Clinton Donor Scandal Figure Hsia Faces Sentencing

Los Angeles immigration consultant Maria Hsia, convicted last March for her role in obtaining $100,000 in illegal campaign donations, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, more than 10 months after a federal court jury found her guilty on five felony counts.

Hsia’s sentencing, postponed by a series of defense motions claiming flaws in her prosecution--ultimately rejected by the judge--is symptomatic of the delays and problems that have beset the Justice Department’s campaign finance investigation.

While two dozen people have been convicted, no high-level Clinton administration figures or party officials have been charged in the 1995-96 scandal that involved Democratic presidential campaign abuses.

By Washington standards, a lack of prosecution of upper-echelon officeholders represents a dramatic failure for federal prosecutors. But Robert J. Conrad Jr., who heads the department’s task force, says there are valid reasons for any perceived shortcomings.

Penalties provided under the Federal Election Campaign Act have been too weak to give prosecutors much clout, Conrad said. Most infractions are only misdemeanors, which makes it difficult to prove criminal intent or to threaten alleged offenders with prosecution if they fail to cooperate.

“We also had problems getting access to foreign banking documents and obtaining testimony from subjects abroad,” he said, noting that targets like Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie and James T. Riady remained in Asia for months, beyond the reach of U.S. subpoenas, before ultimately pleading guilty.

Conrad tried for months to obtain foreign bank documents relating to political donations handled by Thai businesswoman Pauline Kanchanalak before finally obtaining a one-count plea agreement in June.

Moreover, Conrad last spring obtained the indictment of two nuns from a Buddhist temple in Southern California for failing to appear as government witnesses at Hsia’s trial. But the nuns, who had gone to Taiwan, refused to return and stayed beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement.

Hsia’s conviction on five felony counts stemmed from her role in a 1996 fund-raising event at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, Calif., an event attended by Vice President Al Gore. The felony counts charging false statements to the Federal Election Commission represented an ingenious move by Conrad’s prosecutors to fashion more than misdemeanor charges against Hsia.

The luncheon netted more than $100,000 for the reelection campaign of President Clinton and Gore.

The funds were among about $3 million later returned by the Democratic National Committee, which concluded that it represented donations from foreign sources that are illegal in American political campaigns. In sworn statements, both Clinton and Gore said they were unaware at the time that vast sums had originated from abroad.

While Conrad put Hsia and Trie before a grand jury after their convictions, as well as central fund-raiser John Huang, who also pleaded guilty, none of them offered any evidence that higher officials knew about the wrongdoing.

Prosecutors still are unsure if no such evidence existed or whether Hsia, Trie and Huang were loyally protecting higher-ups. But GOP congressional critics believe that Atty. Gen. Janet Reno set lower standards for the investigation by repeatedly refusing to seek appointment of an independent counsel, despite recommendations from FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, Conrad and others.

Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), a frequent critic, told a reporter that Conrad and his staff “for the most part tried to do their job.” But, he said, “remarkably lenient plea bargains” and “a lack of support by senior officials” have resulted in disappointing results by the Justice Department’s task force.

“The new attorney general should conduct a thorough review of all of the allegations still pending from the 1996 campaigns and, where the Justice Department has not allowed [five-year] statutes of limitations to run, provide the task force with sufficient support to do its job,” Thompson said.