Ethics Committee Won’t Hear Clinton Fund-Raising Case
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The Senate Ethics Committee has refused to take action against Senator Clinton over allegations that in-kind gifts to a Hollywood fund-raising gala for her 2000 campaign were understated by more than $500,000.
“The committee has concluded that this matter lacks substantial merit,” the chairman of the panel, Senator Voinovich of Ohio, and the vice chairman, Senator Johnson of South Dakota, wrote in a May 26 letter dismissing complaints by a conservative anti-corruption group, Judicial Watch.
Similar allegations led to the federal indictment of a top fund-raising official on Mrs. Clinton’s 2000 bid, David Rosen, on charges he caused the filing of false reports with the Federal Election Commission. He was acquitted af ter a three-week trial last year.
In December, a fund-raising committee for Mrs. Clinton, New York Senate 2000, and its treasurer, Andrew Grossman, agreed to amend their filings with the Federal Election Commission and pay a $35,000 civil penalty.
However, the federal campaign finance regulation body said it found no reason to believe that Mrs. Clinton or her main campaign committee violated the law.
A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton, Philippe Reines, expressed satisfaction at the action by the Senate committee. “We said from the beginning that this was completely without merit, and are gratified by the resolution,” the spokesman said.
A civil lawsuit is pending in state court in Los Angeles over the same fund-raising gala, which featured performances by Cher, Diana Ross, and Paul Anka.
In the suit,a former Internet entrepreneur and four-time felon who claims to have provided more than $1 million to help stage the event, Peter Paul, alleged that President Clinton, Mrs.Clinton, and their associates, fraudulently enticed him to make the donations by promising that after leaving the presidency Mr. Clinton would go to work for Paul’s Web entertainment firm, Stan Lee Media.
The Clintons have denied the allegations and succeeded in getting most, but not all, of the case tossed out. In April, a judge, Aurelio Munoz, dismissed Mrs. Clinton as a defendant, but the suit is proceeding against Mr. Clinton and others. A trial date is set in March 2007.
