"When I get back, it's my first project."

Campaign Finance: Immunity May Be Given To Indonesian Pair

(TIME, January 12) -- The Justice Department's campaign-finance task force may soon confer immunity on ARIEF and SORAYA WIRIADINATAS, the Indonesian couple who were the largest individual donors to the D.N.C. in '96. The pair, who are closely tied to Lippo Group principals MOCHTAR and JAMES RIADY, say they gave $450,000 to the D.N.C. at the urging of JOHN HUANG (the money has since been returned). Though they could help build a case against Huang and others, they may opt not to play and remain in Indonesia. The task force, meanwhile, is pressuring frequent donor Johnny Chung, by threatening an indictment on tax and other charges, hoping for a guilty plea and his cooperation.

--By Viveca Novak/Washington

When Rehnquist Talks, The Fight Begins

The White House was surprised last week when Chief Justice WILLIAM REHNQUIST, a Republican of impeccable conservative credentials, criticized the Senate for moving so slowly in confirming the President's nominees to the federal courts. Democrats have been trying for months to spark public anger over the vacancies (now up to 82, about 1 out of 10 judgeships), only to have Senate Republicans lay the problem on Clinton's "activist" choices. Now, with Rehnquist blaming the Senate, Clinton is stepping up the pressure. When Judiciary chairman ORRIN HATCH returns to Washington, he will find as many as 20 more nominations joining the 42 already pending. The White House is not overly optimistic about this plan. G.O.P. Senators are still mad over Clinton's end-run appointment of BILL LANN LEE as acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Congress is moving into an election year, not usually a season of bipartisan goodwill.

--By Karen Tumulty/Washington

The Kremlin: High-Tech Images Show That Yeltsin's O.K.

On Dec. 19, Moscow reported that Boris Yeltsin was undergoing a normal follow-up to his 1996 heart-bypass surgery. In fact, he underwent a sophisticated new heart scan called a C.T.-angiography, a painless, noninvasive test that is less risky than a conventional angiogram and that can be performed only with a scanner created by Imatron, a San Francisco-based company. Radiologists at the Moscow Cardiology Center had just begun learning to use the machine when Imatron began getting E-mails from them: they wanted to use the scanner--which can tell if a bypass graft has closed up--on Yeltsin. Imatron stepped up the tutorial; now doctors say he is in the pink.

--By Elaine Lafferty/Los Angeles