Controversy Offers Primer on Fund-Raising Laws

The ever-expanding campaign fund-raising controversy encompasses a huge cast of characters, a web of financial transactions and a slew of relevant government rules and regulations. Prime areas of inquiry involve the channeling of foreign-linked money to the Democratic National Committee and whether any donations may have affected government policy.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, have focused their investigations on this foreign-money angle. They recently announced that they would expand their inquiries to look into whether the Republican National Committee also received foreign money through an organization called the National Policy Forum.

Here is a look at some of the laws from the United States Code that the Justice Department and House and Senate investigative committees are consulting as they sift through the facts:

2 U.S.C. 441(e) prohibits a foreign national from making a political contribution directly or through any other person. Also prohibits any person from soliciting or accepting political contributions from foreign nationals.

2 U.S.C. 441(f) prohibits the contribution of money from another person or entity. Also requires the identification of the true source of a donation, even if that source is illegal.

18 U.S.C. 207 prohibits government employees from working on matters in which their former employer has an interest. Also prohibits officials from advising a foreign entity within one year of leaving office with intent to influence the U.S. government.

18 U.S.C. 600 makes it a crime for any person to promise a benefit in return for any political activity or support in connection with an election or any convention or caucus held to select candidates for an election.

18 U.S.C. 793(e) makes it a crime for any person having unauthorized possession of, access to or control over national defense information to communicate such information to anyone not entitled to receive it if the person has reason to believe that the information could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.

Also attracting the attention of investigators are the White House coffee klatches that brought a stream of donors and potential donors to small-group meetings with President Clinton. Other contentious fund-raising activities also are under scrutiny, such as Vice President Al Gore’s telephone calls from his White House office and Margaret Williams’ receipt of a $50,000 contribution to the Democratic National Committee at the White House while serving as First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s chief of staff. The White House insists that none of its fund-raising activities were illegal. Among the laws at issue:

18 U.S.C. 607 forbids any person to solicit or receive any contribution in any room or building occupied by a federal officer or employee in the discharge of his or her official duties. It is known as the Hatch Act.

18 U.S.C. 1001 prohibits the false filing of reports with the Federal Election Commission. The FEC has criminal jurisdiction over intentional violations.

5 C.F.R. 2653.702 bars federal employees from using their office for private gain, for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise, or for the private gain of friends, relatives or people with whom they are affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity.