Hubbell Explains Riady Money In Latest Tapes
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 5) -- In newly released tapes of his prison conversations, Clinton confidant Webster Hubbell describes something he has been silent on until now: how he came to work for the Riady family of Indonesia.
Hubbell, talking with his attorney, describes how he got $100,000 from the Lippo group, a multinational firm controlled by the Riadys, who were major supporters of President Bill Clinton.
Hubbell suggested that John Huang, then a Lippo employee, helped set up and attend early meetings that led to the big-money retainer.
At the time, Hubbell said, Huang still worked for Lippo and had not started his job at the Commerce Department. Later, Huang went on to become a Democratic Party fund-raiser and now stands at the center of Justice Department and congressional investigations into allegations of illegal overseas contributions to the Democrats.
Hubbell also disclosed that James Riady, son of the Lippo patriarch,
wanted him to go to Indonesia.
"And as James was encouraging me to come to Indonesia until
John was working for Lippo. He was the contact person in trying to
set that up and arrange it," Hubbell explained.
For months, prosecutors have been looking at consulting fees that Hubbell received, including the Riady money, wondering whether it served as "hush money" to buy Hubbell's silence on Whitewater-related matters.
Hubbell has declined to publicly talk about his clients and what work he did for them. But when he was indicted last week for tax fraud in connection with payments, a spokesman for Independent Counsel Ken Starr said Hubbell "performed little or no work for some of these payments."
In the latest tapes, Hubbell insists that no one bought his silence.
At one point, he tells his sister, "You know me, I have a hard time saying anything bad about the devil."
Hubbell, in another conversation, tells his wife, Suzy, "We know that's not true," as they discussed allegations that he was bought
off with no-work legal fees.
The money came from "people who befriended me. I provided
services to them," Hubbell says on the tapes.
In general, the latest batch of tapes paint a more favorable picture of Hubbell and the Clintons than the excerpts that Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) released last week. Democrats furiously attacked Burton then for what they called partisan alterations and omissions, while Burton claimed he was only trying to protect Hubbell's privacy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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