Convicted Stock Promoter Among White House Guests

A New Jersey stock promoter, convicted of criminal securities fraud that benefited a member of the Bonanno organized crime family, was among eight guests who accepted an invitation to join President Clinton and top Democratic Party leaders for an early morning coffee four days before Christmas in 1995, White House records show.

Eric Wynn bilked millions from investors and already had served two years in prison after a 1989 guilty plea on theft and tax charges. A close associate said Wynn is trying to win a pardon for his July 21, 1995, stock manipulation conviction.

A Justice Department official said there was no record of any formal request by Wynn for a pardon.

It was unclear who issued the invitation to Wynn. Lanny J. Davis, White House special counsel, and Amy Weiss Tobe, spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, said they could not comment on Wynn until they collect more information.

Wynn was brought into Democratic fund-raising circles by Richard T. Mays, said sources familiar with the stock promoter’s background. Mays is an Arkansas lawyer who was a Clinton appointee on the Arkansas Supreme Court in the early 1980s. He made a court appearance for Wynn in 1994.

Wynn, whose second conviction occurred five months before the Dec. 21, 1995, coffee with Clinton, was known in Democratic fund-raising circles as someone who went to various Democratic National Committee events on tickets purchased by Richard Tienken, a New Jersey man who also has ties to organized crime figures, according to court testimony.

In October, the DNC returned as “inappropriate” $25,000 in donations from Tienken and $50,000 from a company he was associated with, Interactive Wireless Technologies.

Sources familiar with Wynn’s activities said he attended several Clinton or DNC fund-raising events and helped Tienken raise money for Clinton’s 50th birthday party last August at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

The program for that event, which brought in more than $11 million for the DNC, does not list Wynn or Tienken. Mays is listed as the buyer of a $10,000 ticket.

Wynn, who is in his late 30s, is not listed as having given any money directly to the DNC. But a Florida firm, Wireless Advantage Inc., wrote a $25,000 check to the DNC two days before the coffee with Clinton. Two people with firsthand knowledge said that Wynn worked for and had partial control of the company.

Wynn was sentenced in September to 52 months in prison and given a $50,000 fine. He is free on bail while appealing the conviction.