Controversial DNC fund-raiser fired

Jim Abrams

Monday, Nov. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic National Committee, in what it said was part of a large-scale staff "downsizing," fired a top fund-raiser whose soliciting of big contributions from foreign nationals became a major issue during the election campaign.

John Huang's departure was part of the normal post-election reduction in staff, and was not related to the controversy over his fund-raising practices, DNC spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe said Sunday.

In another development, former White House aide Mark Middleton solicited funds in Asia for a foundation that is refurbishing the childhood home of President Clinton and converting it into a tourist attraction, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The newspaper said Middleton collected around $50,000 from Hong Kong billionaire Nina Wang.

White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Clinton encouraged the Hope project but was not aware of the details, the Journal reported.

As for Huang's firing, Tobe said the committee staff, at 222 at the end of October, was cut by 50 people on Friday and would be reduced by an additional 55 before the end of January.

"He was let go as part of our downsizing," Tobe said. "John Huang was let go with the other 26 people from the finance division."

She said Huang "is continuing to cooperate with us fully and will continue to do so."

Tobe also disclosed that the DNC was returning a $5,000 check to a woman after it was learned Friday that she was not a permanent U.S. resident at the time she made the donation.

Under the campaign finance law, permanent residents can make political contributions but other foreign nationals cannot.

The woman, whose nationality was not known, wrote the check during a fund-raising event at a Buddhist temple in California attended by Vice President Al Gore.

That event and other fund-raising practices involving Huang are at the center of Republican allegations that the Democrats violated the law in soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreign nationals.

Republicans have asked the Justice Department to seek appointment of an independent counsel to investigate DNC fund-raising. They cited a $250,000 donation from a South Korean corporation that was eventually returned, the event at the Buddhist temple and some $450,000 in contributions from an Indonesian conglomerate headed by a family with connections to President Clinton going back to his days as governor of Arkansas.

Huang worked for the Indonesian company, the Lippo Group, before being appointed to a senior Commerce Department position in 1994.

Tobe said she did not know whether Huang would return to the department or anything else about his plans. Huang's lawyer, Jack Keeney, did not return a message left at his home Sunday.

The DNC calculates that Huang raised $2.5 million from Asian-Americans, some of the money coming from U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies. When controversy erupted over foreign-linked donations, the Democrats returned some five- and six-figure contributions that Huang had solicited and suspended him last month from fund-raising activities.