John Huang Speaks

John Huang Speaks

John Hunag Tuesday, June 17th 1997 -- John Huang couldn't have picked a dumber place to announce he was ready to "talk" than at a speech given to a group of veterans of a Taiwan military academy. But he probably didn't have much choice, as speaking engagements for Huang may not be pouring in.

All of a sudden Huang decides to telegraph Congress that he will respond to a subpoena -- but why?

Well, word has it that Huang has been spending the past few weeks plugging holes and getting people in line to defend suspicions that he laundered contributions from foreign governments.

This is not to say Huang did funnel Asian government, most notably Chinese, money to the Democratic National Committee. I, for one, believe he didn't intentionally do anything of the sort, but merely got carried away with his own career-building aspirations. This, coupled with a dash of star-struckedness and "Oval-Officitis," was a prescription for doom for Huang, who was a Washington "nothing" before he perfected his methods of convincing Asians to loosen the purse strings and load up the DNC with cash.

In short, Huang was a victim of greed and his donors were too.

Huang positioned himself as one of the "Best and Brightest" by buying his way inside party politics. This is not unusual in Washington, where $10,000 can get you a weekend with a dozen highly placed elected officials doing the macarena in the Florida Keys. Money is the mother's milk of politics, and Huang became a foster mom in a very short time.

No serious mind on Capitol Hill actually believes that Huang or anyone else engaged in a plot to influence the White House with money flowing from foreign government coffers.

In the first place, it wouldn't work. Even if the President was ready to sell out the country, it wouldn't be done for a couple million dollars.

More to the point is that Chinese and other foreign leaders are not stupid. They study the U.S. political system. They know about public and legislative scrutiny. They don't throw away money. Besides, most foreign governments maintain embassies and consulates whose job it is to influence our government. It's estimated that other nations spend more than $1.5 billion on this effort in Washington alone.

So who's kidding who?

Huang may have been guilty of skirting some Federal Election Commission rules. He may have tried to cover up sources of funds to protect donors and the White House.

It's done all the time.

But to suggest a lightweight like Huang would be trusted by some alien dictator to carry the cash in exchange for a favor is absurd.

Let the Republicans have their fun. Every American knows the score -- it's tied.