Thursday, April 21, 2005 9:34 a.m. EDT
Hillary Moneyman Secretly Taped
A relative of an "extremely well-known" Democrat is set to testify in the upcoming trial of Hillary Clinton's former finance chairman David Rosen.
This "well-known" Democrat secretly tape-recorded Rosen in a bid to get incriminating evidence about an August 2000 Hollywood fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton and her Senate campaign.
Court documents obtained by the New York Sun say that while the informant's identity is being kept secret, "The CW [confidential witness] is related to an extremely prominent and well-known political figure. It can be expected that the fact that CW was working in an undercover capacity for the FBI will become the subject of intense media attention."
Mr. Rosen, who pleaded not guilty in February to a four-count indictment based on allegations that he filed false reports about the Clinton fund-raiser, is scheduled to go on trial in Los Angeles on May 3.
FBI agent David Smith - who's been handling the Clinton case since its inception - said the mystery informant began cooperating in July 2002.
Papers obtained by the Sun reveal that the bombshell witness is a Democrat insider.
"The CW states that s/he is active in fundraising for the Democratic Party. CW assisted in the U.S. Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton. S/he was involved in the planning of the Clinton Gala," agent Smith wrote in January 2003.
The court documents offer no clue as to whether the confidential witness also tried to wiretap Mrs. Clinton.
Witness: FBI Sought Hillary Tap
However another key witness in the case, Hollywood fund-raiser Aaron Tonken, says in his book "King of Cons" that he agreed to try to tape the former first lady's phone calls at agent Smith's request.
But by the time of Smith's request, said Tonken, team Clinton was aware he was part of the investigation into the August 2000 event and avoided taking his calls.
A source familiar with the case told the Sun that the confidential witness is not related to either Bill or Hillary Clinton.
Lets see the WSJ tut-tut this one.
3/02/05
Federal prosecutors are battling attempts to dismiss their criminal case against Hillary Rodham Clinton's former fund-raising director, claiming in a court motion that they kept the indictment of him secret for more than a year to protect the identity of a witness cooperating in a separate investigation.
The defendant, David Rosen, is charged with failing to report in-kind contributions and producing a false invoice in connection with an Aug. 12, 2000, fund-raiser for Mrs. Clinton, according to an indictment unsealed in January. He has pleaded not guilty.
The government's motion, filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday, was in response to papers filed in February by Mr. Rosen's lawyer arguing that the case should be dismissed because the government had no justifiable reason for sealing the indictment until January and because it had erroneously brought the charges in California rather than in Washington, where the campaign finance reports were filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The papers also said that Mr. Rosen's indictment cited a law that applies to false statements made to a government agency, and the F.E.C. is not one.
Paul Mark Sandler, Mr. Rosen's lawyer, said yesterday, "We've received the government's replies and we're reviewing them closely."
Bryan Sierra, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, would not comment on the case.
The government's motion gave little indication of the nature of the other investigation or the identity of the witness. One cause for the delay may have been efforts to reach an agreement with an organizer of the fund-raiser, Peter Paul, to be a witness in the case. Mr. Paul's role would be complicated by stock fraud charges pending against him in connection with Stan Lee Media, a failed Internet company that he co-founded.
~snip~
Wait. Please tell me what will happen to this amendment. Can it be stopped?
Could you please ping me if there is any more information. I can't stay now.
Thanks.
Why isnt this article a separate post/thread of its own? This is a good story. I'm starting to like the NY Sun.
This article is from the New York Sun
Hillary Moneyman Secretly Taped
A relative of an "extremely well-known" Democrat is set to testify in the upcoming trial of Hillary Clinton's former finance chairman David Rosen.
This "well-known" Democrat secretly tape-recorded Rosen in a bid to get incriminating evidence about an August 2000 Hollywood fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton and her Senate campaign.
Court documents obtained by the New York Sun say that while the informant's identity is being kept secret, "The CW [confidential witness] is related to an extremely prominent and well-known political figure. It can be expected that the fact that CW was working in an undercover capacity for the FBI will become the subject of intense media attention."
Mr. Rosen, who pleaded not guilty in February to a four-count indictment based on allegations that he filed false reports about the Clinton fund-raiser, is scheduled to go on trial in Los Angeles on May 3.
FBI agent David Smith - who's been handling the Clinton case since its inception - said the mystery informant began cooperating in July 2002.
Papers obtained by the Sun reveal that the bombshell witness is a Democrat insider.
"The CW states that s/he is active in fundraising for the Democratic Party. CW assisted in the U.S. Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton. S/he was involved in the planning of the Clinton Gala," agent Smith wrote in January 2003.
The court documents offer no clue as to whether the confidential witness also tried to wiretap Mrs. Clinton.
Witness: FBI Sought Hillary Tap
However another key witness in the case, Hollywood fund-raiser Aaron Tonken, says in his book "King of Cons" that he agreed to try to tape the former first lady's phone calls at agent Smith's request.
But by the time of Smith's request, said Tonken, team Clinton was aware he was part of the investigation into the August 2000 event and avoided taking his calls.
A source familiar with the case told the Sun that the confidential witness is not related to either Bill or Hillary Clinton.