Probe Chief No Stranger to Foreign Funds

By FREDRIC N. TULSKY, TIMES STAFF WRITERS and MARC LACEY, TIMES STAFF
WRITERS
Los Angeles Times
May 27, 1997

WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating possible foreign meddling in the U.S. political
system need look no further than the panel's chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, for a case study of how other
nations seek to influence America's international affairs.
The Indiana Republican has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from registered
foreign agents and has allowed some of those same donors to use his congressional office as a
launching pad for their sometimes-unpopular causes, a review by The Times shows.
Burton's comments and legislative efforts have often echoed foreign agents' written materials--items the
U.S. government has labeled propaganda. At times, Burton has even adopted the precise language used
in the foreign governments' position papers in his speeches on the House floor.
In one instance, Burton's foreign involvement seems to have traveled full circle. A Burton staffer
assisted the lobbyist for Zaire in 1995 in drafting a speech for then-President Mobutu Sese Seko. Soon
afterward, Burton used the contents of the speech to argue to the State Department that the recently
deposed dictator deserved a visa to the United States to attend various conferences.
Burton also participated in a foundation run by two of his campaign contributors that portrayed itself as
an independent think tank but was secretly bankrolled by the former apartheid government of South
Africa to discredit Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress.
Burton spokesman Kevin Binger said the congressman's efforts on the House International Relations
Committee were based on "convictions and independent judgment"--not campaign contributions. And
he drew a sharp contrast between Burton's legal activities and the alleged efforts by the Chinese
government to illegally funnel money into U.S. campaigns.
But allegations of illegal foreign-linked donations have prompted great concern about outside influence
on U.S. policies, one of the focuses of Burton's House Government Reform and Oversight Committee
investigation.
"We think it's imperative," Burton said last week of the House fund-raising inquiry, "that the American
people know . . . whether or not their government has been compromised by foreign entities, foreign
countries, being able to buy influence with campaign contributions."
Federal election laws prohibit foreign citizens, corporations and governments from contributing to U.S.
campaigns.
But many foreign entities have learned that they can have as much influence in Congress as any
American special interest by spending money to hire a Washington lobbyist, a common--and legal--
practice.
Contributions from such lobbyists are "for one reason only," said Bill Hogan of the Center for Public
Integrity, a nonprofit watchdog group. "They are giving money to get something done, to get access or
support."
The latest Justice Department figures show 2,825 foreign agents, as the lobbyists are called,
representing 871 foreign entities. In 1995-96 alone, U.S. citizens who are registered as foreign agents
gave more than $1.4 million in campaign contributions, according to a report by the Center for Public
Integrity.
During his eight terms in the House, Burton has taken more than $20,000 from such agents, many of
whom have then met privately with Burton or his aides to press their foreign policy causes and tap into
his fierce anti-Communist mind-set. In recent months, Burton has returned $646 in improper donations
from two Sikh temples and another $500 from the lobbyist for the former government of Zaire.
Former Rep. Thomas Evans (R-Del.), who now lobbies for foreign countries and has several times
contributed to Burton, said Burton would not be influenced by campaign donations. "Dan votes from
the heart," he said. "He votes the way he thinks best."
Evans said he believes that lobbyists play an important role by supplying members of Congress with
information that may be used in speeches or hearings. "Members of Congress have hundreds of issues
to address," Evans said. "If you can give them facts, that helps them."
From Turkey to South Africa to Guatemala, Burton's interests have spanned the globe:
* A strong supporter of Turkey, Burton took to the House floor last June 5 to denounce efforts to cut off
all U.S. aid to the country because of human rights criticisms.
"Let me give my colleagues some facts about Turkey and about the Armenia problem," Burton said as
he launched into a historical account.
"Turkey recognized Armenia immediately after its independence from the Soviet Union and publicly
stated its willingness to establish good neighborly relations with Armenia," Burton said.
The speech went on, citing almost word for word material distributed to members of Congress by
Capitoline, Turkey's lobbying firm.
For several years, when the firm of former Ronald Reagan aide Douglas Feith was paid $600,000 a
year to lobby for Turkey, Feith's office had regular contact with Burton and his aides. Feith gave
donations to a handful of lawmakers over the years, including at least $2,250 to Burton.
Since Feith stopped lobbying for Turkey in 1994, the country's interests have been represented by
Capitoline, which has maintained contact with Burton and his aides.
Foreign assistance has not been Turkey's only concern in Congress; its conflict with Greece over
Cyprus has been just as important. But the Turks, who have controlled the northern portion of the
island since a 1974 armed invasion, have lacked support on Capitol Hill.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus opened a Washington office in 1985, but representative
Namik Korhan said he has been frustrated by the lack of support. Korhan said Burton has been one
strong supporter.
"Maybe it is because he is a brave man," Korhan said. "Maybe it is because he is from Indiana, and
there are not many Greek Cypriots."
Whatever the reason, Burton has inserted into the Congressional Record several long discourses on the
history of the conflict going as far back as 1571.
* Burton has consistently blistered India in speeches and legislative actions, embracing the causes of
rival Pakistan while repeatedly accepting campaign contributions from several lobbyists on the
Pakistani payroll.
In 1995, after two members of the U.S. Consulate were killed in Karachi, Burton introduced a
statement into the Congressional Record praising then-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for her letter to
the White House condemning the murders, and citing a Wall Street Journal editorial urging the U.S. not
to let the incident mar relations with Pakistan. Days earlier, Justice Department records show, Burton
had received copies of both items from Pakistani lobbyist Mark Siegel.
A federal grand jury is investigating allegations by Siegel, a former Democratic Party operative, that
later in 1995, Burton demanded Siegel raise money for his reelection campaign and complained to the
Pakistani government about Siegel when he did not come through.
While Burton has insisted that Siegel's allegation is untrue, he has admitted asking Siegel to help raise
donations and later expressing disappointment about Siegel to the Pakistani ambassador.
* On Zaire, where rebels recently took over after years of dictatorial leadership by Mobutu, Burton
worked closely with a variety of lobbyists who also contributed to his campaigns. In 1995, one of
Zaire's hired representatives, Jack Abramoff, faxed Burton foreign policy aide Gil Kapen a draft of a
speech Mobutu planned to deliver. The text was drafted "in accordance with our discussions,"
Abramoff wrote to Kapen. "Mobutu is prepared to give this speech immediately . . . in the hope that, as
discussed, it will bring about movement on the democracy front and also activate Congressman Burton
to assist in getting the process going," Abramoff advised, referring to the visa matter.
After Mobutu delivered the speech, Burton cited it as evidence of the leader's change of heart regarding
reform in a letter to George E. Moose, then-assistant secretary of State for African affairs.
"A week ago, I would have frowned upon any suggestion that Mobutu be given a visa to enter the
United States," Burton wrote. "However recent statements by Mobutu and other information that has
come to my attention have caused me to reconsider my views."
* On South Africa, Burton was a strong opponent of U.S. sanctions against the white-run apartheid
government and a critic of the ANC.
He actively participated in programs sponsored by the International Freedom Foundation, which
portrayed itself as an independent group fighting for democracy. Abramoff, the same lobbyist who
worked with Burton on Zaire, opened the foundation's Washington office in 1985. Another Burton
contributor, Duncan Sellars, served as chairman.
In 1995, after Mandela had been elected president of South Africa, it was discovered that the country's
military had surreptitiously funded the foundation in an attempt to boost overseas support for the
apartheid government.
"We heard these rumors over the years, but there was no reason to credit or discredit them at the time,"
Burton aide Kapen said then.
* Burton jumped to the defense of Guatemala's military leadership after the 1995 disclosures that a
Guatemalan colonel, then on the CIA payroll, had been linked to the murders of an American and a
guerrilla leader married to American Jennifer Harbury. Burton's support came after he received a visit
and a $500 campaign contribution from former President Bush aide Robert J. Thompson, whose firm
was being paid $70,000 a month by the Guatemalan government.
Burton's office is just one of the many stops on Capitol Hill for foreign lobbyists.
The Center for Responsive Politics identified former Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), now a senator in
that chamber's fund-raising inquiry, and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) as the two biggest House
recipients of foreign agent contributions in 1995-96, taking in $31,000 and $25,500, respectively.
Burton finished far lower on the list, raising about $4,000 from registered lobbyists last year. But he
boosted his campaign war chest by raising extensive funds from donors with interests overseas.
Until 1990, almost all the contributions to Burton's campaign came from residents of Indiana. But in
recent years, Burton has taken in hundreds of thousands of dollars from ethnic Americans who know
little about the issues of his northern Indianapolis district but much about Burton's stands on the Sikhs,
Taiwan and Cuba.
Without naming Burton, GOP Sen. Richard G. Lugar, who also is from Indiana and is a veteran
member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, distanced himself from those lawmakers "who
have made almost a world tour within the United States, visiting groups of Americans who have
interests in various countries, and picking up money all over the country. It's perfectly legitimate, I
suppose, but a strange way to finance campaigns in the center of the heartland."
Times researcher Robin Cochran contributed to this story.