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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Wang, McAuliffe, the Clinton Foundation: A New York Times closer look |
| 2016-05-26 |
| [NYT] Four years ago, one of China's largest agricultural importers sent representatives to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., hoping that meetings with elite party officials might yield business opportunities. The company, the Dandong Port Group, was particularly focused on the governors in attendance, according to an interview with Dandong's general counsel broadcast by Chinese state television. "If you really want to influence, let’s say, U.S.-China policy," he said, "it's almost worth it to have emphasis and influence on the state level." The meetings, arranged by a former South Carolina governor, marked a period of expansion in the United States for Dandong and its affiliated companies, involving negotiations with officials in Washington, Arkansas, South Carolina and Virginia. But now, the company’s widening influence is coming under scrutiny by federal prosecutors, who are examining the relationship between Dandong’s wealthy and connected chairman, Wang Wenliang, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, a Democrat who was elected in 2013. A federal law enforcement official said the inquiry included $120,000 in contributions that a New Jersey construction firm controlled by Mr. Wang made to Mr. McAuliffe's 2013 campaign and inaugural committee. That official and a second law enforcement official, both of whom asked for anonymity to discuss the matter, said it was a preliminary inquiry of Mr. McAuliffe's campaign donations, and they provided no detail about the nature and scope of any potential violations being scrutinized. Though Mr. Wang is a Chinese citizen, he is also a legal permanent resident of the United States, according to a spokeswoman for him, which entitles him to make campaign contributions. The inquiry was first reported on Monday by CNN, which said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department’s public integrity unit were involved in the review. The inquiry also encompasses Mr. McAuliffe's role as a board member of the Clinton Foundation, to which another company linked to Mr. Wang pledged a $2 million contribution in 2013. The foundation has raised millions of dollars from companies and wealthy individuals overseas as well as from foreign governments. Representatives for Mr. McAuliffe and Mr. Wang said they had not been contacted by the Justice Department or the F.B.I. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation also said it had not been contacted by law enforcement officials. Speaking to reporters in Virginia on Tuesday, Mr. McAuliffe said he was shocked by reports of an inquiry. He had played no role in soliciting Mr. Wang's pledge to the Clinton Foundation and said the contributions to his campaign from by Mr. Wang's company were legitimate. "I'm very confident this gentleman had been fully vetted," Mr. McAuliffe said of Mr. Wang. But the federal inquiry throws a cloud over Mr. McAuliffe at a critical time: He is a top fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, a close confidant of her and her husband, and the governor of a swing state critical to her chances of becoming president. On Sunday, Mr. McAuliffe headlined a $5,000-a-head Virginia fund-raising event for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign. Mr. McAuliffe and Mr. Wang are, in a sense, mirror images: wealthy self-made men with intertwined careers in business and politics. Before becoming governor, Mr. McAuliffe was an inveterate deal-maker involved in everything from real estate to banking to electric cars. Last year, a separate federal review found that Mr. McAuliffe had lobbied officials at the Department of Homeland Security to speed visas for Chinese investors in an electric car company. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #2 The Clintons always conveniently have a fall guy/gal when it looks like they are cornered (or else they conveniently disappear). |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2016-05-26 09:00 |
| #1 The ever-oleaginous McAuliffe should be in prison |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-05-26 08:44 |