Fund-Raising Scandal Hits Matsuis on 2 Sides

Veteran California Rep. Robert Matsui and his wife, Doris, the top Asian American staffer in the White House, had every reason to believe that their labors on behalf of President Clinton’s reelection provided a perfect match for their political interests as well as their heritage.

But now the Matsuis find themselves under public scrutiny for their possible roles in the Democratic fund-raising imbroglio and, at the same time, under fire from some leaders of the Asian American community for not aggressively denouncing a perception of widespread “Asian bashing” generated by the scandal.

Records and interviews indicate that Robert Matsui (D-Sacramento) helped arrange the Democratic Party’s first Asian American fund-raising event for the 1996 campaign, an exclusive dinner that featured Vice President Al Gore and included three figures who are now the focus of a Justice Department investigation into illegal foreign donations.

Even though he served as a former treasurer and for the last two years as the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee--roles that had him appearing frequently alongside Gore and Clinton at major Asian American fund-raisers--Matsui insisted that he never solicited a dollar for the party.

“I will tell you I did not do any fund-raising,” he said.

Meanwhile, sources close to the Justice Department probe of 1996 campaign contributions said investigators are looking into whether Doris Matsui coordinated any fund-raising from the White House. They said she is not a target of the investigation.

White House officials declined to make Doris Matsui available for comment, but said she has done nothing improper. “Doris was aware and the White House was aware there should be no fund-raising . . . and she abided by that,” White House spokesman Lanny J. Davis said.

Robert Matsui, in a series of lengthy interviews, acknowledged the pressures he and his wife have faced.

“There is no question that this has been a very difficult period for both of us,” he said.

Indeed, some pressure has come from the Asian American community. A dozen leaders in California and Washington--many of them speaking only on condition of anonymity--criticized the Matsuis for not adequately defending the interests of Asian Americans.

Specifically, the Asian Pacific American community has complained about the congressman’s silence in response to reports of “Asian-bashing,” said Art Torres, a former state senator who heads the California Democratic Party.

Philip Tajitsu Nash, former executive director of the National Asian Pacific America Legal Consortium, said Rep. Matsui should have spoken up “during this difficult time for the Asian American community. I think there definitely was a lack of leadership, although he has provided many services to the community in the past.”

Anger Over Treatment of All Asian Donors

Criticism over the treatment of Asian American donors is acute in California. Last month, Asian American political leaders pushed a resolution through the state Democratic convention condemning the DNC, the Republican Party and the media for making scapegoats of legal campaign contributors with Asian surnames.

Part of Matsui’s problem may stem from a cultural divide between American-born Asian Americans and immigrants, who are vastly more numerous and have given large political contributions. In the eyes of some first generation donors, initial credit for the growing clout of the community went to assimilated third generation leaders like Matsui, but now the blame for the donation scandal is falling on them.

The congressman said he needs to learn more about reports that the Chinese government illegally funneled money into the American political system before speaking out.

“I believe these allegations . . . are very serious, and I think we need to get to the bottom of them,” he said. “There is a racial element in this, there’s just no question. But, on the other hand, I’m not going to overreact.”

Matsui is not without his defenders.

“As in any relationship we have our criticisms of Bob, but we should also recognize his achievements,” said Dale Minami, a nationally recognized Japanese American lawyer who has known Matsui for two decades. “He has voted consistently for the disadvantaged, the poor and the people of color, and his impassioned leadership in the movement for redress may have been his greatest accomplishment.”

Friends and colleagues said the Matsuis, who as Japanese American infants were interned in California camps during World War II, are deeply hurt that the motives of Asian Americans who participate in the political process are being questioned.

The Matsuis are especially angry, friends say, about the activities of John Huang, the Democratic fund-raiser from Glendale who is at the center of the campaign finance controversy. Huang, a former Commerce Department official and DNC fund-raiser now being investigated by the Justice Department and Congress for allegedly soliciting illegal funds from foreign sources, solicited $3.4 million last year. The DNC has announced plans to return $1.6 million of the Huang money after determining that it came from illegal or questionable sources.

Now, friends say, the Matsuis believe that Huang’s actions have harmed Asian Americans and made it politically untenable for Clinton to appoint the first Asian American Cabinet officer.

As the third-ranking Democrat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Matsui, 55, plays a major role in shaping tax legislation and trade policy, and he harbors ambitions of becoming chairman.

Doris Matsui, 52, landed a top White House appointment in 1993 after two decades of volunteer service. As a deputy assistant to the president, she helps formulate White House policy on domestic issues. And as deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison, she helped coordinate political outreach within the Asian American community, a role that brought her into contact with Huang. Government records show that she requested White House security clearance for Huang at least 24 times in the past three years.

On Nov. 2, 1995, Huang attended the Democrats’ first Asian American fund-raising event for the 1996 election. The $10,000-a-person dinner, featuring Gore and two dozen guests at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, raised $250,000 for the DNC, officials said.

Rep. Matsui is listed as the “solicitor” on DNC forms tracking contributions from two Californians associated with the event, one for $50,000; the other for $5,000. Also written on a DNC form next to a copy of the $50,000 check is the note: “To: Mary Pat Bonner.” Bonner is Rep. Matsui’s political fund-raiser.

Democratic officials said Matsui’s name was written on the form because a DNC staffer knew the fund-raising dinner became “a Matsui event” and assumed he had raised the money.

Matsui said he did not know the contributors and did not solicit money from them. “I swear I had nothing to do with those checks,” he said.

Attempts by The Times to reach the two donors were unsuccessful.

Matsui acknowledged that Bonner and Tom Keaney, his congressional chief of staff, made telephone solicitations for the dinner at the request of DNC officials. Two of the donors who attended the event--and are not under investigation--had been contacted by Keaney.

“I was part of that event,” said Matsui, who attended along with his wife. “That does not mean I solicited money or that I would condone, was involved in or received any illegal money for the DNC.”

Matsui’s participation in the dinner puts him at the event that was the starting point for the flow of millions of dollars in suspect--and potentially illegal--donations that triggered the fund-raising scandal.

Huang and two other dinner participants--Taiwanese immigrant Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie and Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak--are now central figures in the investigations into foreign donations.

Huang’s DNC files also contain a document outlining how an administration working group--led by Doris Matsui--met last year “to draft a strategic plan” that would coordinate all DNC, White House and Clinton / Gore reelection activities “for the Asian Pacific American community.” The document listed fund-raising among the activities, while noting that legal constraints prevented government officials from soliciting political funds.

The fund-raising section of the memo, written by Huang, a member of Matsui’s group, set a goal of $7 million, and said that large Asian American donors should be invited “to special White House or other events.”

White House officials said Doris Matsui never engaged in any fund-raising and never saw the DNC document. “She never read it, she never had anything to do with it,” Davis, the White House spokesman, said.

However, Doris Matsui did provide Democratic Party strategists and Huang with an official government list from her department of several hundred Asian American leaders, Davis acknowledged.

“Strictly speaking, she probably shouldn’t have allowed this list to be possibly used by members of the working group,” Davis said. “Doris recognized the mistake but assured us that as far as she knew that list was not used by anyone for fund-raising purposes.”

In addition, a memo sent to Doris Matsui by the DNC’s director of Asian affairs asked the White House to invite several major Asian American donors to events with Clinton at a 1994 trade summit in Indonesia.

But Davis said Doris Matsui “never remembers seeing” the memo.

One White House official said Doris Matsui “was uncomfortable with some of the excesses she saw with fund-raising by some Asian Americans, but she was not in a position to do anything about it.”

Defense, Criticism for Doris Matsui

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry contacted The Times--at the Matsuis’ request--to say that Doris Matsui “has worked very hard to make sure Asian Americans are fully involved in the work the administration is doing.”

But several Asian American leaders expressed disappointment with what they see as Doris Matsui’s lack of assertiveness in promoting Asian American interests. They also recalled a “very emotional” exchange between Rep. Matsui and Huang during a luncheon for about 40 influential Asian Americans at last summer’s Democratic National Convention. Matsui, according to one participant, “said Asian Americans had come a long way and now that we have donated collectively so much money, we’re going to make a mark in the Democratic Party. He said we couldn’t have done it without the help of John Huang.”

Yet now that Huang is under investigation, some Asian American leaders complained, the Matsuis act as if they had never heard of him.

Said Rep. Matsui: “In the Asian American community, many people were riding on John Huang’s coattails looking for jobs [in the administration]. Many were disappointed and are looking for scapegoats. I will not be their scapegoat.”

Bunting reported from Washington and Kang from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Ralph Frammolino, Alan C. Miller, Jack Nelson and researcher Janet Lundblad in Washington also contributed to this story.