PETER PAUL AND HILLARY: No. 3 – Hillary’s Favorite Foreign Donor, Tendo Oto (Part 1)

Note: this is the third episode in a series of stories regarding the events surrounding the 2000 Fundraiser and the business relationship of entrepreneur Peter Paul, William Jefferson Clinton, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Does this excerpt from the WASHINGTON POST on 9-21-02 sound familiar to anyone?:

The Federal Election Commission disclosed yesterday it has imposed a record-setting $719,000 in fines against participants in the 1996 Democratic Party fundraising scandals involving contributions from China, Korea and other foreign sources.

The year 2000 changed little in the modus operandi. Somehow, this quote attributed to former Yankee great Yogi Berra seems appropriate: “It’s dejavu all over again.”

Most of you have never heard the name Tendo Oto. That’s not surprising. No, it is not a Nintendo or Xbox game. He is a businessman and citizen of Japan.

Plenty of Bill and Hillary’s pals know Oto. After all, they met him at the gala Hollywood fundraiser in 2000. Here he is, sitting right behind the Clintons at the concert.

What is particularly interesting is that it is illegal for a foreign national to be at a candidate’s fundraiser. Aw, come on. The law has never stopped the Clintons before.

Oto gave 27 grand to help pay the expenses of the big event. But maybe the Clintons didn’t know he did that. Isn’t that possible? Sure, and it is possible that Michael Douglas has severe regrets about dumping Maureen Dowd for Catherine Zeta-Jones. He would have much rather taken Maureen to the fundraiser.

The whole episode is vintage Clinton. Here is a Japanese businessman who pays 27 grand and wants a seat at the party. He, of course, has no Social Security number, which is what the Secret Service begins with in the vetting process. They don't know much about him. There is no time to check the guy out.

Peter Paul tells Bill of the problem. Well, shazaam, that’s not a problem. If he pays, he plays. Let the guy have a good time. It's not like he's some shady character who sold missile technology to the ChiComs or was part of the Russian Mafia dealing in black market nuclear technology. Tendo Oto, come on down. How nervous do you think the Secret Service was?

But there are more people coming to the party. Oto has a camera crew from Japan that he wants to use to memorialize his exploits on film. (The guys who manned the camera for John Kerry as he re-created his action exploits in Vietnam were apparently unavailable.) The rules were that no outside news crews were allowed. Again, no problem. The exiting president told the Secret Service to stand down on those folks also.

Just as Al Gore was very happy to shake down the nuns in the orange robes at the Buddhist Temple, Hillary was very happy that Oto expressed his love of America and admiration for her by forking over the money.

Fast forward to 2005. What do you suppose Hillary would say if confronted with the evidence of the crime? If a reporter had the huevos to actually ask Hillary about the foreign national giving her money and illegally attending the fundraiser, the response would be so very predictable. “I don’t recall.” “I have no specific recollection of that.” “Fundraiser? What fundraiser?”

And now for the coup de grâce or was it a coup d’etat? James Levin, close confidante and advisor to Bill Clinton had been negotiating with Paul regarding a business relationship with Clinton after he left the Oval Office. In his lawsuit against William Jefferson Clinton, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hillary Rodham for U.S. Senate Committee, Inc., New York Senate 2000, David Rosen, Gary Smith, James Levin, and Aaron Tonken, Paul intends to prove that Levin went around him, flew to Japan, and made his own deal with Tendo Oto, Paul’s associate, and aced Paul out of the deal. We will have more to say about that case in Part 2 about Tendo Oto.

What? You don’t recognize the name James Levin, Bill’s advisor and pal? He gained fame as a topless bar owner and pledged a million bucks to the Clinton Lie-Brary to nail down a seat as one of 19 on the board of directors. That’s odd, isn’t it? Why would Bill Clinton want the owner of a topless bar on his Lie-Brary board of directors? Any ideas?

Oddly enough (/s), Google doesn't have much on Tento Oto; only these 2 stories if you search "groups"...and I am sure Google would like to delete these, too...

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.radio.talk/browse_thread/thread/1a9de312594f4f8f/37df82b8f21a7bbe?q=Tendo+Oto&rnum=9&hl=en#37df82b8f21a7bbe

'Hustled' by Clintons

Crime/Corruption News
Source: Newsday
Published: July 14, 2001 Author: Craig Gordon
Posted on 07/14/2001 07:06:57 PDT by sarcasm
Washington - A California businessman is charging that he spent nearly
$2 million to throw a Hollywood fund-raiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton
last summer as part of an effort to win President Bill Clinton's help
for his Internet company and possibly a presidential pardon.

Peter Paul, who is in Brazil after being indicted last month on stock
fraud charges, told ABC's "20/20" program that he was "hustled" by the
Clintons and their associates after Clinton fund-raisers led him to
believe the president was agreeable to helping him.

"They took the money. They knew that it had a value to them. They
promised to do certain things. They reneged on their promise," Paul
said in the interview set to air last night.

Paul outlined the charges in a lawsuit filed last month in California.
In seeking to avoid the stock fraud indictment, Paul presented the
same allegations to four U.S. attorney's offices, and all declined to
investigate.

Paul also charges that his $2 million of in-kind contributions was
never reported by Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign or Democratic
officials. He plans to file a complaint Monday calling on the Federal
Election Commission to investigate.

Paul served 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 1979
to possessing cocaine and trying to swindle $8.7 million from the
Cuban government. When Paul's criminal record came to light after the
fund-raiser, a Hillary Clinton spokesman said Paul had made only a
$2,000 contribution to the campaign, which was returned.

Hillary Clinton's office refused to comment on the charges by Paul,
who is being represented by a longtime nemesis of the Clintons, Larry
Klayman of the law firm Judicial Watch. "We generally don't comment on
Judicial Watch activities," said Clinton spokesman Jim Kennedy.

Democratic officials have denied Paul's charges of unreported
contributions. They said they recorded an in-kind contribution of
$500,000 from the Aug. 12 event from Stan Lee Media, a now-bankrupt
Internet company that Paul co-founded, saying they had gotten that
figure from Paul.

Paul was indicted last month on charges that he cost investors more
than $25 million by manipulating Stan Lee Media stock. Klayman said at
the time that $2 million of that money went into Clinton's Senate
campaign.

Paul also said in the interview that a Japanese businessman, Tendo
Oto, gave him $27,000 to attend the fund-raiser and that Hillary
Clinton's staff did not protest when he told them the money came from
a Japanese citizen. Foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing
to U.S. political campaigns. Oto later attended a state dinner at the
White House.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.fan.howard-stern/browse_thread/thread/75ee093cccd84fa5/3bc44e20477ffe8b?q=Tendo+Oto&rnum=8&hl=en#3bc44e20477ffe8b

Saturday, July 14, 2001 12:17 p.m. EDT

New Clinton Allegations Expose Campaign Finance Reform Fraud

Campaign finance reform crusader Sen. John McCain should be outraged today,
what with Friday night's ABC News "20/20" investigative report on new
charges that Bill and Hillary Clinton continued to break current campaign
finance laws right through last year's election.

Surely McCain's blood is boiling right now at news that the Clintons hid
over $1 million in campaign contributions from federal election officials.

And undoubtedly the Arizona senator will want to interrogate for himself
Hollywood producer Peter Paul, who gave "20/20's" Brian Ross a walking tour
through stunning video footage of the Clintons hobnobbing with Hollywood's
glitterati, as well as Mr. Paul and his wife, during the August 2000
multimillion-dollar gala fund-raiser he bankrolled with the unreported cash.

Certainly the irrepressible campaign finance reformer is planning a news
conference right now to demand that the Ashcroft Justice Department hold the
Clintons legally accountable for such a flagrant abuse of the campaign
finance laws already on the books.

Or not.

In fact, if his past behavior is any indication, there won't be any McCain
news conference or call for hearings or even an angry statement from the
campaign finance reform champion on the new Clinton allegations.

Remember the Arizona maverick's GOP presidential primary campaign boast that
he was going to "beat Al Gore like a drum" over Clinton-Gore campaign
finance abuses in the fall campaign? McCain's vaunted drum beating never
quite materialized - at least not against Clinton and Gore.

Old news, you say? Perhaps.

But what the Hollywood media mogul told "20/20" about the Clintons last
night is hot off the presses.

"They took the money. They knew that it had a value to them. They promised
to do certain things. They reneged on their promises," Paul claimed, in an
interview that should have Sen. McCain's ears ringing.

Reporter Ross, who spent six weeks researching the story for "20/20,"
reported:

"In total [Paul] estimates he has canceled checks and other documents
showing more than $1.5 million in direct and so-called in-kind contributions
to support the Hillary campaign last year. Yet only about $500,000 of that
appears in the federal election records filed for her campaign attributed to
the various companies Paul is connected with."

Paul, who is now being represented by Judicial Watch, filed a civil lawsuit
in connection with the fund-raiser in California state court last month.

"They knew I gave money," Paul told "20/20." "They knew approximately how
much I gave. And then they put me in jeopardy by lying about the
contribution to the federal government, to the people of New York -
everybody."

The Hollywood producer detailed for "20/20" some of the expenses he covered
for what was billed as "Hollywood's Farewell to Bill Clinton":

"I paid Wolfgang Puck $68,000 to cater the dinner. I paid for Cher's jet - I
think it was $30,000. I paid for the tents, the invitations - there were a
lot of things to pay for."

"The night brought in a huge windfall for the Hillary campaign, thanks in
large part to the checkbook of Peter Paul," acknowledged "20/20."

ABC News also uncovered even more evidence of Clinton campaign finance
lawbreaking.

"Seated right behind the Clintons [at the gala fund-raiser] was Japanese
businessman Tendo Oto, an associate of Paul's who gave Paul $27,000 to
attend the fund-raiser," Ross reported, noting that Oto's gift to the
Clintons through Paul was illegal.

"Sure enough, two months later, there was Oto, attending the state dinner
with the prime minister of India," Ross said, as "20/20" rolled a clip of
the Japanese businessman strolling through the White House.

Just days after the August event, the Washington Post uncovered an ancient
felony conviction on Paul's record. The Clintons' reaction? They returned
$2,000 to Paul and suggested that was the totality of his contributions to
Mrs. Clinton's campaign.

Paul told "20/20," "What they said was, 'Oh, who? Peter Paul - oh, I think
he was a producer of the event. He gave the $2,000, we forgot about it. But
we're sending it back. We wouldn't take any money from him."

When "20/20" confronted Mrs. Clinton directly on Paul's allegations, she
told reporter Ross, "I'm just not going to comment on it. It's not anything
that I'm going to have anything to say about."

What about Sen. McCain, who'll be on "Meet the Press" Sunday to complain
that his campaign finance reform bill was shot down in the House last week?
Will he have anything to say about Peter Paul's campaign finance allegations
against Hillary?

Or will McCain & Co. remain focused on passing even more toothless campaign
finance laws that they'll allow the Clintons and their ilk to break with
impunity in the next election cycle?

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