Hillary Clinton Sought Funds With White House List

Senate candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that she made a mistake in using a government list of White House party guests to solicit political contributions.

“This was my error, absolutely my error,” and not that of a campaign staffer, she said at a Manhattan campaign event.

Her rival, Republican Rep. Rick Lazio, suggested Friday that either the first lady or her campaign aides had broken the law and should answer for it.

“I think that they believe there’s two laws--one that applies to them, and one that applies to the rest of us,” Lazio said. “In this particular case, this isn’t just something that is improper, this is something that is illegal.”

Clinton said the names were from a list of guests invited to a party thrown by the Democratic National Committee at the White House last December.

The annual event is customarily paid for by the president’s political party, but the invitation list is considered government property.

Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson dismissed Lazio’s accusations.

“Another day, another insult,” he said.

Lazio has repeatedly criticized Clinton’s fund-raising practices, accusing her of rewarding political contributors with invitations to stay at the White House and with using government resources for inappropriate political purposes.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said the Committee on Government Reform, which he heads, will investigate the situation.

Clinton said the White House names were inadvertently included with a list of people slated to receive fund-raising letters signed by the president.