DNC Says It Erred by Holding Fund-Raiser at Buddhist Temple

With scrutiny of its fund-raising practices among Asian donors intensifying, the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday said it erred by holding a $140,000 fund-raiser attended by Vice President Al Gore earlier this year at a large Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif.

“In hindsight, it was a mistake to hold an event in a religious institution,” said Amy Weiss Tobe, a DNC spokeswoman. “It was inappropriate because it’s inconsistent with their status and our practice.”

A spokesman for the state Franchise Tax Board said tax-exempt religious organizations like the temple are generally prohibited from holding political fund-raising events. And late Wednesday the DNC acknowledged it had failed to properly disclose expenses associated with the event and would be filing corrected reports with the Federal Election Commission.

One of those who reportedly helped arrange the April 30 event at Hsi Lai Temple, part of a prominent Taiwanese-based Buddhist sect and one of the largest such facilities in the Western world, was DNC fund-raiser John Huang. A former executive at Lippo Bank in Los Angeles, Huang now is at the center of a squall over questionable donations that have spilled into the presidential campaign.

Huang’s activities, including arranging a $250,000 contribution from a mysterious foreign firm that was returned last month by the DNC, has called attention to political and business ties between President Clinton and Indonesia’s Riady family. James Riady, a friend of the Clintons’, owns Lippo Bank in Los Angeles.

The April fund-raiser was a luncheon attended by about 300 people, several of whom gave in increments of $2,000 to $5,000, records indicate. Among contributors were Master Shing Yun, the head of the temple. Several others listed the same post office box as Shing Yun or gave the temple’s address.

Typically, the residents at the temple’s living quarters are monks and nuns, some of whom came here from Taiwan. Workers at the temple referred questions to Shing Yun, who was out of the country.

An attorney representing the temple, former state Democratic Party Chairman Peter Kelly, said he believes the contributions were “absolutely” legal. He said longtime Democratic fund-raiser Maria L. Hsia, an immigration consultant to the temple, helped arrange the event and knew many of the donors. “She is insanely scrupulous about it because it’s the right thing to do and because it is in her best interest to do it the right way,” said Kelly, who also represents Hsia. Kelly said he could not identify the donors, and Hsia, who acts as a spokeswoman for the temple, was traveling overseas.

It was not surprising, he added, that some of the temple’s monks may have given thousands of dollars in political donations. “Maria has mentioned for years that some of the people you meet out there were very successful, substantial people before they entered the priesthood,” Kelly said.

As for legal issues surrounding the temple hosting the fund-raiser, Kelly said he will review the matter but did not consider it a major problem. If the temple is reimbursed for its expenses, there should be no legal concern, he said.

But Jim Shepherd, public affairs officer for the state tax board, said such a reimbursement is “after the fact.” He said in such cases a religious institution would likely be put on notice that political fund-raisers violate tax law.

Still, Tobe of the DNC said the event was improper. “We don’t by practice and policy hold events in religious institutions,” he said. Also, the DNC will be amending its FEC reports to reflect an in-kind contribution of about $15,000 for its use of the temple.

Ian Stirton, a spokesman for the FEC, agreed. “Churches don’t have to pay taxes and, as such, can’t engage in partisan political activity.” Stirton said that if a religious institution, or any other organization, provided space at a fund-raising event, the value of that space for the time provided would have to be reported as an in-kind contribution.

Tobe said that the DNC worked with someone at the temple who made certain that “all of the donors were either U.S. citizens or permanent residents” and that “these checks are all drawn on U.S. banks.”

She would not confirm whether embattled DNC fund-raiser John Huang was involved with arranging the event or raising the funds.

But the Chinese Daily News, which covered the event in April, reported at the time that Shing Yun had said Huang was instrumental in arranging the event. Shing Yun said he first met Gore in the White House through arrangements made by Huang and invited Gore to tour the temple.

At first the April temple visit was to be “personal,” Shing Yun was quoted as saying at the time. But Huang and others suggested the visit become a “party,” the newspaper reported.

The political gathering at the temple raised eyebrows, with some participants telling the Chinese Daily News it seemed inappropriate.

A spokesperson for Gore said the vice president’s schedule for the day listed the event as “a luncheon with members of the Asian community in Southern California.”

Told that the DNC described the April 29 event as a fund-raiser held at an improper location, Lorraine Voles, a spokeswoman for Gore, said: “If that’s the case, the vice president was given erroneous information about the event site from the DNC.”

Voles said she did not know whether Gore realized that it was a fund-raiser. She steered all questions about the event and his involvement back to the DNC.

In addition to the temple fund-raiser, Tobe said that contributions from those at the temple totaling $25,000 were raised by an individual she would not identify who attended a fund-raiser in February at the Hay-Adams Hotel across from the White House in Washington. She said that the fund-raiser was not one of the donors.

“We don’t give out the names of people who fund-raise,” Tobe said. “We do full disclosure when it comes to donations.”

Connell reported from Los Angeles and Miller from Washington. Times staff writer Nicholas Riccardi in Los Angeles also contributed to this story.