Buddhist Temple Fundraising Event Generates Illegal Campaign Contributions

Vice President Al Gore attends a fundraising luncheon at the Hsi Lai Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights, California, organized by longtime Democratic fundraiser Maria Hsia and DNC fundraiser John Huang. The event raises $166,750 for the Democratic National Committee through illegal contributions that violate both campaign finance laws and the temple’s tax-exempt religious status. The scheme involved $55,000 in contributions laundered through monks and nuns, who made donations in their own names and were then reimbursed by the temple from its general funds.

At least three of the contributors were foreign nationals, making their donations doubly illegal under federal election law. The temple, which enjoys tax-exempt status as a religious institution, was illegally used for partisan political activity. Maria Hsia, a longtime fundraiser for Gore, facilitated $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions through her efforts at the temple, with money going to the DNC, the Clinton-Gore campaign, and Representative Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.

After a trial, Hsia was convicted of campaign finance violations in March 2000. The Democratic National Committee eventually returned the money donated by the temple’s monks and nuns. Gore later acknowledged that he had known the visit was “finance-related,” but prosecutors determined that people at the Clinton-Gore campaign were deceived by Hsia’s illegal fundraising scheme. The scandal exemplifies the lengths to which campaigns pursued contributions during the 1996 election cycle, exploiting both religious institutions and vulnerable individuals to circumvent campaign finance laws.