Washington - Three Buddhist nuns told a Senate committee yesterday that the US Vice-President, Mr Al Gore, was accompanied by two Democratic Party money-raisers when he visited their temple for an apparently illegal campaign lunch last year.
Testifying to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Man Ho, Man Ya and Yi Chu of the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, described Mr Gore's visit which generated $100,000 for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The hearing represented a clear political danger for Mr Gore's presidential hopes, especially coming a day after the Justice Department opened a 30-day review into his fund-raising activities from the White House. Man Ho said DNC fund-raiser, Mr John Huang, served as master of ceremonies and his associate, Ms Maria Hsia, was Mr Gore's interpreter for his visit on April 29th, 1996. Both were deeply involved in raising money from the Asian American community for the Democratic Party.
Ms Man Ho said she approached Ms Yi Chu who found 11 monks and nuns and asked them each to write $5,000 for the DNC, even though several did not have that much money in their personal accounts. Each was then immediately reimbursed from temple funds. Such activity would appear to violate a law which prohibits individuals from making political contributions with money that is not their own.