Ken Starr's New Case.(Mark Jimenez's connection to Clinton campaign funds)(Brief Article)

During the struggle to impeach Bill Clinton, THE NEW AMERICAN repeatedly asked why both Congress and Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr chose to focus upon Clinton's sexual misconduct and related offenses rather than upon the bribery and treason involved in the "Chinagate" scandal. This was even more peculiar in light of the fact that Starr, whose original assignment was to investigate the Whitewater affair, had a clear chain of evidence linking that scandal to Chinagate. The odd prosecutorial priorities displayed by Starr appear even odder in retrospect, now that the former special prosecutor has turned up as a defense witness for Mark Jimenez, who is among the scores of figures implicated in illegal fundraising activities who have fled the country.

The Whitewater/Chinagate nexus inexplicably ignored by Starr was Assistant Attorney General Webster Hubbell, a longtime crony of the Clinton clique who had resigned from the Justice Department after being charged with fraud in the Whitewater affair. In May 1994, Hubbell agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in exchange for a reduced sentence. Destitute and facing a prison term, Hubbell suddenly received a lump sum of $600,000 in "consulting fees," the largest portion of which came from Indonesia's Lippo conglomerate. Lippo is tightly connected to the Communist Chinese regime, and Lippo chieftains James and Mochtar Riady, according to a Senate investigation, "have had a long-term relationship with a Chinese intelligence agency."

The Riadys also had a long-standing relationship with Bill Clinton. When Clinton's campaign faltered following the Gennifer Flowers disclosures in early 1992, it was Lippo-connected banking interests that provided a critical loan to keep the campaign alive. The Riadys were also key donors to the Clinton-Gore reelection campaign in 1996. The Lippo hush money thrown at Hubbell induced him to remain silent, when he was in a position to testify against both Bill and Hillary. In exchange, Bill Clinton personally saw to it that Lippo employee (and identified Chinese agent) John Huang was given a critical Commerce Department post. Huang used his position to gather valuable intelligence for both Lippo and China, and to help coordinate illegal campaign fundraising efforts.

The Lippo/Hubbell/Whitewater connection should have piqued the interest of any competent investigator. Instead, Starr ignored the issue, choosing to rack up a statistically impressive -- but ultimately irrelevant -- record convicting minor Whitewater players. After wrapping up his work as special prosecutor, Starr retreated into anonymity -- only to emerge as a defense ...