Campaign Funds - Agence France Presse - 10/8/97

FBI Admits Overlooking Key Campaign Finance Files - Washington Post - 10/18/97

Clinton Welcomes Jiang to White House - CNN Interactive - 10/29/97

Ron Brown's Son Gets Probation - CNN Interactive - 11/21/97

FBI Hires Nuclear Physicist - CNN Interactive - 11/26/97

Reno Hospitalized In Mexico City - CNN Interactive - 11/26/97

Reno Clears O'Leary In Charity Donation - Washington Post - 12/3/97

White House Humiliates FBI's Freeh - CNN Interactive - 12/4/97

M.E.: Brown Should Have Had Autopsy - Associated Press - 12/4/97

Reno Refuses To Turn Over Memo - CNN Interactive - 12/5/97

Leader Of TWA Criminal Investigation Retiring From FBI - CNN Interactive - 12/10/97

Cisneros Indicted - CNN Interactive - 12/11/97

DNC To Resist House Subpoenas - CNN Interactive - 12/12/97

Clinton Makes Lee Acting Civil Rights Chief - CNN Interactive - 12/15/97

Clinton Stands By Aide Ira Magaziner - CNN Interactive - 12/29/97

Justice Concludes No Evidence Of Crime In Brown Death - CNN Interactive - 1/8/98

Findings Link Clinton Allies To Chinese Intelligence - Washington Post - 2/10/98

Democratic Fund-Raiser Hsia Indicted - Washington Post - 2/19/98

Lawmaker Questions Chung Meeting With Navy Chief - Associated Press - 3/13/98

Witness: White House Sold Trips For Funds - Associated Press - 3/23/98

China Sent Cash To U.S. Bank, With Suspicions Slow To Rise - New York Times - 5/12/98

James McDougal's Last Word Is A Tell-All Book - Associated Press - 5/15/98

Import Rule Aided Alleged Donor To Democrats - New York Times - 5/17/98

Loral CEO Frequent Administration Guest - Associated Press - 5/21/98

Bernard Schwartz Gave Heavily To Democrats - CNN Interactive - 5/22/98

Pakistan Explodes Nuclear Devices - CNN Interactive - 5/28/98

Clinton's $500,000 Car Ride - Associated Press - 6/9/98

House Hears About Encoded Circuit Board Missing From Chinese Rocket - New York Times - 6/24/98

Thai Woman Pleads Innocent To Campaign Rap - Washington Post - 7/30/98

Saudi Kin Do Big Biz In U.S. - New York Daily News - 8/27/98

Attorney General Faints In Church - CNN Interactive - 9/27/98

White House Handling Of Classified Data Criticized - Associated Press - 10/8/98

Bin Laden Opens European Terror Base In Albania - The Sunday (London) Times - 11/29/98

CIA Role In Satellite Case Spurs Probe - Washington Post - 12/5/98

Starr Aide Resigns After News-Leak Probe - CNN Interactive - 3/12/99

China Stole Nuclear Secrets From Los Alamos - New York Times - 3/6/99

Chinese Scientist Was 'FBI Suspect' - BBC Online Network - 3/24/99

China Stole Bomb Technology - Associated Press - 4/99

Businesswoman Wields Influence, Makes Contacts - Arizona Republic - 4/4/99

Testimony Links Top China Official, Funds For Clinton - Los Angeles Times - 4/4/99

China Money Linked To Clinton Campaign - Washington Times - 4/7/99

FBI Suppressed TWA 800 Crash Cause - CNN Interactive - 5/9/99

Report Shows Scientists Gave U.S. Radar Technology Secrets To China - New York Times - 5/10/99

Shelby Blasts Reno - Washington Post - 5/13/99

Traitor In Chief - Salon.com - 5/28/99

U.S. Is Said To Have Known Of China Spy Link In 1995 - New York Times - 6/27/99

OIC Referral to the United States House of Representatives (Starr Report)

The United States House of Representatives Select Committee Report on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China (Cox Report)

Interim Report of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Campaign Finance Investigation and Related Matters (Burton Report)

U.S. General Accounting Office Website: Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress, by Robert Shuey and Shirley A. Kan, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division, Congressional Research Service: Issue Brief, IB92056 - 7/6/95

History of the National Security Council, 1947-1997, White House Website

A Journal Briefing: WHITEWATER, Vols. I, II, III, IV, Published by The Wall Street Journal



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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OVERVIEW



January, 1993

President Clinton takes office.

Clinton signs Presidential Decision Directive 2 (PDD 2) that approved a National Security Council (NSC) decision-making system that enlarged the membership of the NSC. The new membership of the NSC included the Treasury Secretary, the U.S. Representative to the U.N., the Asst. to the President for National Security Affairs, the Asst. to the President for Economic Policy, and the Chief of Staff to the President. Although not a member, the Attorney General would be invited to attend meetings pertaining to his jurisdiction. The President, Vice President, Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense are members of the NSC as prescribed by law. The CIA director and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also attend its meetings.

February, 1993

Bomb explodes in garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people die. The FBI eventually arrests a group of Arab men led by Ramzi Yousef for the crime. Yousef is convicted in 1994.

March, 1993

Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno decide jointly to fire all U.S. attorneys at Justice Department effective immediately.

April, 1993

Former chairman of the Rose Law Firm, Joseph Giroir, incorporates the Arkansas International Development Corporation to bring Mochtar Riady's Lippo Group together with American companies looking to do business in Indonesia and China.

Clinton gives Mochtar Riady's son James Riady and Lippo employee John Huang tour of White House on the same day over 80 people die at Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. This is their fifth visit in only a week. Janet Reno would later take responsibility for the deaths.

James Riady escorts governor of Jakarta, Indonesia to East Wing of White House. White House officials provide no details of the meeting.

May, 1993

The White House fires the Travel Office staff following a review by White House Associate Counsel William Kennedy III, a former member of the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock. Kennedy attempted to involve the FBI and IRS in a criminal investigation of the Travel Office without first consulting the Justice Department.

July, 1993

Clinton fires FBI Director William Sessions at the behest of Reno. This is the first and only time in American history that a president would fire the head of the FBI.

The FBI obtains a warrant to search the Little Rock office of David Hale.

White House Counsel, boyhood friend of Bill, and former Hillary Rose Law Firm partner, Vince Foster, is found dead at Ft. Marcy Park in Virginia.

According to a Secret Service officer, White House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum, Clinton aide Patsy Thomasson, and First Lady Hillary Clinton's chief of staff, Maggie Williams, visit Foster's office during the night. Ms. Williams removes some of Foster's folders.

Two days after Foster's death, Nussbaum again searches Foster's office. He continues to deny Park police and Justice Department investigators access to the office. In 1996, it is learned Nussbaum removed documents related to the Whitewater investigation.

August, 1993

Clinton appoints Paula Casey, a longtime associate, as U.S. Attorney for Little Rock.

September, 1993

Paula Casey turns down a plea bargain attempt from the attorney for David Hale. He had offered to share information on the "banking and borrowing practices of some individuals in the elite political circles of the state of Arkansas".

Hale is indicted for fraud.

Treasury Department General Counsel Jean Hanson warns Bernhard Nussbaum that the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) plans to issue criminal referrals asking the Justice Department to investigate Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. The referrals are said to name the Clintons as witnesses to, and possible beneficiaries of, illegal actions. Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker is also said to be a target of the investigation. Nussbaum passes the information to Clinton aide Bruce Lindsey.

October, 1993

Lindsey informs Clinton about the confidential RTC referrals.

Clinton meets with Jim Guy Tucker at the White House.

Nine new criminal referrals on Madison Guaranty are forwarded to U.S. Attorney Paula Casey. Casey rejects the first of the referrals six days later.

November, 1993

Associate Attorney General and former Rose Law Firm partner Webster Hubbell recuses himself from the Whitewater case.

William Kennedy writes a note at a meeting between Clinton and his lawyer, David Kendall, that said, "vacuum Rose Law files".

Paula Casey recuses herself from any more dealings with the Madison Guaranty case.

RTC investigator Jean Lewis is removed from the probe.

Clinton meets with Jim Guy Tucker again in Seattle.

December, 1993

The Los Angeles Times and The American Spectator magazine both report allegations made by Arkansas State troopers about Clinton's sexual infidelities as governor of Arkansas.



January, 1994

Janet Reno appoints Robert Fiske as an independent counsel to investigate Whitewater.

February, 1994

Acting head of the RTC, Roger Altman meets with Bernard Nussbaum and other top White House aides to give them a "heads up" about the Madison Guaranty probe. Washington RTC attorney April Breslaw meets with investigator Jean Lewis.

FBI arrests CIA agent Aldrich Ames for being a Russian spy.

Altman recuses himself from the Madison investigation.

March, 1994

Clinton aides Mack McLarty, Erskine Bowles, Mickey Kantor, and others have a series of meetings to arrange financial aide for Web Hubbell who is under investigation for bilking his Rose Law Firm partners.

Bernard Nussbaum resigns as White House counsel. Lloyd Cutler is named to replace him.

Web Hubbell resigns as associate attorney general.

May, 1994

Paula Corbin Jones files a sexual harassment lawsuit against Clinton.

June, 1994

Lippo pays Web Hubbell $100,000 for unknown work. Hubbell was under pressure to cooperate with the Whitewater investigation.

James Riady visits the White House five times throughout the month. Ng Lap Seng also pays a visit after declaring $175,000 in cash at the San Francisco airport two days before.

Independent counsel Robert Fiske concludes Foster's death was a suicide and clears the White House and Treasury Department of obstruction of justice charges over their contacts with the RTC.

July, 1994

John Huang leaves the Lippo Group and joins Clinton's Commerce Department. He receives top secret security status without getting a proper background check.

Whitewater hearings open in Congress.

August, 1994

A three-judge panel removes Robert Fiske as independent counsel for conflicts of interest and names Kenneth Starr to replace him.

Chinese Gen. Xu Huizi is secretly invited to a meeting with Defense Secretary William Perry at the Pentagon. Gen. Xu was the tactical leader of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Commerce Secretary Ron Brown heads a trade mission to China. He is joined by Joseph Giroir and Bernard Schwartz. Schwartz is president of Loral Space and Communications.

Madison investigator Jean Lewis is placed on administrative leave.

Roger Altman resigns as Deputy Treasury Secretary.

Treasury Department General Counsel Jean Hanson resigns.

September, 1994

Donald Smaltz is named as independent counsel to investigate Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.

October, 1994

Abner Mikva replaces Lloyd Cutler as White House Counsel.

Mike Espy resigns.

December, 1994

White House 'Task List' is written.

Web Hubbell pleads guilty to defrauding his Rose Law Firm partners and says he will cooperate in the Whitewater investigation.

Travel Office Director Billy Dale is indicted on charges of embezzlement.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) sanctions the Riady family's Lippo group for failing to adhere to money-laundering regulations governing large money transactions.

February, 1995

Arkansas banker Neal Ainley is indicted on five felony counts relating to Clinton's 1990 gubernatorial campaign. Later he pleads guilty to lesser charges and agrees to cooperate with the independent counsel.

April, 1995

Murrah building in Oklahoma City is bombed. The death toll eventually reaches 168.

May, 1995

David Barrett is appointed independent counsel to investigate Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros for making false statements to the FBI.

July, 1995

Department of Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary informs CIA Director John Deutch and White House Chief of Staff Leon Penetta of China's possible theft of America's top nuclear weapon designs. All three neglect to inform the president.

Daniel Pearson is named independent counsel to investigate Commerce Secretary Ron Brown for shady business dealings.

Ken Starr indicts Jim Guy Tucker and Jim and Susan McDougal for bank fraud and conspiracy relating to Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan.

September, 1995

Reno denies accusations by Colombian government officials that U.S. agents played role in violent attack against a lawyer who represented Colombian president on drug charges.

Clinton, John Huang, James Riady, Bruce Lindsey, and Joseph Giroir meet at the White House and decide Huang should be moved from the Commerce Department to the Democratic National Committee.

James Riady escorts Indonesian minister for production to White House lunch with former White House aide Mark Middleton.

President Clinton attends a White House meeting with Leon Panetta, Deputy Defense Secretary John White, and Carmen Perez, the Vice President of Long Beach, California harbor and former vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee about plan to turn Long Beach Naval Station over to city of Long Beach free of charge. Long Beach officials had already planned to lease the base to China's state-owned shipping company, COSCO.

FBI arrests Intel Corporation employee and Argentine national William Gaede for stealing Pentium chip secrets and passing information on to China, Iran, and Cuba.

White House Counsel Abner Mikva resigns. Jack Quinn is named as his replacement.

November, 1995

Convicted Miami drug trafficker Jose Cabrera gives $20,000 to the DNC.

After only two hours deliberation, a jury finds former Travel Office Director Billy Dale, not guilty of embezzlement.

CIA briefs National Security Advisor Anthony Lake about possible theft by China of America's top nuclear weapon designs. The president is still not informed.

December, 1995

Cabrera gets picture taken with Vice President Al Gore at fund-raiser.

Cabrera gets picture taken with Hillary Clinton at White House Christmas party.

January, 1996

Cabrera is busted in Miami smuggling three tons of cocaine.

Ron Brown, pending indictment for shady business dealings, hires hotshot Washington lawyer Reid Weingarten to defend him.

John Huang leaves Clinton's Commerce Department to join the DNC as a senior fund-raiser.

Web Hubbell, is questioned at Congress' Whitewater hearings about the $700,000 payment he received from DNC donors -- including Indonesian billionaire Mochtar Riady. Hubbell refused to explain what work he did for the money. Both the FBI and CIA suspect Mochtar Riady (Who was born in China) and his son, James Riady, are Chinese agents.

In late 1995 and early 1996, Department of Energy intelligence analyst Notra Trulock discovered evidence Chinese acquired American nuclear designs. He took his findings to the FBI. A team of FBI and DOE officials traveled to three weapons labs (Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and Los Alamos) and pored over travel and work records of lab scientists who had access to the relevant technology. By February they had narrowed its focus to five possible suspects. The main suspect, Wen Ho Lee, would be identified by early 1997 -- but kept in his position with top-secret security clearance until March 1999.

Justice Department lawyers inform Elizabeth Mann, a recent Chinese immigrant who is the Arizona executive of American-based Communist Chinese corporate giant COFCO, that she is a target of a grand jury investigation for failing to report income by using foreign bank accounts opened in the name of fictitious offshore entities. Janet Reno's Justice Department would later have the investigation into her finances terminated.

February, 1996

FBI and DOJ announce the arrest of an army employee of the National Security Agency for selling top secret information to the Soviet Union -- from 1965-1974.

A People's Liberation Army (PLA) space launch vehicle crashes destroying the Loral Space and Communication satellite it was carrying. The satellite launch had been previously approved by Bill Clinton in a special order. Chinese officials keep American investigators away from crash scene. When they are finally allowed access, they find the highly militarily sensitive encryption chips are missing even though their encasing is intact. (Encryption technology denies outsiders access to, or control over, American satellites in space). Loral and Hughes Electronics' engineers give away missile secrets to China in the ensuing investigation. Loral executive Bernard Schwartz is top contributor to Clinton 1996 re-election campaign and joined Ron Brown on numerous trade flights to China. He was also on Clinton's short list of potential nominees for the defense secretary position being vacated by William Perry. A Justice Department investigation into the illegal transfer of missile technology is thwarted in early 1998 after President Clinton signs a waiver legally allowing the same type of technology transfer the companies had been accused of doing illegally.

March, 1996

Reno's Justice Department requests a wiretap on computer network at Harvard University which later led to charges against Argentine resident Julio Caesar Ardita for breaking into Harvard computers and sensitive U.S. government files.

Deal to turn Long Beach Naval Station over to COSCO is finalized. The deal eventually falls through in late 1998 after Congress passes a bill forbidding the transfer.

Reno extends Ken Starr's mandate to include investigating the Travel Office firings.

Alleged Chinese spy and friend of Bill since late-1970s Arkansas Charlie Trie attends meeting with Buddhist Master Suma Ching Hai and followers in New York. Sect members donate money for Clinton's defense fund.

Energy Department learns China stole U.S. neutron bomb technology.

April, 1996

Ron Brown dies in a plane crash en route from Bosnia to Croatia. 34 others perish as well. Many are Commerce Department employees. Commerce oversaw the satellite launches in China. Brown's body would later be discovered to have a suspiciously round hole in his head. No autopsy would be performed. The plane did not have a "black box". No safety investigation would be performed over the accident. Calls for an independent counsel to investigate Brown's death are ignored by Janet Reno.

Mickey Kanter is named as Brown's replacement.

FBI arrests Navy enlistee Kurt Lessenthien for attempting to sell top secret information to an unnamed foreign government. Lessenthien was a machinist mate on nuclear submarines.

Deputy National Security Advisor Sandy Berger is informed about Chinese nuclear and neutron bomb espionage at U.S. weapons labs.

Al Gore attends a fundraiser with John Huang and Maria Hsia at a Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles.

Charlie Trie donates $640,000 to Clinton legal defense fund.

Former CIA Director William Colby goes missing.

May, 1996

William Colby found dead only 20 yards from his canoe, which had been discovered eight days prior.

Chinese company Poly Technologies, headed by Clinton coffee guest Wang Jun, is busted trying to smuggle 2,000 machine guns and shoulder launched missiles into U.S. The equipment was to be sold to drug gangs. The weapons were shipped into Berkeley, California harbor by way of a COSCO ship.

Navy Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda commits suicide by shooting himself in the chest.

FBI office in Laredo, Texas is bombed.

June, 1996

The FBI briefs Janet Reno and representatives of the NSC about Chinese attempts to influence the 1996 presidential elections.

In late spring 1996, federal examiners discover the Central Bank of China funneled tens of millions of dollars into a maze of accounts controlled by Nan Nan Xu (Pronounced Shoo), a Chinese executive of Far East National Bank in California.

Filegate surfaces. At first, the White House claims only 34 FBI files of Republicans ended up in their hands. Later it is learned close to 1000 did. Travel Office documents reveal former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum requested FBI report on ousted Travel Office Director Billy Dale -- seven months after his dismissal.

The FBI formally opens a criminal investigation into the theft of the W-88 design. The inquiry makes little progress over the rest of the year.

Janet Reno extends Ken Starr's mandate again. This time to investigate Filegate.

A senator sends a note to FBI Director Louis Freeh saying his staff discovered IRS documents were included in the FBI files that found their way into the White House. Recently released report by FBI General Counsel Howard Shapiro made no mention of IRS documents. Shapiro would later give the White House "the heads up" about information pertaining to the Filegate investigation and an advanced copy of former-FBI agent Gary Aldrich's book, Unlimited Access, that detailed drug use and loose security in the first years of the Clinton administration. After leaving the FBI, Shapiro would become the attorney for Terry Lenzner, a private investigator hired by the Clintons, and Charles Bakaly, spokesman for independent counsel Ken Starr. Bakaly resigned from Starr's office in March 1999 after leaking information.

U.S. barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia are bombed.

July, 1996

TWA flight 800 explodes after take-off in New York. Shortly after, Senator Orin Hatch tells the press he is almost 100% certain the plane was blown up by sabotage days after receiving a briefing by Louis Freeh.

White House aide Anthony Marceca pleaded the Fifth before Congress over questions about FBI files.

An unnamed White House official tells press a second series of tests by FBI showed no trace of explosives in TWA crash. Prior test did show explosives residue. Clinton sends Navy to assist in wreckage search. U.S.S. Oak Hill acts as command post. Clinton also sends Federal Emergency Management Director and friend of Bill from Arkansas, James Lee Witt, to New York to assess the situation. The FBI eventually claims a fuel tank leak caused the explosion.

Secret Service agent Arnold Cole testifies past illicit drug use by White House employees found during background checks.

Bomb explodes at Olympic Park in Atlanta. Two people die. Security guard, Richard Jewell, who found the bomb, is publicly named as the FBI's main suspect. Jewell is later cleared of any responsibility. The crime is still unsolved.

August, 1996

Chinese General Ji Shengde gives DNC moneyman Johnny Chung $300,000 to funnel in Clinton/Gore re-election campaign.

Former FBI agent Dennis Sculimbrene tells Congress White House appointees used illegal drugs as late as inauguration day in 1993.

September, 1996

Clinton and Reno announce a $1 billion anti-terrorism plan. Many of the plan's details are kept from the public allegedly for national security reasons.

Susan McDougal refuses to answer questions about Clinton's previous sworn testimony. She had been granted immunity to do so. Judge Susan Webber Wright holds her in contempt of court. She eventually spends two years in jail.

October, 1996

Press reports John Huang gave illegal donations to the Democratic National Committee. Later that same day, Huang visits the White House for two and a half-hours.

Reno refuses to release photos of drug trafficker Jose Cabrera with Al Gore and Hillary Clinton to ABC News citing the Privacy Act. They are finally released when Cabrera grants permission.

CIA sends "statement of fact" report to White House and State Department that detailed China's assistance in building a missile plant in Pakistan. The report is ignored.

John Huang is suspended from his job as a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee.

November, 1996

Clinton re-elected.

Louis Freeh goes to Saudi Arabia to continue investigation into Dharan bombing.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher resigns. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Madeleine Albright is named as his replacement.

Reno rejects calls by Senator John McCain and public interest group Common Cause to investigate Democratic National Committee fundraising.

Reno says she'll investigate ethics complaint against independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Connecticut judge Francis Mandanici accused Starr of being political because he had previously worked for Republican administrations.

Congress rejects White House and Justice Department requests for "roving wiretap" authority.

CIA agent Harold Nicholson arrested for selling secrets to Russia.

December, 1996

Reno rejects request for an independent counsel to investigate abnormal immigration surge just prior to elections.

A White House press conference announcing the new cabinet is interrupted by newly appointed Commerce Secretary Bill Daley after he faints and falls off a platform.

FBI agent Earl Pitts arrested on charges of being a Russian spy.

Saudi officials refuse FBI requests to interview suspects being held for Dharan bombing.

The Pentagon, headed by newly appointed Defense Secretary Bill Cohen, sponsors a visit by Chinese Gen. Chi Haotion to Sandia National Laboratory. Energy Department officials are not told in advance of the scheduled visit and Gen. Chi does not receive a proper security clearance. Gen. Chi was in operational command of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Chinese immigrant Chang-Lin Tien leads Clinton short list to replace Hazel O'Leary as head of Energy Department.

A North Carolina soldier is found not guilty of passing secret passwords to a Chinese national living in U.S.

Jack Quinn resigns as White House Counsel. He is replaced in early January by Charles Ruff.

Commerce Department official and DNC fund-raiser Melinda Yee throws away government documents about U.S. trade missions after a judge ordered they be turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.

January, 1997

Frederico Pena becomes new Energy Secretary.

Previously approved counterintelligence program at Energy Department is quietly put on back burner.

February, 1997

FBI Director Louis Freeh is sent to Saudi Arabia again by Clinton to investigate bombing in Dharan. Saudi officials eventually execute the bombing suspects without allowing Freeh the opportunity to interrogate them.

White House Counsel Charles Ruff attempts to access FBI intelligence about Chinese attempts to influence American elections while Freeh is away. He uses Jamie Gorelick at Justice Department as an intermediary. FBI officials warn Freeh who then blocks Ruff's request for information. Ruff claims he wanted to inform Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about the situation before she headed to China later in the month.

Clinton allegedly learns about the Chinese plot to influence American elections for the first time.

Albright goes to China. Albright has yet to be told about Chinese espionage by NSC head Anthony Lake or his deputy Sandy Berger. Clinton allegedly has yet to be informed either.

Ken Starr decides to step down from OIC and take teaching position at Pepperdine University. He changes his mind a few days later.

March, 1997

Notra Trulock learns of new espionage evidence. He attempts to contact Secretary Pena but is not given an appointment to see him until July.

Clinton claims he was never briefed about FBI information on Chinese attempts to influence 1996 election. White House officials claim FBI ordered National Security Council aides not to allow information up the chain of command. FBI denies doing so. Janet Reno claims she tried to inform Anthony Lake at NSC but could not find him. She also says she did not tell Clinton herself because she felt it was the job of the NSC. Sandy would then replace Lake as head of NSC a day later.

Louis Freeh tells Congress his investigation into campaign finance irregularities is not focusing on individual criminal acts, but on a possible conspiracy involving a foreign government.

Al Gore goes to China.

The FDIC again sanctions Lippo Bank for bad loans and financial losses.

April, 1997

Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick resigns.

Janet Reno decides against appointing an independent counsel to investigate Chinese attempts to influence American election.

FBI issues classified report that recommends background checks on foreign visitors to nuclear labs be reinstated. The Energy Department ignores the recommendations for 17 months.

May, 1997

White House announces it will appeal to the Supreme Court a previously sealed lower court ruling that government lawyers must turn over to Ken Starr notes taken during conversations with Hillary Clinton. The White House claimed "executive privilege" allowed them to withhold the notes.

Suspected spy Wen Ho Lee is promoted to a position at the Energy Department that required an even higher security clearance than he already had. Lee would also be allowed to hire an assistant. He chose a Chinese national living in the U.S..

Reno's Justice Department repeatedly refuses FBI requests to tap Wen Ho Lee's phone and gain access to his computer over the next few months. When the FBI finally gained access to Lee's computer in March 1999, they discovered Lee had downloaded all of America's nuclear research information gathered over the last 50 years.

The FBI identifies DNC and RNC fund-raiser Ted Sioeng as a Chinese spy. Sioeng is a friend of John Huang.

Former Sandia and Los Alamos lab employee Peter Lee gives top secret information on anti-submarine radar technology away to Chinese nuclear-weapons experts. Reno and Navy Department would later refuse FBI requests to allow open-court testimony about the technology even though doing so would kill the FBI's espionage case against him.

The Supreme Court rules unanimously that a sitting president can be sued for actions done prior to taking office.

June, 1997

Clinton calls for renewal of MFN status for China.

The Supreme Court refuses to hear the White House's appeal in regards to the notes about Hillary.

July, 1997

Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese control. Madeleine Albright attends ceremonies.

Sen. Fred Thompson opens hearings into Chinese influence of America's 1996 president and congressional election campaigns.

Secretary Pena finally meets with Notra Trulock who has new information about ongoing espionage at labs. Pena sends him to Sandy Berger after their meeting.

Trulock briefs Berger.

Berger finally briefs Clinton on China's nuclear espionage campaign.

Starr releases unsigned report claiming former White House Counsel Vince Foster, whose corpse was found in Ft. Marcy Park in 1993, committed suicide. Three judge panel forced Starr to attach addendum to report by D.C. resident Patrick Knowlton. Knowlton had claimed FBI falsified his testimony in regards to whereabouts of Foster's car on the day of his death. Knowlton said he never saw it in parking lot at Virginia park. The FBI claimed he said he did.

Federal examiners give evidence China's Central Bank funneled upwards of $90 million into California bank owned by Nan Nan Xu to Justice Department. Reno ignores the information.

August, 1997

Berger goes to China. Before leaving he assigns NSC aide in charge of proliferation, Gary Samore, to assess espionage situation. Samore would later claim that while espionage had taken place Trulock's briefing was only a worse-case scenario.

Reno decides not to investigate Starr over ethics complaint filed by Francis Mandanici. Justice Department Counsel Michael Shaheen denies Starr's assertion that they found no conflict of interest, however. Shaheen said they would have investigated Starr had he been an employee under the direct control of the Justice Department instead being an independent counsel.

A federal grand jury indicts former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy for illegally soliciting gifts and obstructing justice.

Ron Brown's son, Michael Brown pleads guilty to illegally giving money to Sen. Ted Kennedy's 1994 campaign for Senate.

September, 1997

Louis Freeh concludes there is not enough evidence to arrest Wen Ho Lee but there is no longer any reason to keep him in a position with such high security clearance. The Energy Department ignores his recommendation and keeps Lee on the job for another year and a half.

Eric Holder named as new Deputy Attorney General. The position had remained vacant since April.

Janet Reno appoints Charles LaBella to head her campaign finance investigation.

Wen Ho Lee's Chinese assistant leaves. He has since disappeared.

October, 1997

Reno decides not to appoint an independent counsel to investigate Gore for illegal fundraising.

L.A. Times reports DNC officials traveled to Asia in 1991 to seek campaign donations. A document by Melinda Yee, Commerce Department official and DNC fund-raiser, said "(John) Huang offered to host event in Hong Kong" and that "(Maria) Hsia will identify key donor during Taiwan visit".

Judge Susan Webber Wright dismisses suit brought against Starr by Mandanici.

FBI hires Donald Kerr, a nuclear physicist who previously headed Los Alamos National Laboratory, to run its crime lab.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin has private 90-minute meeting with Clinton, Berger, and Albright in White House residence quarters. This is the first state visit by a high-ranking Chinese official in over ten years. They fail to discuss China's espionage against U.S. labs. Albright still has not been told of information by Berger or Clinton.

Sen. Thompson suspends his Senate hearings into the campaign finance scandal.

November, 1997

Louis Freeh separately interviews both Clinton and Gore about campaign fund-raising.

Reno learns FBI "overlooked" intelligence dating back to 1991 that showed Chinese government efforts to influence American politicians.

Michael Brown receives 3 years' probation and a $3,000 fine in a plea bargain with Reno's Justice Department.

Louis Freeh writes memorandum to Reno calling for an independent counsel to investigate campaign fundraising scandal. Reno ignores request.

Janet Reno faints while on a visit to Mexico.

December, 1997

Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Cogswell, a deputy medical examiner at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, says an autopsy should have been performed on Ron Brown due to a suspiciously-looking round hole found in his head. Cogswell says the hole could have been made by a bullet from a .45 caliber gun.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry and other unnamed White House officials tell the press that Louis Freeh is terrible at his job and they think he should resign.

Reno rejects calls for an independent counsel to investigate former Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary for accepting money from Johnny Chung and Al Gore for fund-raising calls placed in White House.

Reno ignores Congress' requests for a copy of the Freeh memo.

Assistant FBI Director James Kallstrom retires. Kallstrom had headed the investigation into the TWA-800 crash.

Former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Henry Cisneros is indicted.

Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp are subpoenaed by Paula Jones' lawyers.

DNC Chairman and Colorado Gov. Roy Romer says he will resist subpoenas for information on campaign financing from Rep. Dan Burton's committee.

Staffer for independent counsel Smaltz criticizes Reno for slacking in prosecution in Former Agriculture Secretary Espy inquiry.

Clinton names Chinese-American Bill Lann Lee as acting head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. Acting heads of Executive Branch departments do not require congressional approval.

L.A. Times reports DNC operative Antonio Pan laundered 10s of thousands of dollars from China to the DNC.

Arkansas based Tyson Foods Inc. pleads guilty to giving Mike Espy $12,000 in illegal money.

January, 1998

Monica Lewinsky files a false affidavit in the Paula Jones lawsuit that stated she never had a sexual relationship with the president.

Reno rejects calls for an investigation into the death of Ron Brown.

Congress learns Navy Secretary John Dalton had meetings with DNC moneyman Johnny Chung.

Reno secretly expands Ken Starr's mandate to include possible obstruction of justice and witness tampering charges in the Paula Jones lawsuit.

Clinton denies he ever had a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky during his deposition in the Paula Jones suit.

Lewinsky story breaks in the press.

February, 1998

Charlie Trie returns from China and surrenders himself to the FBI.

Janet Reno calls for an independent counsel to investigate Clinton's Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt for his role in rejecting a Native American Indian tribe's casino application that was opposed by major Democratic financial contributors.

Maria Hsia is indicted on charges of disguising illegal campaign contributions given to Al Gore at the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple near Los Angeles.

March, 1998

Johnny Chung is charged with funneling illegal contributions to the Democratic National Committee.

Jim McDougal dies of a heart attack in prison. Later it is learned he was denied his heart medication.

Former White House volunteer Kathleen Willey appears on 60 Minutes and alleges President Clinton sexually assaulted her in the Oval Office in 1993.





SOURCES



Mystery Leg Belonged To Woman - CNN Interactive - 8/30/95

Reno Denies U.S. Role In Colombian Attack - CNN Interactive - 9/29/95

Defense Complains Against FBI - CNN Interactive - 10/1/95

Ames' Damage Called 'Mind-Boggling' - CNN Interactive - 10/31/95

Whitewater Notes Galvanize GOP - CNN Interactive - 12/22/95

Ex-Intel Engineer Held For Theft - CNN Interactive - 12/25/95

First Lady In Spotlight Of Dual Controversies - CNN Interactive - 1/8/96

Hillary Grilled For 4 Hours - CNN Interactive - 1/26/96

A Crucial Time For U.S. - China Relations - CNN Interactive - 2/5/96

Whitewater Testimony Sought - CNN Interactive - 2/5/96

U.S. Planning Sanctions Against China - CNN Interactive - 2/21/96

U.S. Officials Call Espionage Case Grave - CNN Interactive - 2/23/96

Democrats Block Whitewater Probe - CNN Interactive - 2/29/96

Long-Awaited Whitewater Trial Begins - CNN Interactive - 3/4/96

Taiwan Says China Fired 3 Missiles - CNN Interactive - 3/7/96

U.S. Navy Ships To Sail Near Taiwan - CNN Interactive - 3/10/96

Two U.S. Officials In Plane Crash In Balkans - CNN Interactive - 4/3/96

Commerce Secretary Among 33 Feared Lost In Crash - Associated Press - 4/4/96

Crash Investigators Begin Somber Task On Croatia Hillside - San Francisco Chronicle - 4/5/96

Navy Man Arrested On Spy Charge - CNN Interactive - 4/23/96

Colby's Body Found In River - CNN Interactive - 5/6/96

President Clinton's Whitewater Testimony - Associated Press - 5/9/96

Sanctions Averted, China Says It Upholds Nuclear Treaty - CNN Interactive - 5/11/96

Navy's Top Officer Dies Of Gunshot, Apparently Self-Inflicted - CNN Interactive - 5/16/96

Explosion Damages Building Housing FBI - CNN Interactive - 5/20/96

Clinton Suggests Go-Slow Approach On Missile Defense System - CNN Interactive - 5/22/96

Legal Brief Stirs Up President's Critics - CNN Interactive - 5/22/96

McDougal, Tucker Guilty Of Conspiracy In Whitewater Trial - CNN Interactive - 5/28/96

White House Surrenders Documents, Avoids Contempt - CNN Interactive - 5/30/96

White House Requested Travel Worker's FBI File - CNN Interactive - 6/6/96

Senator Says Aide Saw IRS Records In FBI - CNN Interactive - 6/25/96

Travel Papers Surrendered - CNN Interactive - 6/25/96

Massive Bomb Rocks U.S. Military Complex - CNN Interactive - 6/26/96

More Intrigue Over FBI Files Flap - CNN Interactive - 6/28/96

The Secret Missile Deal - CNN Interactive - 6/30/97

Who's Got Access? - CNN Interactive - 7/17/96

Questioning Marceca - CNN Interactive - 7/18/96

U.S. Senator Convinced TWA Crash Caused By Sabotage - CNN Interactive - 7/19/96

Second Test Shows No Sign Of Bomb Residue - CNN Interactive - 7/23/96

Did Hillary Help Livingstone? - CNN Interactive - 7/25/96

Clinton Appointees Used Drugs Up To Inauguration - CNN Interactive - 8/4/96

Susan McDougal Vows To Go To Jail Monday - CNN Interactive - 9/5/96

Reno Defends Billion-Dollar Anti-Terrorism Plan - CNN Interactive - 9/12/96

U.S. Navy Analyst Charged With Spying For Russia - CNN Interactive - 9/25/96

The Indonesian Connection Raises Questions - CNN Interactive - 10/11/96

Cocaine Smuggler Posed With Hillary - CNN Interactive - 10/23/96

Huang's White House Visits - CNN Interactive - 10/31/96

D'Amato Backs Down - CNN Interactive - 11/7/96

No IC Will Probe Campaign Spending - CNN Interactive - 11/8/96

Justice Rejects Request For DNC Probe - CNN Interactive - 11/12/96

New Huang-Lippo Contacts - CNN Interactive - 11/13/96

Former CIA Station Chief To Fight Charges - CNN Interactive - 11/20/96

Justice: No Again - CNN Interactive - 12/4/96

U.S. Gets New Info On Saudi Bomb - CNN Interactive - 12/6/96

Out With The Trash - CNN Interactive - 12/6/96

Gore-Huang Ties - CNN Interactive - 12/13/96

Erskine's Choices - CNN Interactive - 12/18/96

Clinton: Wang's White House Visit 'Inappropriate' - CNN Interactive - 12/20/96

Soldier Found Not Guilty Of Espionage - CNN Interactive - 12/23/96

FBI Spy Suspect Pleads Not Guilty - CNN Interactive - 12/30/96

Chinese Involvement? - CNN Interactive - 2/13/97

New Fund-Raising Questions - CNN Interactive - 2/16/97

Chinese Firm To Lease Abandoned U.S. Base - Associated Press - 3/9/97

FBI Warned 6 On Hill About China Money - Washington Post - 3/9/97

Clinton Questioned On Possible China Link - CNN Interactive - 3/10/97

White House Knew Clinton Supporters Were Hiring Hubbell - CNN Interactive - 3/11/97

Intelligence Trail - CNN Interactive - 3/13/97

Reno On The Hot Seat - CNN Interactive - 3/13/97

Text Of Anthony Lake's Withdrawal Letter To President Clinton - CNN Interactive - 3/18/97

FBI Confirms China Money Probe - CNN Interactive- 3/20/97

FBI Denies White House Chinese Intelligence - CNN Interactive - 3/25/97

This Prez Donor Is A Real Pistol - New York Daily News - 3/26/97

Reno Formally Rejects Independent Counsel - Washington Post - 4/15/97

A Chinese Spy? - CNN Interactive - 5/12/97

The Riadys' Persistent Pursuit of Influence - Washington Post - 5/27/97

China Buying U.S. Computers, Raising Arms Fears - New York Times - 6/10/97

Mystery Woman - ABC News Primetime Live - 6/18/97

The Secret Missile Deal - TIME - 6/30/97

Lippo's Man In The Back Room - TIME - 7/21/97

Wu's White House Visits - CNN Interactive - 7/30/97

Asian Businessman Visited White House 10 Times - USA Today - 7/30/97

Investigators Told Not To Probe Trie - CNN Interactive - 7/31/97

Claims Against Air Force In Ron Brown Crash - United Press International - 8/19/97

Donor Says Money Opened White House Door - USA Today - 9/18/97

Ex-NSC Aide Describes Pressure To Help Donor - Washington Post - 9/18/97

Suit Against Starr Dismissed - CNN Interactive - 10/3/97

Democrats Reportedly Traveled To Asia To Seek Campaign Funds - Agence France Presse - 10/8/97

FBI Admits Overlooking Key Campaign Finance Files - Washington Post - 10/18/97

Clinton Welcomes Jiang to White House - CNN Interactive - 10/29/97

Ron Brown's Son Gets Probation - CNN Interactive - 11/21/97

FBI Hires Nuclear Physicist - CNN Interactive - 11/26/97

Reno Hospitalized In Mexico City - CNN Interactive - 11/26/97

Reno Clears O'Leary In Charity Donation - Washington Post - 12/3/97

White House Humiliates FBI's Freeh - CNN Interactive - 12/4/97

M.E.: Brown Should Have Had Autopsy - Associated Press - 12/4/97

Reno Refuses To Turn Over Memo - CNN Interactive - 12/5/97

Leader Of TWA Criminal Investigation Retiring From FBI - CNN Interactive - 12/10/97

Cisneros Indicted - CNN Interactive - 12/11/97

DNC To Resist House Subpoenas - CNN Interactive - 12/12/97

Clinton Makes Lee Acting Civil Rights Chief - CNN Interactive - 12/15/97

Clinton Stands By Aide Ira Magaziner - CNN Interactive - 12/29/97

Justice Concludes No Evidence Of Crime In Brown Death - CNN Interactive - 1/8/98

Findings Link Clinton Allies To Chinese Intelligence - Washington Post - 2/10/98

Democratic Fund-Raiser Hsia Indicted - Washington Post - 2/19/98

Lawmaker Questions Chung Meeting With Navy Chief - Associated Press - 3/13/98

Witness: White House Sold Trips For Funds - Associated Press - 3/23/98

China Sent Cash To U.S. Bank, With Suspicions Slow To Rise - New York Times - 5/12/98

James McDougal's Last Word Is A Tell-All Book - Associated Press - 5/15/98

Import Rule Aided Alleged Donor To Democrats - New York Times - 5/17/98

Loral CEO Frequent Administration Guest - Associated Press - 5/21/98

Bernard Schwartz Gave Heavily To Democrats - CNN Interactive - 5/22/98

Pakistan Explodes Nuclear Devices - CNN Interactive - 5/28/98

Clinton's $500,000 Car Ride - Associated Press - 6/9/98

House Hears About Encoded Circuit Board Missing From Chinese Rocket - New York Times - 6/24/98

Thai Woman Pleads Innocent To Campaign Rap - Washington Post - 7/30/98

Saudi Kin Do Big Biz In U.S. - New York Daily News - 8/27/98

Attorney General Faints In Church - CNN Interactive - 9/27/98

White House Handling Of Classified Data Criticized - Associated Press - 10/8/98

Bin Laden Opens European Terror Base In Albania - The Sunday (London) Times - 11/29/98

CIA Role In Satellite Case Spurs Probe - Washington Post - 12/5/98

Starr Aide Resigns After News-Leak Probe - CNN Interactive - 3/12/99

China Stole Nuclear Secrets From Los Alamos - New York Times - 3/6/99

Chinese Scientist Was 'FBI Suspect' - BBC Online Network - 3/24/99

China Stole Bomb Technology - Associated Press - 4/99

Businesswoman Wields Influence, Makes Contacts - Arizona Republic - 4/4/99

Testimony Links Top China Official, Funds For Clinton - Los Angeles Times - 4/4/99

China Money Linked To Clinton Campaign - Washington Times - 4/7/99

FBI Suppressed TWA 800 Crash Cause - CNN Interactive - 5/9/99

Report Shows Scientists Gave U.S. Radar Technology Secrets To China - New York Times - 5/10/99

Shelby Blasts Reno - Washington Post - 5/13/99

Traitor In Chief - Salon.com - 5/28/99

U.S. Is Said To Have Known Of China Spy Link In 1995 - New York Times - 6/27/99

OIC Referral to the United States House of Representatives (Starr Report)

The United States House of Representatives Select Committee Report on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China (Cox Report)

Interim Report of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Campaign Finance Investigation and Related Matters (Burton Report)

U.S. General Accounting Office Website: Chinese Missile and Nuclear Proliferation: Issues for Congress, by Robert Shuey and Shirley A. Kan, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division, Congressional Research Service: Issue Brief, IB92056 - 7/6/95

History of the National Security Council, 1947-1997, White House Website

A Journal Briefing: WHITEWATER, Vols. I, II, III, IV, Published by The Wall Street Journal



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