Clinton Campaign-Fund-Raising Tactics Under Scrutiny as Republicans Face Similar Allegations

Campaign-fund-raising tactics employed by President Clinton's 1996 presidential campaign have come under scrutiny, with Republican leaders in Congress appearing to squirm in response. The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Henry Hyde, initially planned to investigate Clinton's activities with a former White House intern, but has since shifted its focus to examining the president's role in Democratic Party political advertising during the 1996 presidential campaign. However, this new direction has been hindered by revelations that both the Clinton and Republican nominee Bob Dole's campaigns were investigated by Federal Election Commission auditors for inappropriately using issue ads to promote their candidates.

Key Takeaways:

• Both the Clinton and Dole campaigns were found to have inappropriately used issue ads to promote their candidates, with auditors recommending that the Dole campaign repay $17.7 million and that the Clinton camp repay more than $7 million to federal coffers.
• Despite initial plans to investigate Clinton's campaign-fund-raising tactics, the Judiciary Committee has shifted its focus to examining the president's role in Democratic Party political advertising, but this has been complicated by the discovery of similar practices by the Republican side.
• The Federal Election Commission has described the law's standards for use of soft money in political advertising as "fuzzy" and "hardly clear," and will meet soon to decide if the soft money used in 1996 presidential campaigns resulted in civil violations of federal election laws by Clinton and Dole.
• The soft-money loophole in campaign-finance laws allowed Clinton to appear to meet the law's requirements and obtain federal matching funds for his re-election, but also enabled both the Clinton and Dole campaigns to manipulate the law for their own advantage.
• Attorney General Janet Reno has stated that she will not appoint an independent counsel to investigate the fund-raising ads, citing a lack of "criminal intent to violate the law."
• The Republican-led Congress is pursuing President Clinton for alleged abuse of campaign funds, but has itself been implicated in similar practices.

Statistics:

• $17.7 million: The amount of money the Dole campaign was recommended to repay to the federal government for inappropriately using issue ads.
• $7 million: The amount of money the Clinton campaign was recommended to repay to the federal government for inappropriately using issue ads.
• "Fuzzy" and "hardly clear": The description used by the Federal Election Commission to describe the law's standards for use of soft money in political advertising.
• 1996: The year in which the presidential campaign issues discussed in the article took place.

Sources:

• "Clinton, Dole campaigns accused of 'soft money' abuse," The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.), 1998.
• "FEC says 'soft money' law is 'fuzzy'," The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.), 1998.
• "Clinton's campaign fund-raising tactics under scrutiny," The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.), 1998.
• "Dole, Clinton campaigns under investigation," The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.), 1998.