Trie apologizes to Clinton over fund-raising scandal WASHINGTON (AP)-- Former Democratic fund-raiser Charlie Trie, agreeing to tell his story publicly for the first time, says he's sorry for the trouble he caused his longtime friend, Bill Clinton. "I ... would like to apologize for any harm I caused President Clinton," the former Little Rock, Arkansas, restaurant owner said in remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday to the House Government Reform Committee. "Let me say ... that all of my mistakes were of my own doing and not encouraged by President Clinton or anyone else." In his prepared testimony -- a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press -- Trie described how he parlayed his long-standing acquaintance with Clinton into overseas business contacts that brought hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions into the United States. Trie's appearance long has been sought by the committee's chairman, Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, who spearheaded the House investigation into fund-raising abuses by the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. "We want to know about his contacts with the Chinese government and about the origins of the large amounts of foreign money that he funneled" to the Democratic Party," Burton said. Trie denied that he spied for the Chinese government, an assertion he called "the biggest lie that has been told about me throughout this investigation." "I have never committed any form of espionage," he said. Trie brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal donations when he became partners with wealthy Macau businessmen such as Ng Lap Seng, also known as Woo, and Jakarta telecommunications magnate Tomy Winata. Winata, who wanted a private meeting with Clinton, sent Trie $200,000 in travelers checks, some of it ending up as donations to the Democratic Party. When Clinton friend Richard Mays told Trie that a $100,000 contribution to a fund-raiser would get him two seats at the president's table...
