Felon Said Linked to DNC Fund-Raisers

A twice-convicted felon who met with President Clinton at one of the small, controversial White House coffees in 1995 appeared on four other occasions at Democratic National Committee fund-raising events with Clinton last year, according to records and interviews with DNC officials.

At a DNC event in California last year, witnesses said Eric Wynn, who has been trying to win a pardon, spoke with Clinton in the presence of his attorney, Richard T. Mays, who is a longtime friend of the president.

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said the president did not recall meeting or speaking with Wynn at the March 9, 1996, fund-raiser in the San Francisco area. McCurry also strongly denied that the president would have permitted Wynn or his attorney to discuss a possible pardon.

McCurry on Wednesday night issued this statement: “The president has acknowledged the process of screening events he participated in was lacking, and he regrets that. He recalls no substantive private meeting with Mr. Wynn and is certain he never entertained any discussion of Mr. Wynn’s legal situation. The president always tells any individual who raises a private legal matter to follow the procedure available under the law.”

Between the various Democratic fund-raisers, Wynn was arrested five times during the last six months while out on bail, according to police records introduced in a New Jersey federal court Wednesday. A judge is considering revoking Wynn’s $100,000 bail while he awaits sentencing on a conviction for securities fraud. The judge postponed a hearing on the issue until Monday.

Wynn’s recent arrests are for aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, violation of restraining order, terrorist threats and driving while intoxicated. All occurred between Aug. 31, 1996, and Feb. 10.

It remains unclear why prosecutors in Edison, N.J., allowed Wynn to remain free on bail after his arrests. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office said prosecutors learned of Wynn’s arrests days ago.

In a bizarre twist, Wynn asked a federal judge in June to rule that he was mentally incompetent when he was earlier convicted of criminal securities fraud. Wynn claimed he had “panic disorder” and was unable to exercise his right to testify in his defense and to assist his lawyers.

U.S. District Judge John W. Bissell denied the motion, in part, citing Wynn’s normal behavior at the trial. Wynn was convicted in 1995 of criminal securities fraud that benefited a member of the Bonanno organized crime family. He also served two years in prison after a 1989 guilty plea on theft and tax charges.

Wynn gained entree to key DNC events through two friends, Mays, his attorney, who served as a Clinton appointee on the Arkansas Supreme Court in the early 1980s, and Richard Tienken, a New Jersey man who has ties to organized crime figures, according to court testimony.

Mays helped organize the March 9 fund-raiser at the Hillsborough, Calif., home of Victor MacFarlane, a real estate developer. A Democratic official said he saw Mays and Wynn have their picture taken with Clinton in the study, but did not see them speaking.