On March 11, 1997, the Senate
voted unanimously to authorize (S.Res. 39) the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee to conduct "an investigation
of illegal or improper activities in connection with 1996
Federal election campaigns." A deadline of December 31,
1997, was imposed on the Investigation.
During the Special Investigation, 70 witnesses testified in
public over a total of 33 days in July, September and October of
1997. More than 200 witness interviews were conducted and 196
depositions were conducted under oath. Four hundred and eighteen
subpoenas were issued for hearings, depositions and documents,
and more than one and a half million pages of documents were
received.
The Investigation met with numerous obstacles and delays during
the year. It took the Senate more than two months to determine a
budget, jurisdiction and deadline. After the investigation was
authorized in March 1997, a total of 23 key witnesses asserted
their 5th Amendment rights and refused to testify. An additional
nine witnesses refused to testify until they were granted
immunity. Ten important witnesses left the country, including
Charlie Trie (indicted by a grand jury in January 1998), Ted
Sioeng and Pauline Kanchanalak among others. More than a dozen
key foreign witnesses refused to be interviewed.
View the list of
witnesses who testified before the Special Investigation.
Final
Report of the Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in
Connection With 1996 Federal Election Campaigns together with
Additional and Minority Views
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