WASHINGTON-In two new probes that could intensify scrutiny of President Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign, the Justice Department is investigating sworn allegations that Hillary Rodham Clinton directed former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown to sell trade mission seats for Democratic campaign contributions of $50,000 and whether Loral Corp. and Hughes Corp.-two companies represented on past trade trips-gave Chinese officials sensitive high-tech data capable of being converted from commercial to military use.
The Justice Department last week confirmed the existence of the two investigations, which recently came to light in press accounts by The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
For months, Justice and congressional investigators have been gathering information that some Republicans believe that illegal campaign contributions funneled into this country by China may have influenced U.S. elections and compromised national and economic security.
As such, Democrats say the charges against the administration are politically motivated.
To this day, though, the White House has not explained why a former Brown aide took highly sensitive encryption data with him to the Small Business Administration after Brown’s death.
The 1994 China trip by Brown, who died with 34 others in a plane crash in Croatia in 1996, included Loral Chairman Bernard Schwartz (a Clinton friend and reportedly the largest donor to the Democratic National Committee last year), Sprint Corp. Chairman William Esrey, TRW Inc. Chairman Joseph Gorman and Bell Atlantic Corp. Chairman Raymond Smith.
China and other emerging markets like Asia, Eastern Europe, South America and Africa, given their poor or non-existent telecom infrastructures, represent huge commercial opportunities for U.S. wireless firms.
The wireless industry also was amply represented on Brown’s trip to India several years ago. The trip included Gary Tooker, vice chairman of Motorola Inc.; Irwin Jacobs, chairman of Qualcomm Inc.; Jack Smith, chairman of Hughes Networks Systems Inc.; Richard McCormick, chairman of U S West Inc. and Rajendra Singh, chairman of LCC L.L.C.
Loral and Motorola are two of a handful of American companies operating low-earth-orbit satellite systems that provide global pocket phone service. Hughes is a major manufacturer of satellites and wireless infrastructure.
A Loral spokeswoman said there is no substance to the claim that Loral and Hughes illegally transferred technology to China.
The allegation stemmed from an internal review by Loral and Hughes of the February 1996 explosion of a Chinese rocket with a Loral satellite (for Intelsat) as its payload. The technology involved in deploying satellites from rockets is said to be key in guidance systems of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“We believe the people who participated in the investigation did nothing wrong. They adhered to the proper guidelines and assisted with the launch failure investigation,” said Jeanette Clonan, a Loral spokeswoman.
“Two Hughes employees participated as members of the independent review committee at the request of Loral,” said Emery Wilson, a Hughes spokesman.
“The committee was chaired by Loral. In response to a letter from the State Department, we (Hughes) conducted a thorough review and concluded that no Hughes employee had engaged in the unauthorized export of controlled technology or equipment.”
Since the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy protesters in China, a presidential waiver is required before U.S.-made satellites can be carried and deployed from rockets launched in China.
Rodham Clinton, through her spokeswoman, and a White House spokesman previously denied any wrongdoing regarding allegations about the selection process for trade missions under Brown.
