Former U.S. official 'spied for Lippo'

Former U.S. official 'spied for Lippo'

WASHINGTON (AFP): The key figure in a Democratic Party
campaign fundraising controversy committed economic espionage and
passed classified information to Indonesia's Lippo Group, a U.S.
congressman said Thursday.

In a tersely written statement, Republican Representative
Gerald Solomon said he had "received reports from government
sources that say there are electronic intercepts which provide
evidence confirming what I suspected all along."

The reports, he said, confirmed that "John Huang committed
economic espionage and breached our national security by passing
classified information to his former employer, the Lippo Group."
Solomon's statement concluded by saying: "I can't go any farther
than that. "

Huang, a former Commerce Department official, raised US$3
million for the Democratic Party and President Bill Clinton's
reelection campaign, much of which has come under question.

A congressional panel is investigating Huang for his
connection to questionable donations, some from foreign
contributors, and the party has returned about half the money he
raised.

Solomon's office also provided a copy of a letter he wrote to
FBI Director Louis Freeh in which he said Huang "apparently" had
access to State Department message traffic through a Commerce
Department computer network.

Solomon asked Freeh if there was a "damage assessment" under
way to determine if U.S. national security was compromised.

NBC News has reported that U.S. intelligence agencies told a
Senate panel the evidence against Huang was picked up by a U.S.
electronics eavesdropping site targeted on trans-Pacific
communications.

As deputy assistant secretary for international economic
policy, Huang enjoyed top security clearance while maintaining
close contact with the Lippo Group. He kept the security
clearance even after leaving the Commerce Department to raise
campaign money for the Democratic Party.

A Senate panel will begin hearings on shady fundraising
tactics for the 1996 election campaign next month, the chair of
the governmental affairs committee announced.

"We will, I assure you, get at the truth -- perhaps not all of
it, but enough for the public to understand what has happened in
our government," said committee chair Fred Thompson.

Thompson said the committee had sent out 160 subpoenas,
including 69 for bank documents or lists of telephone calls,
eight to government agencies and 31 to Buddhist groups and monks.