t r u t h o u t | Report
WHITE HOUSE STONEWALL
A Daily Review of the White House's Attempts to Keep America From Learning Their Secrets
DAY 42
Friday, April 5, 2002
The White House Stonewall goes on, as the Bush administration continues to deny the non-partisan General Accounting Office's request for information on who the White House Energy Task Force met with while formulating national energy policy. For the first time in history, the GAO has sued the executive branch for access to the records. It has been 42 days since the GAO filed their suit against the Bush administration and 333 days since the White House first received the GAO request. Why is the White House going to such lengths? What are they trying to hide?
The Latest News on the White House Stonewall
Bush Administration Officials Silent on Receipts from Secret Taiwan Slush Fund - Another Stonewall? The Washington Post revealed today that the government of Taiwan, under ex-president Lee Teng-hui, had a secret $100 million fund to buy influence with foreign governments, institutions and individuals in the United States and Japan - including senior officials in the current Bush Administration. A Taiwanese official who headed the slush fund committee responsible for ties with the U.S. and Japan, confirmed that the group "sought to identify influential Americans and Japanese who would be sympathetic to Taiwan's cause." Another former Taiwanese official confirmed that Taiwan funded U.S. academic research on Taiwan and conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation.
Bush Officials:
* Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research Carl W. Ford Jr. lobbied on Taiwan's behalf while working at Cassidy & Associates for increased weapons sales to Taiwan.
The slush fund paid for Ford to travel to Taiwan in 2000 during George W. Bush's presidential election campaign. In April 2001, the Bush administration approved an arms package worth more than $4 billion for Taiwan - the largest arms sale since Bush I in 1992.
Ford refused to comment on his involvement with the secret Taiwan slush fund.
* Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton received $30,000 over three years for research papers on U.N. membership issues involving Taiwan.
As senior vice president of the American Enterprise Institute, Bolton advocated U.S. recognition of Taiwan as an independent country and its return to the U.N.
Bolton refused to comment on his involvement with the secret Taiwan slush fund.
* Assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly received $100,000 in early 2000.
Kelly was the bag-man between Taiwanese suitors and former Japanese Deputy Defense Minister Masahiro Akiyama. Kelly, who was president of the Pacific Forum an affiliate of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), received two $50,000 donations and then the Pacific Forum sent a check for "approximately $40,000" to Harvard to pay for Akiyama's fellowship, which was research on Taiwan's inclusion in the a theater missile defense system. Apparently, the second $50,000 was a donation to the Pacific Forum for their laundering efforts.
Kelly refused to comment on his involvement with the secret Taiwan slush fund.
Link to story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63444-2002Apr4.html
Army Secretary Received Generous Assistance from Enron While his Confirmation was Pending.
Today's Washington Post reported that Army Secretary Thomas E. White received significant assistance from his former employer, Enron Corp., while his nomination was pending before the Senate. White received a strong letter of recommendation from then-Chairman Kenneth L. Lay and rides to and from Washington on the company's jet. White said the free rides on the company jet was "entirely appropriate" because he was doing Enron business as well, even though he did not pursue government business on Enron's behalf during his trips to Washington. This is the same line of defense White asserted for his use of military jets to fly to Aspen, CO to sell a $6.5 million three-story house. "*Abner Mikva, a White House counsel under President Clinton, questioned the wisdom of taking the Enron-financed flights while the nomination was pending. 'A careful nominee, one who really wants to be cleaner than a hound's tooth, doesn't do it, especially because you know there are going to be questions about your [relationship with] your former employer in the first place,' said Mikva, a visiting law professor at the University of Chicago. White put his own name into contention for secretary, calling Martin R. Hoffman, a former Army secretary who is close to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and was on the Pentagon transition team. *"
Link to Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63490-2002Apr4.html
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Print This Story
E-mail This Story