WASHINGTON INSIGHT

DONATIONS HAPPEN: Clinton administration officials weren’t the only folks who had their political laundry hung out to dry with Monday’s release of 10,000 Democratic National Committee documents. One of the more ironic tidbits has to do with a 1992 contribution of $30,000 from a Peter Kovler to the original Clinton-Gore inaugural committee. Kovler, a Washington-based investor, has “been involved in campaign finance a long time”--but not always from the giving end. In 1983, he helped found the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group that works to expose the corrupting influence of money in politics, and he served on the center’s board until mid-1996. While Kovler said he is proud of his contribution, center spokesman Paul Hendrie notes that his group considers such donations “another form of political giving.”

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YOU AGAIN? Also in the documents was a January 1996 note from then-Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) thanking John Huang for “spending time with me. I really appreciate your offer of help.” Torricelli, now a member of the Senate panel probing fund-raising abuses, was “responding to a courtesy call that Huang had made,” said Torricelli spokesman Jim Jordan, adding that Huang didn’t solicit money for Torricelli’s Senate campaign. Asked if Torricelli could sit in judgment of the prolific fund-raiser now at the center of the Democratic campaign finance scandal, Jordan dismissed the question. When Huang’s fund-raising activities were first disclosed, Torricelli gave back a $1,000 donation from Huang.

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DOG DAYS: Many of even the hardest hearts in Washington were stunned Monday when the Senate refused to allow on its hallowed floor the guide dog belonging to Moira Shea, a blind staffer for Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), ever the parliamentarian, objected to the pooch’s presence, saying it was against the rules. But every dog has its day, and Tuesday belonged to Beau. Wyden argued that the Senate must abide by the Americans With Disabilities Act, and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) offered a resolution--passed by unanimous consent--permitting the disabled to bring support services onto the floor. Noting that “Beau has done so much for our country,” Wyden escorted Shea and the dog into the chamber.

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EARTH DAY: GOP House members are being encouraged to tout their party’s environmental achievements by getting outside and doing a little earthy PR. A memo from the Commerce Committee suggests “media tours” of water filtration plants, toxic waste site visits with schoolchildren and down-on-the-farm news conferences. The “Earth Day Reminder” also tells members to “show the dangers of environmental extremism.” Perhaps it’s the desire to get a jump on all those extremists that’s behind the memo’s proclamation that Earth Day is April 21. It’s the 22nd.

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DEM LABOR WOES: Organized labor’s latest TV blast, aimed at seven Democratic as well as 12 GOP House members, is causing plenty of anxiety among allies of Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). They fear that the $700,000 ad campaign, which links the lawmakers to special tax breaks for corporations, signals a new realpolitik among the AFL-CIO’s high command: Since it’s unlikely Democrats will regain control of the House next year, labor’s best bet, this thinking goes, is to rekindle the ideological fervor of its rank and file, even if it means hurting some Democrats. This is especially worrisome to Gephardt, who wants to boost Democratic House membership in 1998 and run for president in 2000 and needs a united front with labor support to do either.